Heart rate monitors

Some people may need an I-pod, others it might be a fancy gym outfit or shoes, and some purists do it regardless of the gadgets just because they can. If a HRM elivates your fitness efforts than it is worth it...........

I wanted one because of my blood pressure.
The doctor said not to exceed 150BPM

After working out for a few months, I'll go back
for a checkup and I hope cutting back on the
sodium pays off!

Hello!

I think that you need to manage the information about your workout as well as you do with the food intake.

I explained a little bit in the Team 966 blog

http://team966.com/information-management/

Brgrds / José D.

I never exercise w/o my HRM.

Polar is the most popular line for HRM. If you workout in a gym {or plan to in the future} then Polar may be the brand that works for you. Most commercial grade equipment are programed to read Polar hrm's . You can go basic and cheap that just gives you a readout of calories burn , all the way to having a personal trainer on your wrist. Unfortunately Polar watches still uses the "fat loss zone'. I suggest you just ignore that. It has been proven the fat zone does not burn the calories as an aerobic rate would.

Important factors to consider:

A chest strap is the most accurate to use.

If you plan to workout in a gym, or with others who also have a HRM, then make sure its "coded" This prevents your monitor from picking up the signal from someone close by.

If you plan to use it for swimming, then I suggest you send it to the manufacture to change the battery when necessary. {save your receipt!} Otherwise it is more convenient for it to be user friendly to change it yourself.

If you do buy from an online auction, like Ebay, make sure it is from an authorized Dealer. I have been told it can get pricey to fix w/o proof of purchase. { I am on my third Hrm, 2nd Polar, and have never had the need to get one fixed}

If the chest strap is washable, thats a plus.

I bought mine at HeartratemonitorsUSA.com, there are always coupons with a little discount. Just google it and many will show up.

Good Luck

I got a Polar FT4 a few weeks ago. I love it but was totally surprised by how high my heart rate was getting during my cardio and I felt fine! I guess I'm one of those people that naturally has a higher rate, it's definetely not because I'm out of shape, believe me. One thing I was also surprised by was that the cardio equipment at my gym has a wireless Polar sensor, so just by my being on the machine, it picked up my info from my HRM and displayed my info on the treadmill, without my having to do anything. Which saved me from looking at the wristwatch. Not the reason I bought it (I do lots of step aerobic and kickboxing classes, so I wanted the HRM for that kind of thing), but a nice bonus!

I use a Polar FT7. I love it, when it doesn't crap out on me. You have to make sure the electrodes are really really wet and that the belt is super tight to your skin so you don't lose connectivity. That's my only con for the product, otherwise, I really like it and think it gives me a good reading for what I need it for.

Thank you so much for saying this -- my Polar has been crapping out on me recently, getting stuck at like a 70 bpm (when I am running) and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I wonder if the strap is not tight enough? I will try tightening it, thank you!