heart rate moniters

Wal mart has some for around 30

I don't think they are worth the money. MFP is about as accurate.

I got a Polar FT4 HRM on Amazon for about $65 and it is great! It shows you your heart rate and counts the calories burned (plus you input your stats so you know that it is accurate). I would definitely recommend it!

I have two.
The first one my wife bought for me 1.5 years ago. About $30. To get a heart rate I have to hold my finger on the watch face. It's good for spot readings, NOT continuous heart rate monitoring. As I sweat more the watch thinks I am trying to get a reading which is not accurate or just no reading.
I bought a HRM with a chest strap so I could have a continuous reading.
I am watching my heart rate, not calories burned.

Here is some interesting reading.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21178923
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/UponThisRock/view/much-ado-about-heart-rate-263994

I just replaced my Polar HRM after about 14 years. I got another Polar - the FT4 for women (in dark pink). I love it! I didn't need a lot of bells and whistles, I just wanted one that measured my heart rate and my calories burned. I got it on Amazon for ~$70US. Polar also makes a Cardio SportsBra, where you snap in the transmitter and you no longer need to wear the chest strap. Prior to buying the Polar, I asked a company which one they recommended and here is the answer - very helpful!

[Quoted email]
Sorry for the delay on the question about the HR monitor!!

You are right, there are a bunch of brands out there that offer HR monitor products out there… and it can get confusing.

We currently offer 2 different brands…. And I will give you some info and you can decide which is best for you.

First one is Polar…. They are the best known brand out there… they have a good reputation for quality and some of their products can count calories…. Plus WAY more! Some of them can even download products to your computer for tracking… to the point where they have stopped calling them “heart rate monitors” and started calling them “training computers”. Each of them comes with one of the chest straps that sends the signal to your “watch” to give you the info. They range from $70 to $230, just depending on the options you want.

One thing I will say is that if you really want to get into it, and spend a bit more money… then explore the Polar website for more info… some of their chest straps can be taken off of the strap and then attached to a special sports bra that they have built. It would be a bit of an investment, but it is up to you…. I am just trying to give you some info so you can hopefully decide a bit easier.

We also just decided to offer a brand called Oregon Scientific. They are known for their high end electronic equipment, but are not as well known in the fitness industry as what a company like Polar is.

They offer some lesser priced products that offer good basic functions for a competitive price. We are carrying 2 different versions…. One is the typical version with the chest strap, and the other is the Strap-FREE version. The strap version is probably more accurate because it has the monitoring strap right by your heart. I will say the strap-free version is the best strap-free version we have tried… we were very impressed by how accurate it was because many of the strap-free versions on the market we have looked at we were less than satisfied with, and that is why we only offer one strap-free version to our customers because we know that our customers expect things to work well.

In MY opinion… if you are really looking for a product that can do many different things and give you those extra features, then I would lean toward Polar…. But if you are looking for something to get started with, that is a good quality that does the basic stuff like track calories, heart rate and can act as a stop watch and a normal watch… then I would probably go with the Oregon Scientific…. Probably the SE102 that has the strap because it is actually less price than the strap-free version. Also… if you run on a treadmill/elliptical that works with the HR monitors, then choose a strap version so that it is a constant monitor…. The strap-free version only checks it on demand.

[End of quoted email]

I don't think they are worth the money. MFP is about as accurate.

For those who have a tendency to over-train or under-train, HRM are great tools, as they can keep you in your fitness improvement zone. Prior to obtaining my HRM that counts calories, I just used the entries from MFP. After using my HRM, I realized the calories burned on MFP were grossly over-stated on some items, and understated on others.

I think it's worth it and anyone who is serious about fitness will tell you the same.

bumping cause curiosity

Bump because I am interested in heart rate monitors...

I have recently brought the Polar FT4 and it’s the best thing I have brought for my fitness. It asks for your age gender etc and has great features.
I was in the same position as you, not knowing whether they were worth the money. But as I get frustrated not knowing how many calories I’m burning while I’m working out it pushed me to get one.

I find that because I can see how many I’m burning I’m pushing myself for longer and if I see my heart rate drop it beeps at me and I jump around a bit to get in "the zone" again.

I would recommend it to anyone that is taking their fitness or weight loss seriously

I've had several over the years. The best being a Sports Intruments that I paid $25 and it lasted about 3 years. I was heartbroken when it stopped working. My Polar FT7 recently stopped. Now I have an FT4. It was about $90 with the extra warranty. The calories on MFP are inaccurate. The HRM with the chest strap is pretty accurate because it's programmed for YOU. I had issues with the reliabilty of ones that you touch (even with the chest strap).