Anyone swim with their Polar FT4?

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ebgbjo
ebgbjo Posts: 821 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Have owned my Polar FT4 for several years, but haven't tested it out in water yet. We bought an above ground pool this summer and since I have been using it every day for about 4 hours, would really love to give the watch a try, but not at risk of ruining my HRM.

Those of you who wear your FT4 in the pool, how long are you wearing it for, up to what depth, and by how many calories/min difference are you seeing that makes you think it may be off (comparing your calorie burn for similar length of time and similar heart rate)?

Are you wearing just the watch in the pool? Or strap? Or did you upgrade to boothtooth strap and keeping watch or smartphone near pool?

Thanks

Replies

  • fuelednfit
    fuelednfit Posts: 177 Member
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    I was hoping to use mine in the pool but I read in the instruction you need a special chest strap. The watch itself can go in the water but you will damage the chest strap if you swim in chlorinated or salted water. Arcs could for and just break it. Since I couldn't invest more I didn't get another chest strap. You can look on the polar website for a chest strap compatible with ft4 and suited for swimming
  • dawnna76
    dawnna76 Posts: 987 Member
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    I have but had to have the chest strap uncomfortably tight to keep a reading.
  • ebgbjo
    ebgbjo Posts: 821 Member
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    I lost my polar FT4 somewhere, so I went out and bought an FT7 since they were greatly marked down.

    Tested it out in the pool, swimming fast laps for about 18mins and only got 102 calories. Not sure how accurate it is for calorie burn in water. I thought it would give me at least a reading showing I had burned 9-10 calories per min, rather than 5.67 cal/min.
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 612 Member
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    Bluetooth doesn't work in water. If your FT7 syncs with polar personal trainer, take a look at the hrm graph and see if it's loosing the signal.
  • HelenWater
    HelenWater Posts: 232 Member
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    I used the FT4 with the HRM included with it. I burned 500 Calories after 75 minutes of swimming laps.
  • ebgbjo
    ebgbjo Posts: 821 Member
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    ScubaSteve1962 wrote: »
    Bluetooth doesn't work in water. If your FT7 syncs with polar personal trainer, take a look at the hrm graph and see if it's loosing the signal.


    I don't use the polar personal trainer site. Just the strap that comes with the watch.

    HelenWater, your calorie burn per min isn't too far off from mine. Maybe I was just unrealistically expecting cal/min to be much closer in water as it is out.
  • luluinca
    luluinca Posts: 2,899 Member
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    I've used my FT 7 in the water for 18 months and find it to be very accurate.

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