HRM...one final question

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wanderinglight
wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have the Polar F6. Is it really not possible to tell time and monitor one's heart rate at the same time?? This seems...incredibly stupid to me. It looks like you need to exit the "Exercise" mode even just to click over and see what time of day it is.

Or perhaps I just haven't figured it out yet.

I have to say, I am LOVING the concept of the HRM (and it was very eye-opening to see what my usual workouts have been burning, calorie-wise), but I'm kind of not loving the Polar. For a pricey gadget, it feels kind of...cheap.

I am considering bumping up the investment and going with the new Garmin with GPS OR the Polar F11.

Can any Polar F11-ers tell me if you can see heart rate and time of day at the same time?

Replies

  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    I have the Polar F6. Is it really not possible to tell time and monitor one's heart rate at the same time?? This seems...incredibly stupid to me. It looks like you need to exit the "Exercise" mode even just to click over and see what time of day it is.

    Or perhaps I just haven't figured it out yet.

    I have to say, I am LOVING the concept of the HRM (and it was very eye-opening to see what my usual workouts have been burning, calorie-wise), but I'm kind of not loving the Polar. For a pricey gadget, it feels kind of...cheap.

    I am considering bumping up the investment and going with the new Garmin with GPS OR the Polar F11.

    Can any Polar F11-ers tell me if you can see heart rate and time of day at the same time?
  • SGFlyinHi
    SGFlyinHi Posts: 469 Member
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    On the F-11 you can see the HR & Time at the same time. It did take me a while to figure out that you could. I was like you at first & just had the HR & no Time unless you bring your watch close to the strap to show the time. Then I did some more reading, on line, & figured out how to have both showing on the watch at the same time. So if I were you I would look at the Polar site & look at the handbook for the F6 before you decide to upgrade, you may be suprised & find your answer there.

    Good Luck.
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    And...one more.

    Does the F11 have a stopwatch feature?

    On the Polar's site it says that the F6 has this feature, but it actually does not. So, no way to count down for interval training.

    When I called Customer Service, they said the stopwatch feature refers to the ability to hit "start" at the start of the workout and "end" at the end. Hmmmmmm.

    Perhaps I was just too excited about this HRM. I'm a bit bummed with mine...feeling like a kid on the day after Christmas...
  • sr2000
    sr2000 Posts: 230 Member
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    I have the f6 as well, when I want to see the time of day I just bring my wrist up to my chest by the strap and it beeps as it shows the time for a few seconds. I still have a lot to learn about the features of my hrm...
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
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    Yeah, I bring my wrist up to my chest and I see the time just fine. I discovered this during cardio kickboxing.
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    THANK YOU illuminating me!

    Helawat, SRB...how do you find yourself using your F6 mostly? Just curious.

    Ownzone?

    Just hit "Exercise" and away you go?

    HR limits, automatic? And if you do this, do you decide ahead of time how long you will stay in the "zone" during a given workout?

    For example, last night I selected "HR limits --> automatic --> hard" and did the elliptical for 45 minutes. I didn't know how much of that time I should stay in the "zone" -- do you typically decide this ahead of time? I selected "Hard" for my workout, but I was above my heart rate almost the whole time (it only gave me a max of 165), so I didn't know how long I was "in the zone" until I finished.
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
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    This is how I use my F6:

    I hit exercise and I'm off. I'm always in the zone because my exercise classes make sure that my heart rate doesn't drop below what it should be for maximum cardio. There's a lot that I still don't know about my HR monitor as I don't do the OwnZone or anything.
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    Ironically, I find myself above my zone very often. I have it set to 75% to 85% and I'm always up around 88 to 90. I say "damnit" more now then any other time of my life. :tongue:
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    So good to hear what others are doing, thank you for responding. I have been cursing like a sailor as well, glad to know I'm not the only one...
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
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    What are the negatives to going above your zone? I go above my zone all the time and according to my workout on Saturday, my max heart rate was 207 and average was 156. I am 22 years old and didn't figure that was a problem?
  • wanderinglight
    wanderinglight Posts: 1,519 Member
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    I thought it was dangerous, and I also didn't like how it doesn't add it to your "in the zone" minutes when you are above the zone.

    Although after the workout is over, then minutes above the zone seem to be included in the "high" range.

    I asked in another post if anyone has that link to the article from a month or so back that was about understanding the best way to train using a HRM...hoping that might answer a few of my continuing questions!
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    Ironically, I find myself above my zone very often. I have it set to 75% to 85% and I'm always up around 88 to 90. I say "damnit" more now then any other time of my life. :tongue:

    I have the same issue. I will spike, but then come down very quickly. I
  • yoginimary
    yoginimary Posts: 6,783 Member
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    I turned that silly beeping thing off. I hit 172 during weights today, so it goes. I figure as long as I can handle it, it's ok. Before getting flamed here, I'm a complete wimp when it comes to being out of breath. If it hurts, I stop, I don't care who's watching. 172 is ok for me. When I hit the 180s in spin, that was too much. I set my "own zone" for everything from 120-175 - just so I don't feel like I'm being dictated to by a watch!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    What are the negatives to going above your zone? I go above my zone all the time and according to my workout on Saturday, my max heart rate was 207 and average was 156. I am 22 years old and didn't figure that was a problem?

    Unless you have heart problems, I don't think there is any danger to going over 85% (if you are already in some kind of shape that is). It's more that its difficult to stay above 90% for most people, although I routinely stay around 90% for a good 20 minutes at a time now.

    I believe they say above 95% for any extended period (like over a couple of minutes) can be a little dangerous, but again, these are just the estimates of your percentage. Remember, the better shape you put your heart in (and the less excess weight your blood needs to supply fuel to), the more it can take.
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
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    Thanks Banks, that's exactly what I was thinking. I have no current heart problems and felt fine after each workout.

    Thanks a ton!
  • REB89
    REB89 Posts: 493 Member
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    i set a manual workout where you can set the heart rate limits yourself that way it doesnt beep at me!!
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    What are the negatives to going above your zone? I go above my zone all the time and according to my workout on Saturday, my max heart rate was 207 and average was 156. I am 22 years old and didn't figure that was a problem?

    Unless you have heart problems, I don't think there is any danger to going over 85% (if you are already in some kind of shape that is). It's more that its difficult to stay above 90% for most people, although I routinely stay around 90% for a good 20 minutes at a time now.

    I believe they say above 95% for any extended period (like over a couple of minutes) can be a little dangerous, but again, these are just the estimates of your percentage. Remember, the better shape you put your heart in (and the less excess weight your blood needs to supply fuel to), the more it can take.

    The F11 has a stopwatch in the same way that the f6 does I believe. I didn't see any other features in the instructions sadly that would work. BUT you can make it show your heart rate by customizing the display... calories and heartrate, calories and timer, its pretty much up to you.

    Hey banks (I don't want to hijack, a simple yes or no will suffice), not sure if you saw my f11 thread, but since I got my HRM I've noticed that while my resting heartrate is around 59, and within a minute of jogging in place my f11 is beeping at me to lower by heart rate because its peaked up at 179~180 (I haven't seen it go higher yet, even trying to push it higher by high stepping). I'm guessing it spikes so fast because my heart isn't in great condition right now - not a problem, I just need to get it back in shape. BUT from there I can basically start walking in place and it keeps me pretty well in the zone for the next 30-40 minutes (with light aerobics and arm raises in case it gets near the bottom of the zone). Is this out of the ordinary? Or am I really just that out of shape?

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