Best HRM for the workouts I'm Doing

I have a GPS watch for triathlons.. but I use it as my HRM at the gym as well. My Garmin 910xt will not work with HRM during a swim, although I believe the newer version may.

I do "bootcamp" classes.. so a mixture of strength and indoor cardio. I like to have some idea of how hard I am/could be working.. but I never use it to eat back my calories. I always use it when I run and bike per above poster.

I really like my Garmin.. but it probably is a little more sophisticated than what you're looking for.

raven56706 wrote: »

how about for Insanity which is kind of HIIT workouts? wouldnt this be useful?

Hiit isn't steady state cardio, so nope.

What many people do is forget the whole logging this workout & logging that workout. But instead use a calorie calculator that includes exercise up front. A TDEE calculator has you put in a range of workout times. Then averages everything out across your week. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Exercise is for fitness. Calorie burns are not even the most important thing.

Remember, HRMs are training tools. Not calorie counters. They may spit out calorie burn estimates but that isn't really their purpose.

I use a Polar H7 for cardio. I also use it for walking paired with my phone for GPS. I continue to use it for body-weight training but I always figure it's a 30% overestimation for non-steady state cardio. Even with HIIT training on the elliptical it's fine, as long as I am not planning on eating back all of my calories. I compare what my app reads using the Polar vs what the machine reads out without using heart rate for calculation. Doing it this way I've been very happy with results and have consistently dropped weight over the last year. However, if you're intending on taking long rest breaks while lifting, etc. I wouldn't use it, or at the very least figure its overestimation to be much higher than 30%. When I am lifting/body-weight training I really don't give myself much rest in-between sets, I simply switch muscle groups to keep my heart rate up. But then again, I only do body-weight training most of the time. So for me the H7 is a perfect fit.

When you're using an HRM paired with an app that uses heart rate in its calculations you're doing just that.. you're using your heart rate as a factor in calculating calories burned. For steady cardio it makes it much more accurate. For sports, lifting, or non-steady state exercise it's not all that accurate. It will over estimate because your heart rate may stay higher while resting but you may not be exerting energy. Still though, if your heart rate is high enough, you're still burning calories. As long as you keep all that in mind, and compare your calculations with the HRM to estimations without an HRM you should be able to come up with a number that is accurate enough for your own use anyway.

FYI: The Polar H7 would not be suitable for swimming. Polar may make one for that but nothing that reads electrical activity through the skin will be accurate in water.

Just my .02