Polar watch and chest band

kipr69
kipr69 Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
does anyone use the polar watch and chest band for their workouts

Replies

  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    Yep.
    Have done for about 10 years, so mine is a super old model though.

    As to why? I'm a data geek and like the reasonably accurate calorie burn it gives me.
    I also have a medical condition that affects my legs. I'm biomechanically way less efficient than most people, so tend to have a higher calorie burn just from things like walking (a 7 mile power walk home from work used to take me 2 hours and burn 1,000 calories!). I need to make sure that I put the calories back in to support my recovery, so knowing what I've burnt can be important for me.

    Also, I find the heart rate data useful for checking actual exertion against perceived exertion e.g. when I'm feeling a bit under the weather but training anyway and notice that my heart rate is like 20 bpm higher than normal, I know it's probably time to back off a little bit!
  • Kollane
    Kollane Posts: 45 Member
    M400 and H7.
  • rbiss
    rbiss Posts: 422 Member
    Yes I use them but I'm not sure the model. I got mine on amazon last year. It definitely helped tracking workouts and how many calories to eat back doing steady state cardio and some boot camp classes.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    Keep in mind that your heart rate is influenced by a lot of things you're probably not interested in. Stress, caffeine, dehydration, and a number of other factors will cause an elevated heart rate.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    I use the H7 and app via smartphone.
  • Thick_n_Fit_Mom
    Thick_n_Fit_Mom Posts: 89 Member
    Polar Loop with chest strap!
  • need2belean
    need2belean Posts: 353 Member
    edited October 2017
    kipr69 wrote: »
    does anyone use the polar watch and chest band for their workouts

    Absolutely and I love it!! I have the Polar A300.
  • bmayes2014
    bmayes2014 Posts: 232 Member
    Yes, I have used mine about 3 years although I don't use it much anymore. Its a great product. I think mine is a Ft4. I also learned that it cannot accurately measure calories during strength training - only for cardio. I learned that on one of the board here on MFP
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,292 Member
    edited October 2017
    Just keep in mind that the although the HR reading may be accurate, the calories burned function is just an estimate, and is only somewhat accurate under certain condition (Steady state cardio). If you do intervals, HIIT, or strength training the Cals burned will be waaaay off and most likely overestimate your actual burn.

    Even for steady state cardio the calculation give total cals burned, so you would have to back out maintenance calories. So if you burn 2 cals per minuute at rest and an hour workout says you burned 550 cals you would have to back out 120 (2*60minutes) to get cals burned from exercise to add to MFP, otherwise you are counting the 2 cals/minute twice.

    That said, I do have one, don't use it often, but I wear it during cardio to track HR, not calories.

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