Is it worth getting a Heart Rate Monitor?

RGPargy
RGPargy Posts: 285 Member
edited September 23 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone :smile:

I have been thinking about getting a heart rate monitor for my workouts at the gym so that i can have a hopefully more accurate way of measuring the calories i am burning during my clases.

Is it really worth paying the money for one or are they just a gimmick and not really worthy of me parting with my hard earned cash?

Replies

  • Amandac6772
    Amandac6772 Posts: 1,311 Member
    Yes! It is worth it and it makes me work harder to see the numbers increase.
  • kimi233
    kimi233 Posts: 271 Member
    YES!!!! I am actually burning way LESS calories than what MFP says I should burn.
  • RGPargy
    RGPargy Posts: 285 Member
    Ooooh ok, that's interesting! Thanks!

    Will deffo get one then!
  • Healthyby30
    Healthyby30 Posts: 1,349 Member
    It was the best investment I've made in a LONG time!
  • LoriLou67
    LoriLou67 Posts: 173 Member
    Well worth the funds! And, you don't have to go all out either. I would however, suggest a model with the chest strap for accuracy. I have a Polar F4, and have used it for the last five years or so. It does everything I need it to do, was about $80, and I have never had a problem with it, just a battery change or two.
  • rljohnson11
    rljohnson11 Posts: 44
    I had a similar question about whether or not to get a body bugg and a lot of people recommended a Polar HRM. I think I'm going to get one for Mother's Day. They have high reviews from what I've read and are less complicated and less costly than the body bugg. I say go for it if you have the extra money.
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
    Yes worth every penny. I love knowing the true number that I burn. I think it the only way to know what's going in going out. :)

    Love mine and rarely workout with out it. I'm actually sad if I forget. I love watching that number go up.
  • StPattysGrl
    StPattysGrl Posts: 74
    My husband gave me a Polar F7 for Christmas... and I LOVE IT! I love seeing how many calories I'm burning. I actually discovered I was burning more calories in my group fitness classes then I thought. Yay!
  • CricketClover
    CricketClover Posts: 388 Member
    I think it is worth it, it took me while to get the courage to spend the money on mine but I am so happy that I did. I would suggest getting a Polar. I have the FT4 and it does everything I need it to do, I am glad I didn't get a fancier one. My heart rate has no problem getting up high enough usually when just walking on a resonable incline I am in the 180's I think I just have a high heart rate. If I tried to run it would easily be over 200 but I don't get dizzy. My main thing is I like to watch my calories. If I am almost done with my workout I up the intensity to get to a better calorie count. Like this morning I wanted to get over 500 and when I was at 472 I walked a little faster, at the end of my workout I looked at my HRM and I had burned 588!
  • TayJoMama
    TayJoMama Posts: 348 Member
    After joining MFP I asked and got one for Christmas thinking I would just use it when I did DVDs or games. But now it's part of my routine of putting on my workout clothes because I have found that my recumbent bike over estimates how much I've burned while my elliptical is pretty close or way under what I actually burn. I love it! BTW I got a Polar FT7.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    the best money i ever spent during my weight loss process was on my HRM. But, you need a good one. the first time, i wasted 50$ on a sportline. If you're serious about getting an HRM look into POLAR. I have the FT4 and it's amazing. I actually let my sister borrow it last night for her class to see if she wanted to purchase one, and she came back and said oh most definitely YES! (& she's been working out for a long time and has never used one) it's great because it's the most accurate you can get (with the chest strap) & you'll know when you need to eat more/less because of how many calories you've burnt.
  • msemejuru
    msemejuru Posts: 229
    I got the Polar F7 for Christmas and it is the best thing to happen to my weight loss since actually deciding to lose weight. I am able to record calories burned accurately. It encourages me to put more energy into my workouts if I see a lower cal burned number than I usually get. I set mine to beep when I get out of fat burning mode which helps me keep pace a little better.
  • mistawalka
    mistawalka Posts: 108 Member
    I've just splashed out on a Polar F4 and its great - a more accurate idea of calories burned and was simple to set up. The chest strap even connects to the machines at our gym so the heart rate comes up on the treadmill/eliptical.
  • hooah_mj
    hooah_mj Posts: 1,004 Member
    It really keeps my workouts real....I was seriously over-estimating my burn.
  • RGPargy
    RGPargy Posts: 285 Member
    Wow, it definitely sounds like it's worth spending out on one then! I did ask my BF to get me one for my birthday but he kept saying "are you sure you're going to use it or is it something that you'll use just twice and leave in your bag?". He has no faith in me, i swear!! :wink:
  • gblotter
    gblotter Posts: 4
    I bought a monitor. I used it at first to measure cal burning for my workout. Because my workout doesn't vary much each day, I have an established estimate of calorie burning without wearing the monitor. The chest strap is annoying for me. Your BF may be right about leaving it in your workout bag.
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
    Yes. A very valuable tool.

    One caveat: Most folks don't realize that 90% of the HRM out there do not actually use your HR to calculate your specific calories burned. That said, they do a pretty good job at estimating since you'll have entered your stats in there. You must update it with your weight change and/or birthday (depending upon models) to ensure it keeps close to accurate calculations.

    There is one that does use your actual heart rate: Garmin 310XT and two others that are also comparable: the Polar RS800x and the Suunto T6d. Some of the higher-end models are considerably more expensive, but many also have GPS which is taking your outdoor walks/runs/hikes (and tons of other sports/workouts) to a whole other level.
  • bethsmith2001
    bethsmith2001 Posts: 11
    I'm worried too that'll it become a thing at the bottom of the bag... is it possible to download the data on to computers at all?

    I'm wondering if I should borrow my friends first to see how I fair... I noticed the comment about having a high heart rate ... think that's me too. Really can't be doing with that going off every other minute!

    :-)
  • pamp1emousse
    pamp1emousse Posts: 282 Member
    I definitely would! I was burning HALF of what the stairmaster said, about 15% less than what the treadmill said, about 15% more than what the elliptical said, and I'd have had no idea what I was burning in spinning classes! Basically, the calorie counters on machines are rubbish :tongue:

    I'd definitely recommend one, but it's important to note that the HRM's calorie count is just an estimate too! Just a better one.
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
    I'm worried too that'll it become a thing at the bottom of the bag... is it possible to download the data on to computers at all?

    I'm wondering if I should borrow my friends first to see how I fair... I noticed the comment about having a high heart rate ... think that's me too. Really can't be doing with that going off every other minute!

    :-)

    Hard to say, but all of the bells and whistles of mine (I have a Garmin 310XT) keep me ADDICTED. I go outside to run and it keeps me motivated. I can pick any four things to show on my watch's face: I pick: (1) pace, (2) calories burned, (3) miles, and (4) HR Zone (mine is set to go off if I drop below 75% and if I go over 90%). When I get home, I hit "finish" and it calculates my heart rate recovery (which is a helpful number to gauge my increasing/decreasing efficiency). Then I set my watch near my computer, plug my little USB device into the side of my laptop and voila -- it uploads the data for my entire run to Garmin Connect. I click on my run, add my notes (rainy, windy, hard, easy, hot and sunny, etc.) and review all of the details. It shows a GPS track (on a "map", or on google earth satellite) of where I ran, shows my elevation gains and losses (cool for when I run hills ...it's encouraging to see that I've run uphill the equivalent of a bit downtown building), my calories burned, my average heart rate, my max and min heart rates, my average pace and speed, and my best pace and speed, and MORE. It does this with numbers and graphically on graphs ... The feedback is very cool plus I love how the watch has a fictional person I can race against and if I set that little mystery guy to just a tad faster than I'm used to, my watch will show me on a little picture how far ahead of me he is and will tell me to up my pace to catch him. There are tons of programs in the watch that I can't even start to explain. And the Garmin Connect website also allows me set goals and review any information I want. My goal is to run five days a week and it keeps me accountable. You can also set goals in mileage or any other factor.

    But this little gadget keeps me super motivated. Plus my stuff is uploaded online, as is my sisters and my daughters, so we can all look at each other's runs any time and compare/compete! That's fun too. :)
  • adhillman01
    adhillman01 Posts: 206
    I looked at the ones you mentioned. They were all really expensive and had GPS, which I don't need. Are there others that use your actual heart rate to calculate your calories that are more moderately priced and don't have GPS?
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
    I looked at the ones you mentioned. They were all really expensive and had GPS, which I don't need. Are there others that use your actual heart rate to calculate your calories that are more moderately priced and don't have GPS?

    Not that I'm aware of, but I'll be watching this post in case someone else knows of one that does. Over Christmas, Walmart had a 24 hour special on the Garmin one for $99. I bought several and gave them as Christmas gifts -- one to my daughter and others to my clients that work their tails off!
  • DianaPowerUp
    DianaPowerUp Posts: 518 Member
    I got one for Xmas, and I LOVE it! The biggest thing I've noticed, is how "off" the monitors in the gym are. I think those are calculate for an avg. 150 lb man, but they always overestimate my calories burned, by quite a bit. For ex, in spin class, the bike monitor will say that I've burned about 500 calories, when really, it's closer to 350. That's quite a difference, esp. if you're using that info to increase your caloric intake.
  • ering
    ering Posts: 183 Member
    I looked at the ones you mentioned. They were all really expensive and had GPS, which I don't need. Are there others that use your actual heart rate to calculate your calories that are more moderately priced and don't have GPS?

    I wondered the same thing. I would love to get one but only need one to check my heart rate and tell me how many calories I burned.
  • CricketClover
    CricketClover Posts: 388 Member
    For the ones with GPS do they just track where you go or can you download maps into it? Say if you are hiking and want to make sure you are staying on the correct trail, that sort of thing. My bf has something like that on his phone but of course it doesn't track the fitness aspect of it.
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