Heart Rate Monitor

can someone please tell me the benefit of using one? what exactly do they do?

Replies

  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    If you use one during exercise, they tell you when you are getting an ideal aerobic workout. You want your heart rate up there maybe 20 minutes. What that rate is depends on your age and health rate.

    You don't need a monitor. You can use a clock with a second hand and count your pulse.
  • erinm2629
    erinm2629 Posts: 69 Member
    i use my HRM to track how many calories I actaully burn when working out. i find that the number i actually burned rarely matches what the exercise part of MFP says. Great motivator to get moving more.
  • missy5277
    missy5277 Posts: 88 Member
    so they have nothing to do with counting calories? i thought i read that somewhere...see i'm a mess!
  • PAZlady
    PAZlady Posts: 59 Member
    I use mine to track the exact calories I burn during excercise for my age, height and weight. The machines at the gyms are notoriously incorrect with that information. That way I know exactly how much I burn during a day and the entire week.
  • PAZlady
    PAZlady Posts: 59 Member
    Well, they count calories burned during a workout
  • missy5277
    missy5277 Posts: 88 Member
    so do they give you the calorie amount you really burned or do you have to figure it out?
  • rhonniema
    rhonniema Posts: 522 Member
    so do they give you the calorie amount you really burned or do you have to figure it out?
    tells you.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    Mine gives my the calorie count on the display screen based on my age, weight, and heat rate.

    And thanks for making this thread, it reminded me to adjust my heart monitor settings to drop my weight 10 pounds. (so the 1034 calories I burned this afternoon should have been a bit less)
  • halejr23
    halejr23 Posts: 294
    The are much more accurate than most ways of counting calories since most of them have you input your sex, age and weight. Most machines and even this site only give you an estimate based on the "average" for your age, weight, etc. For instance, MFP is always low, my RunKeeper app is always WAY low and my elliptical is always way too high on the calorie count.
  • oddree80
    oddree80 Posts: 71 Member
    Some will tell you and some will only give you your heart rate.
  • decendre
    decendre Posts: 7 Member
    Oh yes! Mine gives the calorie count and the heart rate. I use it to have an accurate count of calories burned during exercise. I also found that my heart is getting healthier because it doesn't take as long for my heart rate to recover. I have no thyroid, so I really need to count those calories burned as accurately as possible.
  • xMarisaJeanx
    xMarisaJeanx Posts: 26 Member
    I have the Polar FT7 and that gives the calorie count. I believe the FT4 does as well and that one is a little less expensive.