Heart Rate Monitor/Calorie counters - any suggestions?

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Iamflew
Iamflew Posts: 24 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Having a hard time guessing how many calories to count for my P90x.... I have seen that many have had the same issues - so what are the best monitors to buy - any suggestions? Thanks so much!!

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  • MrsAgi
    MrsAgi Posts: 338 Member
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    I was going to ask a similar question - is there a great deal f difference between the cheap, mid-range and expensive HRMs?

    But doing a forum search on HRM I discovered that they all seem to be inaccurate anyway - so I may as well stick with MFPs inaccuarate guesstimates......
  • ieva015
    ieva015 Posts: 93 Member
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    bump!!!
  • amccrazgrl
    amccrazgrl Posts: 315 Member
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    I have had my FT40 for a year. A month after buying it I liked it so much I got my gf one.
    You can find them on EBay for a cheaper price. It is well worth the cost.

    Edit: Make sure you get one with a coded chest strap.
  • amarsing81
    amarsing81 Posts: 4
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    I too would love to get some more information on HRMs. I am so confused and refuse to waist anymore money on something that is going to be ridiculously inaccurate or not work. I currently have a Sportline S7 HRM (yes, very cheap model and brand). This does not have a chest band and requires you to manually check your heartrate throughout your workout by pressing on the top of the watch (again = cheap). In order to get an accurate heart rate and calorie burn, it instructs you to do this as often as possible. Well I'm sure that you can imagine how frustrating this is and hindering to your workout when you have to stop to take your heart rate. I would love to get a chest band one but I'm so confused on what works and what doesn't. I have a sister that borrowed a friends Polar HRM with chest band and said that after doing a high intensity Zumba class for one hour, it said she only burned 400 calories!!! My watch style Sportline I have been using said I burned over 1000 calories after one hour of Zumba!! I would love to get as accurate of a reading as possible as I have been told that I should be burning at least 500 calories in my workouts for my goals, but I don't want to short change myself or just guess but I also don't want to think "WAHOO, just burned 1000 calories!" when in reality I've barely broken 400 or 500. HELP!
  • cmeade20
    cmeade20 Posts: 1,238 Member
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    bump
  • Reckabek
    Reckabek Posts: 487 Member
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    Polar ft4! Love it! Make sure theres a checst strap whatever u should choose! U can get it on amazon for around 60$ but i got it at target for 93$ couldnt wait a few days! Had the money then and it burnt a hole in my pocket! Hehe
  • Claire594
    Claire594 Posts: 357 Member
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    I posted a similar topic here a couple of weeks ago. Most people recommended polar but I didn't want to pay a lot. I just wanted one that told me how many calories I burned at zumba and doing the 30 day shred. Someone told me about one from lloyds pharmacy which was only 12.99 and comes with a chest strap. I haven't used it for zumba yet but for the shred it seemed accurate enough. I burned more or less what the forums said I should burn doing it.

    I'm happy with it as it seems to do the job and it didn't cost the earth.
  • K_elly31
    K_elly31 Posts: 2
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    http://www.online-stopwatch.com got to this web site. I just time my work out and on your exercise tracker put the time you worked out for how hard or mild and it calculates it for you. cuz its different for your body weight. your profile already has your personal info. so it dose it for you. that's what I do anyways when im doing free range work outs.
  • skadoosh33
    skadoosh33 Posts: 353 Member
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    I too would love to get some more information on HRMs. I am so confused and refuse to waist anymore money on something that is going to be ridiculously inaccurate or not work. I currently have a Sportline S7 HRM (yes, very cheap model and brand). This does not have a chest band and requires you to manually check your heartrate throughout your workout by pressing on the top of the watch (again = cheap). In order to get an accurate heart rate and calorie burn, it instructs you to do this as often as possible. Well I'm sure that you can imagine how frustrating this is and hindering to your workout when you have to stop to take your heart rate. I would love to get a chest band one but I'm so confused on what works and what doesn't. I have a sister that borrowed a friends Polar HRM with chest band and said that after doing a high intensity Zumba class for one hour, it said she only burned 400 calories!!! My watch style Sportline I have been using said I burned over 1000 calories after one hour of Zumba!! I would love to get as accurate of a reading as possible as I have been told that I should be burning at least 500 calories in my workouts for my goals, but I don't want to short change myself or just guess but I also don't want to think "WAHOO, just burned 1000 calories!" when in reality I've barely broken 400 or 500. HELP!

    I have the Polar FT7 and it is said to be pretty accurate on the cardio exercises. Calorie burn depends on effort, body mass, and HR. The machines at the gym don't calculate the HR into their calorie burn. However I think my Polar is a tad high so I split the difference. As far as Zumba burning 1000 cal/hr, probably not. The Polar gives you your average and max HR and tells you how long you were in fat burning and fitness modes. In general I take off 20-30% of the calories before I place in MFP just to be safe.

    I ran 9miles last month in 1:27 and burned 1480 cal @ 177lbs. My average HR was 164bpm and 6mph pace. So that would be about 1000 cal/hr. Just FYI.
  • Chari_Jan
    Chari_Jan Posts: 161 Member
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    Polar FT4. Love it! I was very surprised to see the difference in the machine and my HRM. The first time I used it...the elliptical machine said 240 but my HRM said only 115. I was pissed!! LOL

    It really is nice to know exactly how many calories you are burning. I don't know about ya'll but my calories are like money to me. I love getting more and I love spending more.

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