heart rate monitor

nicole81

Tue, Jan 03 2012, 7:50 am

amother wrote:

There's a free android app you can get. It's really cool! Basically, you place your index finger over the camera lens, and it measures your heart rate. You can also record your history and do some other stuff, too. Try to find out about it.

that seems cool for a one time pulse check, but I exercise for hours and hours (and hours) each week and it would be inconveniencing at best, and impossible at worst, to carry a cell phone during everything I do. but it might work as a starting point for beginner exercisers.

I used my new HRM last night for a quick 20 minute routine before I ran out the door to tutor. it was comfortable and seemed accurate. it was nice knowing exactly how many calories I burned.

a real comfort/durability test will be at tonight's cardio-kickboxing class...

KaylaG

Wed, Jan 04 2012, 10:09 pm

Congratulations on your progress so far! I use a heart rate monitor and find it an amazing motivational tool as well as an important safety device (I often push myself so far that I get dizzy and can't figure out why --so my monitor sounds an alarm when I'm pushin' it too far). My monitor has a calorie counter--so I can see how many calories I'm burning even while doing a workout video at home. Love love love it. Best investment I made in my health (besides joining a gym and hiring a trainer). Its Polar brand-- which is compatible with most equipment you use at a gym from bikes to treadmills--so when wearing the chest strap, the readout shows on the screen in front of you as well as your wrist if you're wearing the watch. My watch also tracks my workouts by week an has a stopwatch function-- all wonderful if you're a runner trying to shorten your time, or counting your calorie deficit as an avid dieter. I also enjoy the feature which allows me to select a training zone- say 60-75% of maximum to target when I'm coming back from pregnancy and easing back into a workout--so I'm pushing myself enough to get results but not too far. Great questions! Some folks may not need all these bells and whistles but the price difference wasn't significant enough for me to hold back on some of the fun features I thought I might grow into. Bottom line, monitor heart rate, give you a target heart rate zone and count calories burned. Those are the must-haves. I got mine at heartratemonitorsusa.com and used some sort of coupon I found online. Giving you my model # is irrelevant since my model has been discontinued for a few years now.

Kayla

nicole81

Wed, Jan 04 2012, 10:37 pm

KaylaG wrote:

thanks for your informative post.

I'm kind of regretting not getting a higher end model, especially since I was using a gift card. but alas, the one I bought still seems good. the polar FT4. I've used it for 3 workouts in 3 days and I've been really happy.

my next step is to use it to figure out how many calories I burn in a day without exercise. I do a ton of walking at my job and I'm interested in figuring out my calorie deficit each day.

nicole81

Thu, Jan 05 2012, 5:40 am

chocolate moose wrote:

how high is higher end? I saw one the other day for $650 !!!

lol maybe I should have written "a slightly more advanced model."

the polar ft4 was $70 after tax. the ft7 was $82 and I didn't want to spend the extra $12. and there were some for around $100 which isn't a huge difference either.

I went with the cheapest of the polar because it had the basics that I wanted, and I wanted to save the rest of the money on the gift card for a nice outfit for pesach, because I will definitely need new yom tov clothes by then Smile