HRM Advice?

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Kitiara47
Kitiara47 Posts: 235
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello all! I've been hearing a lot about these HRMs and I'm thinking of looking into getting one. I know absolutely nothing about them! Are there any brands that work better than others? I've been hearing about chest strap vs no chest strap too. Anything that can help me understand a little more about them would be awesome! :happy:

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  • lovinglife71
    lovinglife71 Posts: 65 Member
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    My journey on buying a hrm, wanted one, cause my walks out in the blistering heat down a sandy dirt rd just felt like I was burning more than a couple of hundred cal's. Anyways went to Wal-mart got one paid $50, so excited, got home, put chest strap on etc. I never could even get the watch to aknowledge the chest strap, took it back. Found the only other one for sale local, excited again to see what I was burning. This one also watch/chest strap went on my walk/run, the stupid thing said I burn 135 cal's for almost a hr. I took it back!!!! Came home googled most accurate hrm for cal burn!!! The top one was polar which for me was a little expensive, but the TimexT5G981 was the most accurate for a cheaper price. I went to ebay found one for $45, it came in about a week. It's Awesome!! went to the gym the day it came in, got on three different machines to compare cal burn only about 10 to 20 cal's off. Came home, went on my walk/run, it said I burned 600 cal's!!! I knew I was working harder than mfp told me I was.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
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    I did a lot of research on which one to buy. After a wonderful article that one of the MFP members posted about HRM I made the decision to drop $152 on a Polar FT60 with the expectations of getting an accurate calorie burn #.
    Unfortunately, the cheaper models don't come with the option to calculate Vo2max which is important in determining calorie count. Also some don't have a chest strap which is also important.

    Here are the factors you need to consider when buying a HRM:

    - Needs to have chest strap
    - Needs to be able to input your weight, sex, height, age.
    - Needs to be able to calculate your Vo2max!
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I'd honestly look into Polar.. I have an FT7 and so far my calorie burn as been accurate. It takes my resting heart rate and my current level of activity into consideration when determining where my "zones" are.

    I'd also stay away from the TImex that one of the other posters mentioned. I had that one and the calorie burn was way off on it because you can only enter your weight and no other information about yourself... so to that HRM you're a male, that weighs X amount and it has no idea what your age is, so how it determines any calorie burn is beyond me.

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