Best HRM without chest strap?

mom2allgirls
mom2allgirls Posts: 48
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, i need to find an HRM that will track all my calories burned during the day, and I dont want to wear a chest strap! Can anyone help me?

thanks

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Without a chest strap it won't be accurate. Maybe a fitbit would fit your needs better?

    I can't even feel the chest strap on my Polar FT4 though anymore than I can feel the straps on my bra. So really if it is a comfort issue, if you wear a bra you probably shouldn't have an issue with the HRM strap, from my personal experience.
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
    Without a chest strap it won't be accurate.
    This, but mio has cheap ones without chest straps and there is one that recently got approved that takes continuous readings and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it

    Also, check out the Garmin Forerunner 405 that gives continious readings
  • mom2allgirls
    mom2allgirls Posts: 48
    can the chest straps be worn all day?
  • Longbowgilly
    Longbowgilly Posts: 262 Member
    Get a Mio watch (they have a website) I am on my second one (a Motiva) and love them, they give ECG accurate readings without a chest strap, are very easy to use and also track cals in, out and what your hear rate is, you just place your fingertips on the two small sensors on the watch and your heart rate is displayed!:heart:
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    You don't want an HRM.. you want either a fitbit or a Body Media FIt.

    HRM's are for exercise only, while fitbit and body media fit are made to be worn all day.

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.

    If you want a quality HRM to wear for exercise only, then you should look at Polar.
  • Longbowgilly
    Longbowgilly Posts: 262 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    .

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.

    What do you base that statement on?
    http://www.mioglobal.com/
    This was were I learnt all about Mio watches, I made a mistake in the post above it's EKG accurate, I said ECG:embarassed:
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    If you're looking for an all day you want a fitbit or a body bugg. I'm a big fan of Polar products and they have the FA 20 for 24/7 monitoring, but I haven't read any reviews on that.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    .

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.

    What do you base that statement on?
    http://www.mioglobal.com/
    This was were I learnt all about Mio watches, I made a mistake in the post above it's EKG accurate, I said ECG:embarassed:

    It may be EKG accurate for heart rate, but it won't be accurate for calorie estimation.

    In order to get an accurate calorie estimation, you need a chest strap that is continuously reading your heart rate and not one that only reads when you touch it.

    When you touch a strapless HRM it keeps using that heart rate to determine calories until you touch it again.. so unless you plan on keeping your finger on the sensors the entire time, you need a strap.
  • russellma
    russellma Posts: 284 Member
    As someone else said, HRM aren't really designed to monitor heartrate all day. You'd need a FitBit or a BodyBugg for that.

    As far as strapless HRMs go, I had a MIO Drive Plus (actually, still do), and it was pretty worthless. It only recorded the HR when you physically touched the sensors, which takes 5-10 seconds to register, and then it assumed that your heartrate had been stable from the last time you touched the sensors.

    So, to get anything accurate, you'd have to be continually be touching the sensors, which was a major pain. And don't get me started on the times that it misread my HR and recorded "x" minutes (since the last recording) of my workout as 80 beats per minute instead of 160, or something like that! LOL

    I got a Polar FT4 with chest strap and love it! But, again, the HRM manufacturers do not recommend using them for non-workout settings.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    .

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.

    What do you base that statement on?
    http://www.mioglobal.com/
    This was were I learnt all about Mio watches, I made a mistake in the post above it's EKG accurate, I said ECG:embarassed:

    I never go to the manufacturer to find out whether or not the product they create performs, because they always say they do. I try to find independent research organizations. I found this article (wish I still have my CR subscription): http://www.consumersearch.com/heart-rate-monitors/budget-heart-rate-monitors

    It says that the mio performs well . . . if you're doing low intensity activity because with high intensity activity you have to stop to put your fingers on the sensors. Also, anything that doesn't take a continuous monitoring wouldn't work well if you're doing interval training as it only takes the hr at the time you put your fingers on it and then extrapolates that out until the next time you place your fingers on the sensors.
  • SARRoxit
    SARRoxit Posts: 2
    Has anyone tried the new MIOLink Wristband? I am considering it because i also use Endomondo for exercise tracking because it uploads to the My Fitness Pal. My Polar chest bluetooth has to be sent in for repair which linked up for me. I was wanting something to wear daily outside of exercise to also track my average daily caloric burn outside of exercise alone.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    .

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.


    What do you base that statement on?
    http://www.mioglobal.com/
    This was were I learnt all about Mio watches, I made a mistake in the post above it's EKG accurate, I said ECG:embarassed:

    It's accurate when you stop and put your fingers on the sensors. That isn't continuous monitoring.
  • conqueringsquidlette
    conqueringsquidlette Posts: 383 Member
    Has anybody tried the scosche armbands?
  • denitahawkins
    denitahawkins Posts: 36 Member
    I had a Scosche Rhythm that I used when I was first starting out. It worked when it wanted to, but it was quite frustrating if you were using the app because the HR would go in and out. Once I started using the Polar for the same activities, I found the Rhythm wasn't as accurate as I thought in terms of both calorie estimation and the time it takes for the HRM to keep up with changes in your HR. It's a good beginner HRM to get an idea of what you're intensity is and to see HR, but in terms of calorie estimation I would say it's less accurate (just based on a lot of reading I've done on the difference btw chest vs non-chest).
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
    Get a Mio watch (they have a website) I am on my second one (a Motiva) and love them, they give ECG accurate readings without a chest strap, are very easy to use and also track cals in, out and what your hear rate is, you just place your fingertips on the two small sensors on the watch and your heart rate is displayed!:heart:

    Interesting...I was going to pull the trigger and buy one then I read the reviews on them - which were horrible! They are notorious for losing the heartrate when working out, especially when it's something when you move around a lot e.g. Bootcamp or Crossfit workouts. I would love to have one but will hold out until the technology has improved.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Has anybody tried the scosche armbands?

    I had a Scosche mytrek ... lasted great for about 10 months with only a couple of days where it gave me issues. Then it decided 100 bpm was the only reading it would ever give again.

    I bought a Polar H7 that afternoon.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    .

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.


    What do you base that statement on?
    http://www.mioglobal.com/
    This was were I learnt all about Mio watches, I made a mistake in the post above it's EKG accurate, I said ECG:embarassed:

    It's accurate when you stop and put your fingers on the sensors. That isn't continuous monitoring.

    If you put your finger on the sensor, then it'll screw it up.

    What you are talking about is something different. Mio and Scosche and a few others make optical HRM straps that don't go on the chest. They are just as accurate as a traditional HRM strap. Same thing hospitals use attached to your finger.

    If it's good enough to monitor someone with their chest cracked open, it's good enough for an average person exercising.
  • conqueringsquidlette
    conqueringsquidlette Posts: 383 Member
    Has anybody tried the scosche armbands?

    I had a Scosche mytrek ... lasted great for about 10 months with only a couple of days where it gave me issues. Then it decided 100 bpm was the only reading it would ever give again.

    I bought a Polar H7 that afternoon.

    The H7 is the one I ended up buying too..... I just remembered that Scosche made those because they were the only ones that would work with Android phones until recently (and it took me so long to decide on buying one that I ended up with the Polar anyway... haha)
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    can the chest straps be worn all day?

    .

    Strapless HRM's are not accurate in the slightest and should not even be considered when buying an HRM.


    What do you base that statement on?
    http://www.mioglobal.com/
    This was were I learnt all about Mio watches, I made a mistake in the post above it's EKG accurate, I said ECG:embarassed:

    It's accurate when you stop and put your fingers on the sensors. That isn't continuous monitoring.

    If you put your finger on the sensor, then it'll screw it up.

    What you are talking about is something different. Mio and Scosche and a few others make optical HRM straps that don't go on the chest. They are just as accurate as a traditional HRM strap. Same thing hospitals use attached to your finger.

    If it's good enough to monitor someone with their chest cracked open, it's good enough for an average person exercising.

    Did you even bother to look at the post that generated my comment?
    Get a Mio watch (they have a website) I am on my second one (a Motiva) and love them, they give ECG accurate readings without a chest strap, are very easy to use and also track cals in, out and what your hear rate is, you just place your fingertips on the two small sensors on the watch and your heart rate is displayed!:heart:

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