Heart Rate Monitor Suggestions

Kayley403
Kayley403 Posts: 7
in Getting Started
Hey everyone!
I'm thinking about purchasing a heart rate monitor to help me better track my calories. Any suggestions on an affordable one? I've seen the Fitbit mentioned a lot, but I'm not to sure exactly how it works...
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Replies

  • Ryderod
    Ryderod Posts: 103 Member
    Howdy, the FitBit is what is known as an activity tracker and is essentially a pedometer, it will track your daily steps and calories, but does not monitor your heart rate. For that you would need a device such as the bodymedia, Garmin vivofit or Polar loop, which are activity monitors with the added ability to track heart rate with the required additional heart rate strap and transmitter.

    Bear in mind that using these transmitters for extended periods will affect their battery life considerably. Polar for example estimate their unit to last around 1 year with a 1hr/day use.

    What you can do is use an activity tracker such as FitBit to monitor your typical daily activity, and perhaps use a heart rate watch to get a more accurate estimation during workouts as the activity monitors would not monitor change in load and heart zones, nor weight training, swimming, etc.

    In the Polar range, the FT4 is a great, cost effective, simple to use unit, and for a little more, the FT7 will monitor your training and has the ability to upload and store your data on the Polar website.
  • stacyrenea06
    stacyrenea06 Posts: 9 Member
    I just bought the Polar FT4 two days ago and so far so good. The set up was extremely easy and it was about $65 at Best Buy.
  • CallMePat
    CallMePat Posts: 74 Member
    I got a Polar FT4 from BestBuy in December. $55. Easy to use.
    1. Put the watch and the strap on.
    2. Tell the watch when to start
    3. Tell the watch when to stop.
    That's it.
  • roanokejoe49
    roanokejoe49 Posts: 820 Member
    Snag a Polar FT 4 or FT7. Both under $100.00. You won't regret it!
  • l_clc
    l_clc Posts: 126 Member
    I bought the Polar FT7 last week, I love it! Simple to use and accurate....it is a bit on the expensive side ($100), but worth it- you won't regret it!
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
    Wow, I had no idea a Polar HRM would only last about one year with 1 hour per day use. I was considering that one a couple years ago, but have settled on the Fitbit Flex (I realize this is not a heart rate monitor) which is the same price and hopefully lasts longer than a year!
  • roanokejoe49
    roanokejoe49 Posts: 820 Member
    Wow, I had no idea a Polar HRM would only last about one year with 1 hour per day use. I was considering that one a couple years ago, but have settled on the Fitbit Flex (I realize this is not a heart rate monitor) which is the same price and hopefully lasts longer than a year!

    I don't know if you have a bad apple or bad information, but that is crap. I recently replaced my 2nd Polar HRM. It lasted 15 years, and I had to have it refurbished once. I changed the battery two other times. Whoever told you that was smoking something.
  • steppingstones
    steppingstones Posts: 569 Member
    keeping for shopping :wink:
  • rose313
    rose313 Posts: 1,146 Member
    Wow, I had no idea a Polar HRM would only last about one year with 1 hour per day use. I was considering that one a couple years ago, but have settled on the Fitbit Flex (I realize this is not a heart rate monitor) which is the same price and hopefully lasts longer than a year!

    I don't know if you have a bad apple or bad information, but that is crap. I recently replaced my 2nd Polar HRM. It lasted 15 years, and I had to have it refurbished once. I changed the battery two other times. Whoever told you that was smoking something.
    Ryderod posted it just a few posts before mine, unless I misunderstood him.
  • Drezgirl
    Drezgirl Posts: 25 Member
    I bought the Polar FT4 and I love it!! Good luck!!:wink:
  • Smirnoff65
    Smirnoff65 Posts: 1,060 Member
    Wow, I had no idea a Polar HRM would only last about one year with 1 hour per day use. I was considering that one a couple years ago, but have settled on the Fitbit Flex (I realize this is not a heart rate monitor) which is the same price and hopefully lasts longer than a year!

    I don't know if you have a bad apple or bad information, but that is crap. I recently replaced my 2nd Polar HRM. It lasted 15 years, and I had to have it refurbished once. I changed the battery two other times. Whoever told you that was smoking something.
    Ryderod posted it just a few posts before mine, unless I misunderstood him.

    That is the battery life,

    I have a Polar HR7 which I use with the Polar Beat app on my phone, does everything I want from it.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    Wow, I had no idea a Polar HRM would only last about one year with 1 hour per day use. I was considering that one a couple years ago, but have settled on the Fitbit Flex (I realize this is not a heart rate monitor) which is the same price and hopefully lasts longer than a year!

    I still have a Polar F7. Not FT7, F7. I purchased it at least 5 years ago, and it still works great except that you have to get the strap wet before it will pick up the heart rate. I could replace the strap, but I went instead for a Zephyr bluetooth strap which syncs with apps on my phone. The Polar is still kicking, though.
  • jvnmobile
    jvnmobile Posts: 3 Member
    I use the Polar FT7 and it works well. I recommend it. I also have a Fitbit Flex which is 5 months old. The strap is coming apart and the Fitbit itself is being replaced under warranty because it failed. Not too sure about Fitbit quality....
  • 3Heather24
    3Heather24 Posts: 49
    I have (and LOVE) Polar FT7! Use it allll the time, for everything (even cleaning). Calorie count is far more accurate than the generalized calories that MFP lists.
  • YAYJules
    YAYJules Posts: 282 Member
    Another endorsement for the Polar FT4. I was able to calculate more reliably after purchasing mine. My progress became more consistent after getting the HRM, and my food scale. Those are the two most important tools to weight loss as far as I'm concerned.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
    I had the Polar FT4, which was a very solid HRM. I used it regularly for a year and a half, and when I started using it again after my last pregnancy, the battery in the watch had died. I decided to replace the battery in both the watch and the transmitter (about $5 worth of batteries), and after that I couldn't get a constant signal on my HRM. I don't know if it was an issue with the watch, the transmitter, or the chest strap itself, but I didn't feel like sending it to Polar to check out. (Incidentally my sister had a battery issue with her Polar FT7 at the same time, and Polar fixed it for free. She just had to pay to ship it there/back.)

    I thought about getting an activity tracker but decided I wanted the instant feedback of a HRM more. I looked up what I could get as far as Polar transmitters without the watch so that I could sync it to my iPhone and forgo the watch entirely, and I landed on the Polar H6. I found it at the link below cheaper than Amazon with free shipping, and it shipped quickly. They didn't have the chest strap size I wanted, so they shipped me a Polar H6 with the wrong size strap and then included an extra strap in the right size without charging me. Those straps aren't that cheap, so I thought that was pretty awesome, plus now I have a back-up strap:

    http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar-h6-transmitter.html?productid=polar-h6-transmitter&channelid=FROOG&utm_source=CSEs&utm_medium=GoogleShopping&utm_campaign=heartratemonitorsusa&gclid=CPL3ldnh1r4CFS4aOgodFngAug

    The other reason I decided on the Polar H6 is because it works with the Polar Loop, in case I decide to buy that at a later time. There's also a version that syncs to Droid phones (the H6 is made to sync with iPhones).

    When I was new to fitness and looking for a good HRM, I checked with my Spinning instructors, most of whom have the Polar FT4 or FT7, and the overall opinion was that if you go with Polar or Garmin, you won't be disappointed.

    Just keep in mind that the ones that sync with your phone rather than a watch typically have a shorter battery life (Bluetooth eats batteries), and if you plan on swimming, you'll need to look into whether a certain device can be worn in water.

    Edited for typo
  • Chevy_Quest
    Chevy_Quest Posts: 2,012 Member
    bump
  • CrescentCityGirl
    CrescentCityGirl Posts: 123 Member
    You have had great success then. I've never had one last more than 1 or 2 years and it has been super frustrating.

    The FT7 I have now reads a heart rate of 177 when I am standing still putting it on. Any idea how to fix that?
  • BigGamesJames1
    BigGamesJames1 Posts: 11
    I bought the Polar FT7 last week, I love it! Simple to use and accurate....it is a bit on the expensive side ($100), but worth it- you won't regret it!


    Same here, and also think it's worth it.
  • apparations
    apparations Posts: 264 Member
    bump
  • brirandle1
    brirandle1 Posts: 22 Member
    Ive had a Polar HRM for about 2 yrs and use the watch as my actual watch also. I just replaced the battery at a jewelry store with no problem and its running just fine. Love my polar HRM, highly recommend it
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I got a Polar hrm - the, less expensive one and didn't think it was so easy to set up and use. I finally gave up.
  • Ryderod
    Ryderod Posts: 103 Member
    Wow, I had no idea a Polar HRM would only last about one year with 1 hour per day use. I was considering that one a couple years ago, but have settled on the Fitbit Flex (I realize this is not a heart rate monitor) which is the same price and hopefully lasts longer than a year!

    I don't know if you have a bad apple or bad information, but that is crap. I recently replaced my 2nd Polar HRM. It lasted 15 years, and I had to have it refurbished once. I changed the battery two other times. Whoever told you that was smoking something.

    Then you are clearly not using your hrm much!
    The unit does not need replacing, the battery does. I use various Polar models, an older F55 which is a great fitness unit, with the ability to add workouts. but communicates via irDA. The FT7 which is also a great fitness device, an RCX3 which I use for interval training and split timing, and an H7 bluetooth transmitter which syncs with Polar beat on my iPhone. The F55 (2007) required a battery change after approximately 1.5 years, not as user friendly to change as the newer models such as the FT7, but I did it myself. The H7 transmitter I see requires a battery change about twice a year with me using it an average of 1.25 hrs per day for 4 - 5 days a week.

    FYI. FT7 specs from Polar:
    TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
    FT7 Training Computer
    Battery type
    CR1632
    Battery life
    Average 11 months (training 1 h/day, 7 days/week)
    Operating temperature
    -10 °C to +50 °C / 14 °F to 122 °F
    Back cover
    Polyamide

    Watch accuracy
    Better than ± 0.5 seconds/day at 25 °C / 77 °F temperature.
    Accuracy of heart rate measurement
    ± 1% or ± 1 bpm, whichever larger, definition applies to steady state conditions.

    WearLink+ Transmitter
    Battery type
    CR 2025
    Battery life
    Average 700 hours of use

    Operating temperature
    -10 °C to +50 °C / 14 °F to 122 °F

    30m (Suitable for bathing and swimming)
  • Ryderod
    Ryderod Posts: 103 Member
    You have had great success then. I've never had one last more than 1 or 2 years and it has been super frustrating.

    The FT7 I have now reads a heart rate of 177 when I am standing still putting it on. Any idea how to fix that?

    Does this reading stabilize and come down after a few minutes, or remain so high?
    This is usually an indication of poor connectivity, try wetting the strap first and seeing if that helps..

    Also, check out this help chart from Polar:

    http://www.polar.com/us-en/support/Abnormal_Heart_Rate_Readings_During_Exercise
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    To your stated purpose of getting decent calorie estimates - all of the cheaper Polar's that have been mentioned (FT4/FT7) also give you cheap results, you might say.

    They are lacking very needed stat and means of getting it if calorie burn estimate is important - they have no VO2max.

    The calculate it based on your BMI (they ask for height and weight) and then decide where that is in the range of good to bad (they ask for gender and age), and from that assume if your BMI is bad, your fitness level and VO2max is bad too.

    Bad assumption - because you can actually improve cardiovascular health much faster than you can lose weight.

    Cheapest Polar for your stated purpose, is the RS300X, maybe $10-15 more than those cheaper Polar's.

    But, what is your workout time, out of your week?
    5 hrs of exercise out of 168 hrs in week is only 3% of your time.

    And the HRM is ONLY valid for steady-state aerobic where HR is the same for at least 2-4 min. If lifting, Insanity, P90X, or similar stuff where HR is up and down constantly or doing anaerobic like intervals - it's not even valid and will give you inflated values.
    So now how much if your weekly time is it actually valid for?

    The Fitbit or other activity tracker will do much better for the other 97% of your time.

    If your non-exercise TDEE is around 2000 daily or 14000 weekly, and your exercise burns say 5x500 cal = 2500 in the week, that's only 15% of your calories (2500/16500).
    Your food logging will probably be off more than that will be off even if you aren't exact on the calorie burn, unless doing more intense or longer amounts of exercise.
  • Myxalplyx
    Myxalplyx Posts: 129 Member
    You have had great success then. I've never had one last more than 1 or 2 years and it has been super frustrating.

    The FT7 I have now reads a heart rate of 177 when I am standing still putting it on. Any idea how to fix that?

    I have had the same problem with my FT7. Worked great until I changed the battery in the chest strap. If you read the instructions, they recommend changing a sealing ring because it can become damaged. http://www.polar.com/e_manuals/FT7/Polar_FT7_user_manual_English/manual.pdf

    I never read the instructions for this thinking that changing the battery was just like any of the watch batteries I've had. Every since, the heart rate monitor has been reading excessively high. I'll tool around with it to see if I can get it to function right. In the meantime, it may be in your best interest to purchase a few sealing rings for when you need to change the battery out.
  • Zuzi80
    Zuzi80 Posts: 21 Member
    Hi there,
    yesterday I've order the "Garmin Vivofit Wireless Fitness Wrist Band and Activity Monitor with Heart Rate Monitor".
    I don't know yet....waiting the dispatching (can't wait actually).
    But I believe is a good balance between the Fit bit and the Polar with HRM that usually are costly.
  • photochik71
    photochik71 Posts: 37 Member
    I just bought the Bodymedia Fit Link. I'm on my second day using it. It's a total eye opener! Now I know how I gain weight so easily. On a day with an hour of intense exercise, I burn roughly 2300 calories in 24 hours. During my spin class today, I burned 433.

    I'm short and have less to lose plus take a certain med that kind of slows everything in my body down. Not sure if it also slows the metabolism or not, but I gained 7 lbs. during my first six weeks of taking it.

    I really wanted an overall picture of my daily calories so I bought the fit link.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I just bought the Bodymedia Fit Link. I'm on my second day using it. It's a total eye opener! Now I know how I gain weight so easily. On a day with an hour of intense exercise, I burn roughly 2300 calories in 24 hours. During my spin class today, I burned 433.

    I'm short and have less to lose plus take a certain med that kind of slows everything in my body down. Not sure if it also slows the metabolism or not, but I gained 7 lbs. during my first six weeks of taking it.

    I really wanted an overall picture of my daily calories so I bought the fit link.

    You might want to read their FAQ's on what their device is going to be decent and no where decent at estimating calorie burns on. It's not really the Swiss Army Knife of tools (meaning it can do anything).

    Spin bike is not one of those, as step-based is still the primary counter of calories. Body heat has much less influence, and that's even if the sensors work well for you.
    The galvanic sensor is the on/off switch basically, that's how it tells it's on you. Don't ever let it sit on the shelf with the sensors touching the strap, it'll think it's on-body. Ya, that's how good that sensor is.
  • criticaltodd
    criticaltodd Posts: 86
    Wahoo Fitness and 4iiii both have bluetooth HRMs if you want to use them with smartphone apps. The Polar H7 is bluetooth as well.

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