Polar HRM's For Cardio & Strength Training? Help!

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SultanPepper
SultanPepper Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi

I am about to set out on a weight loss/fitness drive. I would be doing both cardio and strength training and thought it would be a good idea to get a HRM to monitor how I am doing. I think that all I am looking for from it is to see how many calories I am burning.

I have heard Polar FT7 is good but I also see that the FT80 seems geared to strength training.

Would either of these monitor both cardio and strength training accurately?
Do I change settings if going from cardio to strength?
Would they accurately reflect calories burned doing 30 day shred? Starting on Monday

Also can you help me with functions. I think I only want to know calories but have seen that a lot of others upgrade theirs. Do you think I will want other features straight away if I buy the lower priced FT7?

Replies

  • lfholland
    lfholland Posts: 37 Member
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    i have a polar hrm, can't remember the model off the top of my head, and it seems to accurately measure my 30 ds results. I don't think it accurately measures weight lifting though. From what I have read, using METs is the best way to calculate the calories you burn while lifting.

    I am no expert though, feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
  • SultanPepper
    SultanPepper Posts: 6
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    Thanks for the response dude.
  • rchupka87
    rchupka87 Posts: 543 Member
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    I was wondering about this too. I have read on a couple other threads that if you do get an HRM make sure to get a chest strap... but most of the ones I have seen are watches (my insurance plan gives us a discount on the Polar Brand HRMs.

    I was also wondering what the difference was between a Polar HRM and a FitBit....
  • gomisskellygo
    gomisskellygo Posts: 635 Member
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    I will admit my naivety..when I bought my Polar HRM, I thought that I was buying just the watch :laugh: . But, lol, the watch was just the display for the chest strap (that's all I could see in the package!). I really just wanted the watch as well because I thought the chest strap would be cumbersome.

    I love mine. I usually do cardio and strength training back to back, so I don't know how well it reads just strength training.
  • gerla_k
    gerla_k Posts: 495 Member
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    Hi, I don't know about polar ft7 , I have polar FT4- it comes with the chest strap- and it's pretty accurate- I do both cardio, strength training
  • schlagers
    schlagers Posts: 58
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    I have the polar FT7 and LOVE it! it comes with a wrist watch and chest strap. i was worried the chest strap would be uncomfortable to wear, but it isn't at all which is great! i use my ft7 for cardio as well as strength training and it seems to record my stats really well. With the FT7 you can measure HR, Calories, as well as training time. I'm very happy with the product so far.

    Found another cool feature of the FT7 at my gym the other day too, apparently it syncs up with the cardio machines there (brand: Life Fitness) which is kind of nice.
  • gomisskellygo
    gomisskellygo Posts: 635 Member
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    Found another cool feature of the FT7 at my gym the other day too, apparently it syncs up with the cardio machines there (brand: Life Fitness) which is kind of nice.

    Yes! I was so impressed by this!!
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    If you are lifting heavy, then no HRM is giong to measure cals burned during strength training accurately. They are great for cardio, but not good for strength training.
  • firstnamekaren
    firstnamekaren Posts: 274 Member
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    I love my FT4 w/ chest strap. I use it for cardio and strength training and I didn't have any problems. I know it's probably inaccurate but there's not much I can do about it.

    Fitbits monitor EVERYTHING, you wear them all day. They even tell you if you got good enough sleep. They are expensive though!
  • SultanPepper
    SultanPepper Posts: 6
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    Thanks everyone for your responses. I also found this link in another thread which is interesting:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/hrms-cannot-count-calories-during-strength-training-17698

    So I guess now what I want to know is what is the advantage of a Polar FT80 (more expensive) over the FT7 if calories burned during weight lifting cannot be measured accurately?

    I will be doing mostly cardio anyway so will still get a HRM, but which one? hmmmmmm
  • Drastiic
    Drastiic Posts: 322 Member
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    I have the Polar FT4M w/ chest strap. I use it for both cardio and weight lifting. Since HRM's can't accurately keep track of calories burned during weight lifting, I use it mainly for the automatic target zone. It will beep at you if you go too high or are too low. When I go above the zone I know I need to rest longer between sets. When it gets to the lower end of the zone, I start my next set. I've had it for about 2 weeks now, and I'm satisfied with my purchase. It's an entry-level model, so it's a no frills product but gets the job done. It gives me total duration, time in zone, calories burned, avg. heart rate, & max heart rate.
  • gerla_k
    gerla_k Posts: 495 Member
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    Found another cool feature of the FT7 at my gym the other day too, apparently it syncs up with the cardio machines there (brand: Life Fitness) which is kind of nice.

    Yes! I was so impressed by this!!

    My FT4 syncs up with treadmill/ eliptical as well- machines show your HR , pretty cool :)

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