Polar FT4 HRM

I do, I do!!! lol
I got it for my birthday..I love it!

ok I'm going to ask a really stupid question so beware.
I looked at this HRM on amazon and it's a cute little watch. Are you supposed to wear the cheat strap for it to work? told you, stupid question

Yes you wear the chest strap when you are using the reat rate feature... But not the watch

So, the cheat strap is to measure the reat rate?

Let me get this straight....you don't have to wear the watch when you're wearing the chest strap? I don't see how that works..because I know when I wear both...I can actually SEE my target zones, my heart rate, my time of exercise, AND my calories burned.
NOT wearing the watch makes no sense.

Let me get this straight....you don't have to wear the watch when you're wearing the chest strap? I don't see how that works..because I know when I wear both...I can actually SEE my target zones, my heart rate, my time of exercise, AND my calories burned.
NOT wearing the watch makes no sense.

I have an elliptical machine at home that works with the chest strap (neither the elliptical manufacturer nor Polar mention this compatibility, oddly) to show my HR. I still use the watch for calories burned, though.

Also, if you think you look dorky with a watch, you could put the watch in your pocket, and it would still work.

I really like mine because I do a lot of exercises that are difficult to calculate calories for. I still take it with a grain of salt though.

Someone said they hit the buttons by mistake: Since the strap is what is doing the sensing, you don't need to wear the watch around your wrist. I put it on my bra strap or even onto a machine when I'm using it to keep it out of the way, but it still reads everything.

For certain workouts I like to watch the reading as I sweat, but others, like dancing, you can't focus on what you are doing if you are looking at a watch the whole time.

love it!!!

Have it! Love it! Super easy to use.

Love my FT4 have had it for about 5 months now and I never work out without it. Somebody above mentioned hitting the buttons on accident while working out so they don't wear it on their wrist, easy solution is to lock the buttons when working out

I have it and love it. Use it for gym and swimming. Definately recommend it.

Wait...hold up...you can wear it while SWIMMING? The instructions I read said not to get the actual monitor wet. I am definitely going to research this more...

Just looked it up, and found it SUPER awesome! I was wondering how I was going to measure my burns in the pools this summer...now I know! Yay!

I have the FT7 and love it. The FT7 may have a few other features than the FT4 but they are basically the same. They are easy to program and read. As someone posted the Polar brand is also compatible with some gym equipment and the chest strap will transmit to it.

Don't really understand why people would wear the chest strap and not the watch - for me the whole point of having the HRM is not only to measure cals burned (which is interesting both during and after a workout) but most importantly to ensure my heart rate doesn't get too high. I wear it during aerobics, dance, combat etc classes without any distraction - I mean, it isn't as if you're going to be staring at it the whole time, I just glance down between tracks or every now and again to take a reading and see what's what. If your calorie burn is low then it can inspire you to work harder (I always work harder when I'm wearing my HRM!!)

Definitely recommend the FT4. But as with all HRMs you have to make sure it is fit snugly enough around you otherwise if you're really getting into your class it will fall down and pick up other bizarre rhythms from your body and tell you your heart rate was loads higher than it actually was lol.

I don't think you can post the FT4 results to the web via any kind of programme. Some of the more advanced models enable you to do that but I looked at the online programme and some of the measurements it was taking seemed to only really be relevant for sports scientists or Olympians!! So I don't mind too much about not having this functionality....yet!

i have the pink one and i love it. its my first time using one but it's very easy to use.

I have one and love it

I have the FT7 and love it. The FT7 may have a few other features than the FT4 but they are basically the same. They are easy to program and read. As someone posted the Polar brand is also compatible with some gym equipment and the chest strap will transmit to it.

So they're pretty much the same? I've been researching HRMs these past few days, & pretty much narrowed it down to the Polar FT 4 or 7.

Great thread topic OP, & thanx for the reviews everyone

So I'm really interested in buying a polar, but am also curious about using it without the watch. My reasons for this are because I'd like to see my calories burned during a pole dancing class and I don't want the watch to get in the way of the pole. Is it possible to just wear the chest straps and then see my results after the workout?

Just a quick question. I am doing the insanity work-out and as there are limited exercise options to choose from on MFP I am choosing 'circuit training general'. I thought the calorie estimate seemed ok until I saw other on MFP users with a much higher burn.

I am right to assume that general circuit training is similar to an insanity work-out? Should I invest in a HRM and find out what my 'real' calorie count is?

Thanks