What kind of HRM do you have and why?

Timex Ironman with chest strap.

Think I paid $75 at Best Buy for it.

Love it

Polar F6 with chest strap, I had seen on the forums a lot of talk about the Polar so I went on the website and checked them out and I got one. I love it and I don't know what I would do without it. I think it was $100 something but it's been 2 years ago since I got it.

Polar ft7 heartratemonitorsusa.com $89.00
-fitness/fatburn zone
-chest strap
-comunicates with the machines at the gym
-coded transmiter so you don't pick up other peoples next to you

I also like the polar ft 4, I got the 7 for the added features the fitness/fatburn zone as well as the abilty to swim with it

I have the Polar FT4. So far it seems to be very accurate in measuring calories burned, and I also like the fact that it tells you how much of your workout you spent in your particular heart rate zone.

Hi there,

I got a Polar FT7, is the cheapest I found at Best Buy that had a chest strap with a user replaceable battery, and it works great with the Life Fitness equipment at my gym.

The Polar FT7 shows the calories on the watch when you stop your training session. I just got mine last week and have used it everyday but I have not had time to really play with it and see everything that it does.

Bought a FT7, got it about a week ago and used it a few times and seems great. I like that it shows you how much of your workout was spent in weight loss and how much at cardio. I am trying to lose weight as well as get fit, so it helps me mix up the level to which i work out on a particular day. Also shows calories, i got mine from an online cycle store in the UK, who had got a deal on (also got a further 4% discount with my work discount scheme) - £63 with next day delivery.

Apparently you can swim with it, but it is a little hit and miss as to whether it reads continuously as if it moves whilst you are in the water it stops the reading. As Polar are analogue it is one ofthe few that you can even possibly getting a reading from in the water. I havent tried it yet, but i was warned do not press the buttons whilst under water. However, could not find anywhere where it says it is guaranteed in water, just the usual waterproof details, just read it on here and the supplier said it was OK. I also use the steam room during my swimming programme and not sure whether that might upset it, hence the reason i have not tried yet.

The manual it comes with is very basic, but there is more info online on their site.

I have a Polar FT4 and love it!
My first HRM was a Polar F6, which was recommended to me by a friend who's a personal trainer. That was a great one but you can't replace the batteries in the chest strap in the F6 by yourself - you have to ship it out or bring it to an authorized Polar repair place if there happens to be one near where you live So when the F6 started dying after a few years, I decided to ask for an FT4 for my next birthday. Gave the F6 to a friend of mine who replaced the battery in the watch/receiver so it lasted a few more months.

ETA - both the FT4 and F6 give you calories the entire time you're working out.

This is super important. I hated having to ship my watches out to get the batteries changed.