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I have noticed that many on the forum are using heart rate monitors and have started to consider using one myself. This week, I have notices that I have kicked up my cardio to 2 one hour sessions per day--it feels great. But if I am going to be doing all this work, I want to be sure that my heart rate is right in the old fat burning zone.
So...if you use a heart rate monitor, could you please tell me about yours? How do YOU use it, does it have a chest strap, if you are a women does it bulge under your workout wear? What would you recommend?
I have a Polar F11 with a chest strap. The chest strap makes it very accurate and I really don’t even notice that the strap is there. It just kind of fits under my sports bra so it’s held firmly in place without being too tight. Most of the cardio machines at the gym can pick up the HR from my monitor so I don’t have to keep my hands on the sensors. I could never get a good HR reading from those sensors anyway - my HR would go from about 30 to 260. Now I keep the HR monitor on, keep my hands off the sensors, and it looks like the reading is much more accurate. It also keeps track of my workouts over time.
I would prefer something that had a better interface to the PC. The sonic communication isn’t very good.
I have a Polar F6 with a chest strap and I love it!
The chest strap is fully adjustable and I find that it fits just fine right under the band of my sports bra. It’s not bulky or uncomfortable at all.
I don’t use the HRM to keep me in “the zone” while I’m working out. The face of the watch is too small for me to read what it says without having to put my glasses on! So I turned off all the beeping and I just use it to record the results of what I did.
I agree with Paula about the computer interface. I never could get it to work, so I just record the data at http://www.polarpersonaltrainer.com and it gives me all the charts and numbers I could imagine!
You know in all the other threads about heart rate monitor, there really was no info about it being a chest strap or something else so thank you for saying that straight off.
I have an odd brand inexpensive watch type that you have to hold your finger against and I would never get this type again. It can take five or more times to read, each reading taking a half minute or more.
And Lisa thanks for starting a new thread on this and asking the right questions!
I have a Polar 720i ... it has an infared interface to download to my PC. Currently, the battery is dead, so it needs to go back to Polar for a new battery.
I wanted a watch that I could put mulitple hours of workouts on, and not over write the previous workload.
It has a lot of functions that I’ve never used (and a bike sensor that I never thought I would use).
I’ve had good luck with both of the Polar watches that I’ve used in the past.
I always thought the chest strap would be so uncomfortable that I never really checked HR monitors but now I think I will. I am getting to the point where I want to know more about how my body reacts to what I do so I can plan my workouts better.
I don’t have a problem with mine either, and I think it’s more accurate. I sweat a lot and can rarely get accurate readings from the hand sensors on the machines.
I use a MioSport strapless strapless watch, which I received as a gift for Christmas. It also has a calorie counter that tells me how many calories I’ve burned. I use it to gauge the intensity of my workouts.
I also like it because it doesn’t have a strap, which I would have to place around my chest. It can be uncomfortable. I used to have one of those.
Some experts will tell you that you don’t get an accurate reading of your heart rate with the strapless model. However, that doesn’t bother me. I’m only looking for a reasonable estimate of my heart rate. It doesn’t have to be exact. I’m not training to become an athlete.
They call the chest strap the “T31 Coded Chest Transmitter!” Sounds more technical that way!
Actually, I think it means that it won’t pick up a HR monitor from anyone nearby. I know if it’s not a coded transmitter, and you’re walking/running with another person with a HR monitor on, you can often pick up their HR monitor info ... a bit startling if their HR measurement is higher or lower than what you “normally” see.
His name is Samson. He is a 95 pound, energetic lab. I just wanted to let you all know that I was able to buy a Polar F11 today at half price because it was a previously opened item in the store. I think I am really going to like it (once I figure it all out!)
