Chest heart rate monitor

I have used a few brands. My old Polar was amazing, lasted forever. My newer Polar didn't. Now I have a Garmin Vivofit. I like it and it seems very accurate.

I just want to add that the logic is not in the HRM device itself. This is handled by your app or other device (watch, treadmill, etc). You can figure out calories burned with no device at all. Just plug in your details here or use the formula and figure it out yourself.

Calories burned running has nothing to do with HR.

But there are two products that other products that work: Scosche Rhythm+ or Wahoo HR strap. Both are BT and when you decide that pairing them with a phone isn't the best way to train by HR, they pair with all kinds of watches.

dalemckeown wrote: »

...especially when you've got a decent sweat on...

Lightweight hardly noticeable to wear

I would avoid soft strap if you sweat heavy. I went through two about a year apart. Problem with the strap itself not the monitor. I still have problems with data drops with hard strap, only indoors when the recording device is more than a feet away (Zwift and waiting for Amazon to ship my extender), but it's night and day. I haven't notice any difference in feel and the weight is negligible.

dalemckeown wrote: »

Thanks for the input everyone - I'll come back to this after I've done some more research, as i thought calories burned was related to HR.

Thanks,

Dale

Heart rate monitors are sensors that measure your pulse (how quickly your heart beats), and sometimes your R-R intervals (when your heart beats, variations in the rhythm).

These are training tools, meant to help people exercise at a specific intensity, to help people pace themselves during long events, and as a way to judge the quality of a workout after the fact.

They can also guess how many calories you've burned, but that's not what they're for; it's like using the oven as a space heater instead of to cook your food. It'll work, basically, but it's not ideal.

Here are some things that will raise your heart rate:

* Sickness
* Caffeine, energy drinks, nicotine
* Fear, stress, anxiety - fight or flight response
* Dehydration
* Being too hot or cold
* Lots of medical conditions
* Exercise

Your heart rate monitor doesn't know how much coffee you've had or what your mood is like today. It just knows how fast your heart is beating.

Exercise burns calories because your muscles are doing work, which takes energy. It's not your heart burning most of the calories. If you're a runner, most of your burn comes from what your legs are doing.

Calorie burns from exercise can be measured, or they can be guessed. Measuring is hard and expensive so most people don't do it. And that's ok, estimates are usually good enough, especially with the other tools we have available to us.

Sometimes heart rates are a good way to estimate energy use, but a lot of the time they're not. For things like walking and running, simple physics rules. It takes so much energy to move this much weight that much distance, adjusting for hilliness. For weight lifting, your heart rate is completely unrelated to your energy use, you're better off with a formula. It's things like cycling, Nordic skiing, and rowing, where an HRM is most useful for estimating energy use, because there are so many variables with unknown values (eg were you pedaling or coasting, going with the current or into the wind, etc).

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10506547/heart-rate-monitors-are-not-calorie-monitors#latest

Another vote for the Polar H7. Sub $60 on Amazon all day long. Pairs with any modern smart phone.. well.. Android and iOS for sure.