Do you recommend purchasing a HRM?

I tend to work harder when I'm wearing my HRM, just because I can actually see the calories ticking away. I have a cheap and cheerful one, but lots of folks on MFP reccomend Polar.

I do. I trust it more because the chest strap is where the heart is and not measuring god knows what in my hand. I have a Timex....it's not fancy...but it feeds into the machine I use and it was relatively inexpensive at $50. I know others have different brands...just saying what I have.

yes I reccommend getting yourself an HRM. it'll help give you a more accurate calories burned estimate...

As for what brand/model. everyone on here seems to say polar is the best. I purchased a Sportsline that came with a chest strap. from what I've heard it has all the same features, and does the same job as the polar's, but it cost half as much. check the local stores, and online (amazon) or the retailer websites, and check on the reviews, before you buy one.

i definitely recommend purchasing a HRM; it's a much more accurate way to find out how many calories you're burning than relying on the counts on treadmills/ellipticals, and even the calculator on MFP. i have a garmin 305 that i like, my only gripe about it is that it doesn't get an accurate read when i exercise inside. i'm curious what types other people like to use.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/06/24/exercise.myths.trainers/index.html?&hpt=hp_c2

CNN’s 10 Exercise Myths:

#10) Your cardio machine is counting the calories you're burning.
"It doesn't mean anything," said Mark Macdonald, personal trainer and author of "Body Confidence" about the calorie numbers spit out by the cardio machine.

Some machines don't even ask for your weight or sex.
"It's not asking your body composition," he said. "If you're at 18% body fat, you're going to burn a lot more than if you're female at 35% body fat."

And how many people know their body fat percentage?
The number calculated by your machine is likely not accurate.


#8) Heart rate monitors will let you know how hard you're working. Heart rate monitoring is a flawed science.

The better detector of how hard you're working is not the newest, gee-whiz tech device, but your own body.
"The perceived exertion, your own sense of how hard you're working is a much more reliable of exercise intensity," said Matt Fitzgerald, senior editor of Competitor group.

Perceived exertion means it's your estimation of how hard you are working out and surprisingly, it's very accurate, he said.
"Your perception of your limit can change over time. So yeah, even your own perception isn't perfect. It's still better than heart rate monitor," Fitzgerald said.

Heart rates could falter depending on what kind of exercise you're doing.
The talk test can measure how intensely you're working out depending on whether you can talk in full sentences, short phrases or if you're barely able to muster a few words.

"It's best to learn to recognize your body's signals and get a better control of your effort," said Alex Hutchinson, author of "Which Comes First: Cardio or Weights."

I have a Suunto M4 and I love it! Check out their website www.suunto.com. There is a test you can do on the site to see which HRM suits your needs.

For me personally, I do not. I have trained with HRM for marathons before and it just doesn't work for me. My heartrate is always high when I run (probably 85% of my max) and it psyches me out. I always feel like I am dying when I look down and see that my heartrate is in the 170s! If I stop running it drops down to the 140s within two minutes. So, I think the best way to train is perceived excersion! It is always better to listen to you body because your body never lies. Sometimes the head gets in the way, but you have to learn to control that too!