Best Heart Rate Monitor for Tracking Calories Burned

Options
2»

Replies

  • _TastySnoBalls_
    _TastySnoBalls_ Posts: 1,298 Member
    Options
    I got a Pyle sports brand one on Amazon for $30. style is PHRM38PN. chest strap with wrist watch....i love it.
  • Masterdo
    Masterdo Posts: 331 Member
    Options
    I got a Garmin in June, and really love it so far. Heart rate is really nice, it has very cool technology for estimating calories, they actually bought a vendor product from a Finnish company called FirstBeat Technology. It's the most accurate non-invasive (not plugged to a computer lab with a O3 mask), so that's pretty nice.

    I thought I wouldn't care much about the GPS since I have a phone with apps, but the signal is MUCH better, much faster, tracks by the second, and saves it in standard format, so you can take it to many places to log (TrainingPeaks, Garmin Connect, SportsTrack, etc.).

    Great investment, and lots of fun :)
  • AllisonB145
    AllisonB145 Posts: 94 Member
    Options
    I have the Polar FT7 and really like it. It tells my heart rate, calories burned, time in fitness mode or fat burning mode etc....
  • werdnanilmot
    werdnanilmot Posts: 1
    Options
    Suunto makes HR monitors that are hands down the best technology available outside of a sports lab. I have had 2 T6 models and swear by them.
  • gagajenks
    gagajenks Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    Hi
    I am looking into getting a Heart Rate Monitor to calculate calories burned from work outs, I appreciate that there are many online but just asking for help/advice from anyone that has recently purchased one.

    Thanks in advance.
  • louie61403
    louie61403 Posts: 23 Member
    Options
    Hello! I purchased my HRM about a month ago. It's a Polar FT7. I've been very pleased with it. I was looking into the FT60 as well as the Garmin Vivofit, both of which were a bit more money and ultimately out of my price range. I'm very pleased with my purchased. I simply put the chest strap on with some water right before heading to the gym and push a button and off it goes. I mainly take classes (Zumba, Body Combat, Body Pump, etc) with mine and it tracks my max and average heart rate, how long the workout was, how many calories burned. It also gives you weekly summaries which is cool because I think WOW - I burned that many calories last week?!?!?!!! I do NOT have the thing that syncs with polar, I simply just put it into MFP when I record the workout. Although I love the activity bands that are popular right now, I asked myself if I would get bored of wearing one all the time. The other thing that I took into consideration was that when you wear the vivofit you need to look at the calories burned BEFORE you start or it just gets consumed into your daily count. I like knowing how many calories I burned at each class. It makes me feel motivated so I am very glad I purchased it. It's not too fancy but is very reliable. I read some reviews about not being able to get it to sync with the watch but I've never had that problem and I use it usually 6 times a week.
  • gagajenks
    gagajenks Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    Hello! I purchased my HRM about a month ago. It's a Polar FT7. I've been very pleased with it. I was looking into the FT60 as well as the Garmin Vivofit, both of which were a bit more money and ultimately out of my price range. I'm very pleased with my purchased. I simply put the chest strap on with some water right before heading to the gym and push a button and off it goes. I mainly take classes (Zumba, Body Combat, Body Pump, etc) with mine and it tracks my max and average heart rate, how long the workout was, how many calories burned. It also gives you weekly summaries which is cool because I think WOW - I burned that many calories last week?!?!?!!! I do NOT have the thing that syncs with polar, I simply just put it into MFP when I record the workout. Although I love the activity bands that are popular right now, I asked myself if I would get bored of wearing one all the time. The other thing that I took into consideration was that when you wear the vivofit you need to look at the calories burned BEFORE you start or it just gets consumed into your daily count. I like knowing how many calories I burned at each class. It makes me feel motivated so I am very glad I purchased it. It's not too fancy but is very reliable. I read some reviews about not being able to get it to sync with the watch but I've never had that problem and I use it usually 6 times a week.

    Thanks Louie61403 Your response is much appreciated. There are so many out there to choose from and im just looking for something basic to see how many calories I have burned so I can get accurate readings from my work outs. I am using Jillian Michaels at the moment, ranging from 30 Day Shred, Shred with Weights, Yoga Meltdown and Extreme Shed and Shred :)
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Options
    Heart rate monitors only come close to estimating calories burned for a narrow range of steady state cardio activities. Lifting weights, intervals of any kind, yoga, dancing, etc are not among those activities where HRMs accurately estimate caloric burns.
  • gagajenks
    gagajenks Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    Heart rate monitors only come close to estimating calories burned for a narrow range of steady state cardio activities. Lifting weights, intervals of any kind, yoga, dancing, etc are not among those activities where HRMs accurately estimate caloric burns.

    What exercise could you recommend to a new comer who is aiming to improve her fitness levels.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Options
    Heart rate monitors only come close to estimating calories burned for a narrow range of steady state cardio activities. Lifting weights, intervals of any kind, yoga, dancing, etc are not among those activities where HRMs accurately estimate caloric burns.

    What exercise could you recommend to a new comer who is aiming to improve her fitness levels.

    Any exercise that you are willing to do on a continual basis is good. Lift, run, cycle, swim ... whatever gets you moving.

    Jjust don't expect a HRM to provide an accurate calorie estimate for them all. All a HRM does is count heart beats and plug that into a formula derived from lab tests of people doing certain activities .. mostly running or cycling. The device cannot differentiate between an elevated heart rate from running, watching a scary movie, sex, or a roller coaster.
  • gagajenks
    gagajenks Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    Heart rate monitors only come close to estimating calories burned for a narrow range of steady state cardio activities. Lifting weights, intervals of any kind, yoga, dancing, etc are not among those activities where HRMs accurately estimate caloric burns.

    What exercise could you recommend to a new comer who is aiming to improve her fitness levels.

    Any exercise that you are willing to do on a continual basis is good. Lift, run, cycle, swim ... whatever gets you moving.

    Thanks Brian, much appreciate you taking time out to give me advice. :)

    Jjust don't expect a HRM to provide an accurate calorie estimate for them all. All a HRM does is count heart beats and plug that into a formula derived from lab tests of people doing certain activities .. mostly running or cycling. The device cannot differentiate between an elevated heart rate from running, watching a scary movie, sex, or a roller coaster.
  • dempseymom4
    dempseymom4 Posts: 35 Member
    Options
    I had a Polar FT7 and like it but traded up for the Polar Loop with the bluetooth hrm and LOVE IT

Categories