Heart Rate Monitors- Poll

MissKim
MissKim Posts: 2,853 Member
edited September 24 in Fitness and Exercise
What kind of Heart Rate Monitor do you have?? Do you love it? Which kind do you recommend? Any tips?
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Replies

  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
    Polar FT4, I love it. It's great.
  • Miss_Chievous_wechange
    Miss_Chievous_wechange Posts: 1,230 Member
    I use a Polar F6. LOVE it. Would not buy anything else.
  • bovbjerg
    bovbjerg Posts: 172 Member
    So glad you asked this question - I've been wondering as well!
  • lisapisa1
    lisapisa1 Posts: 115
    Polar FT4. Love it! Only thing I would change is to get the higher model that can upload to the computer.
  • tracybarnhill
    tracybarnhill Posts: 124
    Polar FT4 with Chest Strap... I absolutely love it, it has all I need without any extras that I don't. I woudl recommend to anyone looking for one. Found on Ebay NIB for 49.99.
  • liz_bolin
    liz_bolin Posts: 88 Member
    I have a Polar 6. LOVE it
  • sharonuk10
    sharonuk10 Posts: 277
    Polar FT7 .. love it.
  • CalorieNinja
    CalorieNinja Posts: 645 Member
    Polar FT4 I absolutely LOVE IT!
  • Canonoch
    Canonoch Posts: 120
    I've have a Solo 915 that you have to touch the watch to get a HR and I just picked up a FT4 just used it today. I like the FT4 with the chest strap. Don't have to remember to touch the watch all the time and shoud be more accurate because it contently reads your HR during session. The FT4 is a very basic model but like the fact that you input age, weight, sex. You can adjust your HR zone and shows you calorie burned.
  • thegirl68
    thegirl68 Posts: 28 Member
    Polar FT7 - love it!
  • rflowers7
    rflowers7 Posts: 24
    Polar FT7
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
    My favorite is my Garmin 310XT. Before you buy just a basic heart rate monitor, if you're at all the type to walk or jog or hike outside, consider the new heart rate monitors that have GPS added. They do everything the basic ones do, but for a little more, they also do MUCH more. If you like the freedom of being able to go for a walk or run and turn any corner you want and not have to worry about driving that route to find out how far you get, you'll love the new and improved HRMs with GPS added. At the end of your run/walk, you will see exactly how many miles you walked, how much of an elevation gain you walked, how many calories you burned, the speed or rate at which you walked/jogged, etc. Tons of data that, if you'd like, you can upload to the Garmin internet site that will keep all of your workouts with tons of information, that I can't even begin to describe here.

    I initially bought a regular HRM and still have it but now that I have one with GPS added, I never use it anymore just because I love the data and I love seeing how even at the same pace, my heart rate is lower and my cardio efficiency is really improving.

    These things can be expensive but some models are reasonable. I bought a couple of the Garmin 305s over Christmas for gifts (regularly $199) on sale online at Walmart's website for only $99. Not much more than most regular HRMs without GPS with so many more options and motivational features,

    For more on why I HIGHLY prefer these watches, you can read my blog at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainerRobin/view/heart-rate-monitor-watches-something-to-consider-69776

    Just remember that if you buy a basic heart rate monitor, you can't upgrade to the GPS by adding the cost difference. The best I can explain it is that the regular HRMs are like our old cell phones and the new ones with GPS added are like our new smart phones. Once you get that extra motivational level of features, it's hard to go back!!
  • jataijah
    jataijah Posts: 192 Member
    I have the Polar F6 but the battery just died in the transmitter. So I ordered the Polar F4 last night. The F4 transmitter has a replacable battery thats why I changed. But the F6 worked great though.
  • rockabyesarojane
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
    My favorite is my Garmin 310XT. Before you buy just a basic heart rate monitor, if you're at all the type to walk or jog or hike outside, consider the new heart rate monitors that have GPS added. They do everything the basic ones do, but for a little more, they also do MUCH more. If you like the freedom of being able to go for a walk or run and turn any corner you want and not have to worry about driving that route to find out how far you get, you'll love the new and improved HRMs with GPS added. At the end of your run/walk, you will see exactly how many miles you walked, how much of an elevation gain you walked, how many calories you burned, the speed or rate at which you walked/jogged, etc. Tons of data that, if you'd like, you can upload to the Garmin internet site that will keep all of your workouts with tons of information, that I can't even begin to describe here.

    I initially bought a regular HRM and still have it but now that I have one with GPS added, I never use it anymore just because I love the data and I love seeing how even at the same pace, my heart rate is lower and my cardio efficiency is really improving.

    These things can be expensive but some models are reasonable. I bought a couple of the Garmin 305s over Christmas for gifts (regularly $199) on sale online at Walmart's website for only $99. Not much more than most regular HRMs without GPS with so many more options and motivational features,

    For more on why I HIGHLY prefer these watches, you can read my blog at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainerRobin/view/heart-rate-monitor-watches-something-to-consider-69776

    Just remember that if you buy a basic heart rate monitor, you can't upgrade to the GPS by adding the cost difference. The best I can explain it is that the regular HRMs are like our old cell phones and the new ones with GPS added are like our new smart phones. Once you get that extra motivational level of features, it's hard to go back!!




    oooh! sounds exciting. gonna do some online research and update my birthday wish list!
  • Mike523
    Mike523 Posts: 393 Member
    My favorite is my Garmin 310XT. Before you buy just a basic heart rate monitor, if you're at all the type to walk or jog or hike outside, consider the new heart rate monitors that have GPS added. They do everything the basic ones do, but for a little more, they also do MUCH more. If you like the freedom of being able to go for a walk or run and turn any corner you want and not have to worry about driving that route to find out how far you get, you'll love the new and improved HRMs with GPS added. At the end of your run/walk, you will see exactly how many miles you walked, how much of an elevation gain you walked, how many calories you burned, the speed or rate at which you walked/jogged, etc. Tons of data that, if you'd like, you can upload to the Garmin internet site that will keep all of your workouts with tons of information, that I can't even begin to describe here.

    I initially bought a regular HRM and still have it but now that I have one with GPS added, I never use it anymore just because I love the data and I love seeing how even at the same pace, my heart rate is lower and my cardio efficiency is really improving.

    These things can be expensive but some models are reasonable. I bought a couple of the Garmin 305s over Christmas for gifts (regularly $199) on sale online at Walmart's website for only $99. Not much more than most regular HRMs without GPS with so many more options and motivational features,

    For more on why I HIGHLY prefer these watches, you can read my blog at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainerRobin/view/heart-rate-monitor-watches-something-to-consider-69776

    Just remember that if you buy a basic heart rate monitor, you can't upgrade to the GPS by adding the cost difference. The best I can explain it is that the regular HRMs are like our old cell phones and the new ones with GPS added are like our new smart phones. Once you get that extra motivational level of features, it's hard to go back!!

    Just to add to this, if you already have a standard HRM without GPS, if you have a smart phone (iPhone or Android or whatever) there are apps available to install on your phone to do pretty much the same thing,
  • fantm
    fantm Posts: 87 Member
    Polar FT4 - and I love it!
  • amccrazgrl
    amccrazgrl Posts: 315 Member
    I have got 2 Polar FT40's with chest strap.
    One is mine and one is my gfs.
    I got the each separate for $138 on ebay w/ free expedited shipping from the seller Price Thumper.

    Just make sure to get one with a chest strap. They aren't bad to wear and you get used to it. Plus they chest strap makes it most accurate because its near your heart.
  • Flyntiggr
    Flyntiggr Posts: 898 Member
    Garmin 405CX. LOVE it. Better calorie tracking, has a GPS for route tracking as well as elevation gain/loss.

    Costco has it for like 229 - listed on Garmin for 369.
  • Ahzuri
    Ahzuri Posts: 272 Member
    Oregon Scientific Heart Smart, so far so good! I really like being able to see my heart rate change, it came with a chest strap and was only 35ish dollars at the online Walmart site.
  • Triquetra
    Triquetra Posts: 270 Member
    Polar FT7 .. love it.

    I have the same with the chest strap and I love it also
  • houlee
    houlee Posts: 60
    I have a Garmin 405CX with a chest strap, and I love it. It was my Christmas "from me to me" present so I was okay with spending more money on it than I normally would. And I do like the Garmin website, with the calendar that tells me how many miles I logged for the week, and how much time I exercised, etc etc. But I freely admit that I spent a lot of money on a watch that has MANY features that I don't need or that I haven't figured out how to use.
  • abtropix
    abtropix Posts: 133 Member
    Polar FT7 - love it! Got it at Sports Authority with $20 off coupon for about $89
  • mkingraham
    mkingraham Posts: 445 Member
    Polar FT60- I am in love! It does more then I really need but my mother in law got it for me as an xmas gift and got me an upgraded version. I definitely recommend Polar as the brand!
  • Chuck1963
    Chuck1963 Posts: 8 Member
    Polar F11. Works great.
  • pyroxian
    pyroxian Posts: 99
    Polar FT60 - LOVE it.
    Stepped up to this model over the FT40 or lower when I killed my old F55 (by smashing it on some rocks kayaking) precisely because I _CAN_ add a GPS to it (or a foot pod or a bicycle speed sensor) at a later date.
  • tabbychiro
    tabbychiro Posts: 223 Member
    I have the Garmin Forerunner 305 (older model & fairly affordable now), which I love. However, it uses distance & time to calculate calories burned instead of heart rate so it doesn't calculate calories for indoor workouts. I got a New Leaf metabolic assessment done and that gave me a profile I uploaded to my 305 and I think it now uses HR for calorie calculations. If you run outdoors, the Garmin Forerunner is a great tool. There are a variety of sites where you can upload Garmin data if you want to keep a log online.

    But it is BIG, too big for gym workouts for me. So I recently got the Polar FT7 for the gym. It's OK, gives me the basic info I wanted. I was able to get a FlowLink for free when I got it and I do like being able to upload my workouts online and seeing the data that way.
  • lizard9800
    lizard9800 Posts: 474 Member
    Polar F11. I got it over 3 years ago when there weren't as many models available. I love it, but it has a lot of features that I don't use. I recommended my husband get a Polar F4, or there are some decent looking Timex ones on Amazon for half of what I paid.
  • nickscutie
    nickscutie Posts: 303 Member
    My husband has the Polar FT60 and is loving it.
  • mistawalka
    mistawalka Posts: 108 Member
    Polar FT4 - love it - would I recommend it? Yes if you want all the basic functions but get one of the more advance models if you want some of the extras Polar offer.
  • TrainerRobin
    TrainerRobin Posts: 509 Member
    Just to add to this, if you already have a standard HRM without GPS, if you have a smart phone (iPhone or Android or whatever) there are apps available to install on your phone to do pretty much the same thing,

    Indeed. My favorite app for this (Android) is CardioTrainer. And they now have the capability of actually syncing with a heart strap now, too (but I haven't used that approach). When I don't have my GPS watch, I'll use my regular basic HRM and my smart phone Cardio Trainer app (but it's so much nicer to not have to use two gadgets!).
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