Sports Bra or Chest Strap Heart Rate Monitor

Elafacwen
Elafacwen Posts: 44 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am interested in buying a heart rate monitor to accurately calculate how many calories I am burning in an hour of martial arts practice. However, I am not able to wear anything on my wrist, so this rules out what seems like a vast majority of heart rate monitors.

Are there any models that can be worn strapped to your chest or in a sports bra, with no wrist watch style thingy needed? I am doing a great deal of moving, so I would need something very secure and comfortable.

Replies

  • twid16
    twid16 Posts: 3 Member
    Check out the Polar series. They have lots of options. I love mine and its a chest strap.
  • baileyang33
    baileyang33 Posts: 131 Member
    Polar has a model that just works with an app with or without the wristband.
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
    I have a Polar FT4 and it has a chest strap. I just tuck it underneath my sports bra with the little monitor thing in between my boobs and it stays in place very well. If I'm doing something like burpies or some variation of that it can sometimes come out. But it's very easy to tuck back in. I think that any chest strap HRM would work similarly since you probably wouldn't want the polar (it has a watch that you wear with it). I've seen people wearing them on their upper arms. Is that a possibility for you? Even if you used one of the watch things with some kind of extender, it would give you more options to choose from.
  • baileyang33
    baileyang33 Posts: 131 Member
    Check out the Polar series. They have lots of options. I love mine and its a chest strap.

    Me too!!!! I have the FT4, I'm obsessed with it! :love:
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
    I've learned that heart-rate does not equate calories burned :( Or maybe I'm just a freak in this way... My sitting heart-rate is 150...if elevated heart-rates burned calories then I'd have the body of a supermodel
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
    The polar H7 Wearlink is a chest strap only with a bluetooth transmitter. It will transmit to your phone up to a certain distance and you don't need a watch. I wore mine (before I lost it) for cardio boxing sessions and football training so fairly secure. You'd have to check that the distance of transmission was enough for you. Maybe reviews online would be helpful
  • clickchick18
    clickchick18 Posts: 6 Member
    kamakazeekim your SITTING heart rate is 150? That can not be good. A normal sitting heart rate is below 100. Have you talked to your doctor about this?
  • Nikoruo
    Nikoruo Posts: 771 Member
    Well.... If i suddenly joined martial arts... I'd probably take my heart monitor (bust strap +watch) and wear it. shoving my watch in my bra or something... because i'm cheap and I don't know of any other method anyways.... Good luck though! Martial arts are awesome!
  • kamakazeekim
    kamakazeekim Posts: 1,183 Member
    yeah, I'm on medication for my heart that slows it down to the high 80's
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Well.... If i suddenly joined martial arts... I'd probably take my heart monitor (bust strap +watch) and wear it. shoving my watch in my bra or something... because i'm cheap and I don't know of any other method anyways.... Good luck though! Martial arts are awesome!
    Same here. If my martial arts outfit had a belt, I'd probably put the wrist piece on that.
  • Elafacwen
    Elafacwen Posts: 44 Member
    Well.... If i suddenly joined martial arts... I'd probably take my heart monitor (bust strap +watch) and wear it. shoving my watch in my bra or something... because i'm cheap and I don't know of any other method anyways.... Good luck though! Martial arts are awesome!

    That's actually a pretty good idea...
  • raeganjayne15
    raeganjayne15 Posts: 55
    I have a Polar FT4.
    It has a chest strap and a watch. When im playing netball I clip the watch to my bra strap and sort of tuck it in. Once Im moving I dont really notice it.
    I didnt really have the money to spend on fancier versions :P
  • shrewd1983
    shrewd1983 Posts: 23
    Polar H7 is great if you would like a HR monitor for use with a smartphone, battery lasts up to a year. I purchased mine last April and have yet to replace the battery, I use it 90+ minutes a day. Chest strap type of course.
  • Brad592
    Brad592 Posts: 28 Member
    Hi guys, i have the same question as the original poster.
    I want to measure my heart rate at martial arts training but we are not allowed to wear watches for safety reasons. And, I don't have a bra to put one in ;) You can't really put it anywhere on your body in case you or your partner lands on it.
    Does anyone have any distances that they work from?
    Or if they lose connection, do they store it in a memory and then upload it?
    I'm not interested in monitoring HR, just total calorie burns...
  • Patti1023
    Patti1023 Posts: 78 Member
    I have a Polar but didn't like having to wear a watch, I did some more research & bought a Zephyr HRM that just uses a chest strap & send the info. to my phone & MFP, & the battery is rechargeable. I love it & like it a lot better than the Polar.
  • Brad592
    Brad592 Posts: 28 Member
    Thanks Patti, if it loses connection does it store the info then transmit later?
  • whoajulie
    whoajulie Posts: 15
    I have the Polar FT4 , got it on Amazon. I love it. It has an adjustable strap and fits snugly right under your chest. I wear mine with a sports bra and t shirt over it. The strap is easy to use and you can put it on before you leave for the gym. Then it connects with the watch that tells your heart rate, and the calories you burn each session. I also bought electrode gel to put on the strap, so that it will accurately read your HR. However, I learned that all you need to do is wet it, so the gel isn't really all that necessary.

    So far I have had good results using it for my kickboxing, cardio circuit, and boot camp classes at my gym. You can barely even tell you are wearing the strap. It stores all your workout information, and you can register on their site to keep track of it all. They also come in different colors. I have the pink one. :)

    EDIT.. Darn I just saw that you said you CAN'T use a watch. I am thinking the Polar H7 might work for you then. I am sure people have already mentioned that. LOL. Good luck! I hope you find one that works well for you. :)
  • Patti1023
    Patti1023 Posts: 78 Member
    Thanks Patti, if it loses connection does it store the info then transmit later?

    Hi Brad, yes it stores it but it doesn't always transmit it later. I've hardly ever had it lose connection, usually the only time it's done that for me is if I switch between wifi & mobile data & stop my workout before it re-establishes the connection. It's usually operator error when I've had this happen, and a few times it's corrupted the workout data but that's been a really rare occurrence. Normally it has transmitted the workout with no issues.

    Oh & I didn't mention, the other reason I went with the Zephyr was because I wanted to use Endomondo & my Polar didn't sync with it to upload to MFP (that may have changed by now). So I suggest looking at both the HRM's for features you want, as well as what app you like & make sure the HRM will work properly with it to upload your workouts to MFP.
  • sugaree1202
    sugaree1202 Posts: 184 Member
    I love my Polar F4 and don't notice the chest strap under my sports bra.

    Yes, the F4 has a watch that needs to be relatively close to the transmitter but you can wear it on the shoulder strap of your bra (that's where I put my Fitbit), put it in your pocket, etc as long as it's attached to your body, the watch doesn't need to be on your wrist.

    As far as HRM's go, Polar uses the most accurate formula available to calculate calories burned based on heart rate. You can get a great deal on the eBay store "HRM USA".

    Good luck!

    Edit to add: Before I got the F4, I originally purchased the FT7 which is more expensive and has wireless capabilities. Not only was it not compatible with mobile devices (it requires a Polar routing device and PC to sync with website) but it did not accurately record myccalorie burn and gave me readings like 50 calories for a 30 minute TurboFire workout that typically burns close to 300. Then 2 days later the chest transmitter completely stopped working.

    I contacted the company I bought it from (HRM USA) and found out the incorrect calorie calculation and transmitter malfunction were common issues with the FT7 and exchanged it for the more reliable and much cheaper F4 and haven't had any issues since.

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