Do I REALLY need a HRM (Heart Rate Monitor)?????

At this point in time I will not get one and I'll tell you why. I don't want my exercise to be about burning calories. I want to focus on making my heart stronger, replacing lost muscle, increasing my stamina and moving in such a way as to feel great about myself.

I know myself, if I get a HRM it will become all about burning the calories and I will become obsessive about it (this coming from a woman who sadly weighs herself 5-10 times a day).

So I personally don't feel that I need one at this time. I reserve the right to change my mind... but for now, I honestly feel that getting one would cause more harm than good for ME.

I dunno... Some people swear by them, but I get by just fine without any sort of monitors. Just have count out your pulse while you're working out once or twice to see where it's at, and then remember how much that feels... Any calculations involving your heart rate depends on so many other factors as well that the exact BPM of your heart isn't really necessary.

I don't know about the rest, but I seem to be getting by just fine without one. I can't justify spending 100 bucks on an ugly watch. They look complicated. Right now, I can go by what MFP tells me, and I haven't plateaued yet, so I'm cool with it.

I think when you start NEEDING to eat your exercise calories back, it would be an investment worth having.

Do you need one? Absolutely not. Like you said, you can get your perceived rate of exertion just by your breathes, your pulse, etc (I can't go by sweat because I sweat like a pig regardless of how hard I'm working out and its a false indicator).

Are they a "nice to have" if you are looking for a new gadget or a reward? Absolutely. I love my HRM because I know with a bit more certainty the calories I'm burning. I can't lie to myself about how hard I'm really working. I can bump up my HR doing intervals, etc. But then again, I'm a data nerd so I just really like it. Do I NEED it? Nope. In fact, I went for 4 months without when the battery died in my old one (after 5 years).

If you want to buy one, I say it's definitely worth it. If you are on a tight budget and don't feel you need one, I'd say forgo it for now.

FYI - do not go cheap with just the watch. You need to get one with a chest strap or it is worse than useless IMHO --- I like Polar brand - the F6 of F7F.

Speaking as a complete gadget, technology, and numbers freak, I can tell you - NO, you definitely don't NEED one to succeed.

It realy depends. some people have great success with them. But I have been doing well just using the estimate that MFP provides. I think as you get closer to your goal it can help you really focus in on your calorie range, especially when the weight loss slows down.

I have found this to be true also! MFP is shockingly accurate!

I have one and honestly I don't like to workout without it. It tells you how hard you're working and if you need to push it. Tells you exactly what percentage of your calories you burned are from fat. It's a great tool that lets you know how you are doing. I highly recommend it. I suppose is a personal choice, but you won't regret it. Oh, by the way, you burn the more calories from fat when you do a combination of weight training and cardio!!

At this point in time I will not get one and I'll tell you why. I don't my exercise to be about burning calories. I want to focus on making my heart stronger, replacing lost muscle, increasing my stamina and moving in such a way as to feel great about myself.

I know myself, if I get a HRM it will become all about burning the calories and I will become obsessive about it (this coming from a woman who sadly weighs herself 5-10 times a day).

So I personally don't feel that I need one at this time. I reserve the right to change my mind... but for now, I honestly feel that getting one would cause more harm than good for ME.

While I agree that working out should be about overall fitness, not just calories and weight I think you should reconsider using a HRM if you want to see how your heart is doing.

I use one to see my recovery times and I love to see how stronger it's gotten over the past few months.
The HRM does a great job of telling me if I'm working my heart at max capacity, when to slow down, when to speed up, and how long it goes back to normal after an intense workout. I don't really care about calories either, but my workouts allow me to burn between 800-1400 per 45 minutes, so I can't complain. But I went from having a resting heart rate of 110 (working hard just to lay in bed) to 53 (athletic level).
I say it's an amazing investment if you are looking into overall fitness. I love science and technology. So far I've found the right exercise program (Crossfit) for me, and with the right tools (Google Calendar, HRM with chest strap, OMRON Fat Loss Monitor) it's easier for me to log what I'm doing and better predict my results. It takes the guessing out it when you monitor your work better.
And it's nice to see the accurate calorie count at the end as well.

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Polar. It gives me a much more accurate reading on my calorie burn which is so helpful when putting in my MFP stats. It motivates me when I start getting tired during a workout too. I'm an instructor and I wear it every day. Love it.

Something else to keep in mind I read on Web MD... "Some medications (such as beta-blockers) can affect your heart rate during exercise. An exerciser taking beta-blockers may be working at a high intensity but might never reach her target heart rate. Therefore, people on medications that affect heart rate should not measure workout intensity by counting their heart rate."
It was a real eye opener for me, since I am on Beta Blockers, and always wondered why my heart rate would not get up there.

You don't need one, but a HRM with a chest strap is more accurate than the one on most gym equipment or the calories burned value on MFP. I got one because there are workouts I do that aren't included on MFP and I wanted to make sure I was being accurate with my exercise.

I use a Polar FT4 which comes with a chest strap.

I say push yourself each and every time you workout, then you don't need a watch to tell you how hard you're working ^_^

I bought a Polar FT4 for about $78 on Amazon, and I absolutely love it. MFP's estimates are off by over 100 calories in comparison, especially when I enter things like Zumba or a combination of cardio and weights. No, you don't absolutely need one, but I really recommend one (and one with a chest strap, or there's no point). I don't check the calories during my workout, but I love how it tells me when I'm in the fatburning zone. I discovered that when I'm really pushing myself on the elliptical, my heart rate is too high, so there's no reason to make myself feel so miserable. And I find that I work out longer this way. Instead of just leaving the gym, I'll do a few more things, just for the reward of seeing my calories burned at the end.

This is an answer I just gave to another post, although that person asked about interval training, and was only using a heart rate monitor to determine intensity.....so I will pass this on to you....Especially pay attention to my third sentence in this response....I don't use a heart rate monitor at all, personally, but if you decide to, here is how to coordinate it to be a better guide.

Also focus on your breathing. Learn RATE OF PERCEIVED EXERTION (RPE) I am a certified trainer. I have worked with clients as old as 96 and as young as 12. The heart rate charts and formula are based on theories, and are OFTEN inaccurate for many people's individual training. For instance, I trained an 82 year old woman, who still worked, swam, played tennis, and did step aerobics. When I tested her, her heart rate easily got to 150 before she even started to breath hard. According to the charts she should be gone. My husband is 52, yet he can get his heart rate up to 190 during his bicycle sprints. And I have worked with people in their 30's who can't safely get their heart rate to 150.

So while the variations in your heart rate are a good indication, you need to know exactly where your exertion level is, to gain the benefit of interval training. You must learn your RPE (Rate of perceived exertion) Bear with me, and I will explain and give some basics.
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1. True interval training is very taxing on the body, so a longer than normal warmup is vital. You can build to a higher level on that warm up, but it should be about 10 minutes.

2. There are different charts for RPE, but I like the 1-10 method. 10 is the greatest, point of exhaustion. 1 is the lowest, rest. I came up with an easy way to figure this out. I have a client talk to me during different levels of intervals. Simply subtract the number of words said between breaths from the number 10, and this gives a fairly accurate RPE level. For instance, if the client can say 4 words between catching a breath, I know they are at a "6" on the RPE scale. If they can say 3 words, they are probably at a "7". If they say 2, they are at an "8" and so on.

3. The type of interval training you describe should be at an 8 or 9. If you can only do 2 minutes, that is what the exertion level is out. If at the end of 2 minutes, you feel like you can do 5 minutes more at that same speed, it's not hard enough.

4. To coordinate your heart rate readings with this, simply make a note, mental or written later, of what your hr monitor says when you are at these diffferent interval levels. Then you can see where it is the next time.

5. You can use resistance to increase exertion levels too. Don't just pedal fast. Try pushing through higher resistance on the stationary bike, if that's available. A spin type stationary bike also allows you to stand and push, adding a leg/core work element not possible by just sitting the whole time.

6. Make sure your difficulty or numbers of intervals increase each week, to build progression into your program. And try different ratio's.....For instance, maybe you can do a ratio of something that is hard for 5 minutes, recover 2 minutes, then try something hard enough that you can only go 30 seconds with a 1 minute recovery.

I hope this makes sense. Interval training is a great way to increase our fitness level, and ultimately change our metabolism. And it reduces boredom and gets us out of a rut, but only when we understand the different levels of exertion and progress and vary it.

Please feel free to ask me questions. Now I'm getting out the door to do my rolling hill run, another type of interval training. I will not have a hr monitor with me, but I know how hard to push and how to recover by now.

good luck to you.