I'm starting to investigate heart rate monitor watches. I was also thinking something I could use while swimming would be useful although not absolutely necessary. If anyone has any recommendations that I could use in my investigation, I'd be appreciative.

I want all that too! And I want an HRM with a chest strap, not one that you have to press with your fingers for it to read your heart rate. And the watch needs to have a stopwatch, preferably one that stores multiple times. Oh, and I'm cheap, so I want the whole thing for under $50.

The Polar line has the chest strap, the "watch" that reads it (and provides other data), and is water resistant to 30m. I've worn mine in the pool before and not had a problem.

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I have a Nike Imara. Got it on Amazon for $55. It has a chest strap, a stopwatch, and estimates calories burned, etc. It also claims to be water resistant to 50m, but mine got totally waterlogged the minute I put my arm in the pool and I couldn't read the numbers anymore. It still works okay now that it's dried out, I guess...

I paid more than $50 but the Polar F6 does all of that...well..I haven't needed a stop watch...but I would imagine it could.

It has the chest strap, does just fine under water, and estimates calories burned. I also like that the strap is coded - so you don't get crazy numbers in the gym when someone else with an HRM walks by or works out next to you.

Hey, guys - it's a bit expensive, but I have a Polar F11 that does everything except for making coffee. It is resistant 50m under water. Takes your information, makes you a program with heart rate training zones, keeps all work outs on file etc etc.

The chest strap that comes with it is abnormally comfortable as far as HRMs go. The F6 is good, too - cheaper and everything, but it comes with a strap that irritates the bra area during exercise.

I'm a HRM queen!

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is wonderful for outdoor activities. I love tracking my distances and seeing it on Google Earth. I bought the bicycle accessories to track cadence. Indoors, no - unless you get your BMR tested at a participating gym and load the profile into it. Costly at $175.00 for the assessment, so I just use it outdoors. It's setup for triathlons I do believe. It's a clunky beast (looks like the first digital watch ever, a computer on your wrist). I think there are newer sleeker versions out.

The Polar F4 was fine for a basic HRM. Unfortunately mine clunked out after 6 months of steady use.

I now have the F11, which meets your criteria. I haven't explored everything, but know it's water resistant and has a stopwatch. I got it because I had a bunch of American Express points about to expire and thought why not? Better than chocolate and free to boot.

My dream HRM would be one of the newer ones by Garmin with GPS built in and sleeker than the 305. That would be perfect for triathlons and such because of the awesome distance stats.

Over $100 for the Polar F6! Yowza! That is way more than I want to spend on an HRM and that seems to be the cheapest one. I don't even want to know what the more high-end models cost. Guess I'll be sticking with the perceived exertion scale to estimate the intensity of my workouts. Oh well. The chest strap would probably look dorky with my bikini anyway.

If you keep an eye out, Target has sales on the Polar stuff all the time. I got mine for somewhere around $75 because it was on sale and I had a coupon for $10.

I think you can also get them on Amazon.com at great prices when they go on sale there once in a while.

But honestly I have to tell you that the money I spent on the HRM is some of the best money I've ever spent on myself. If I had to pay full price to do it all over again, I would. I'd pay double. My workouts have become much more efficient and effective since having the HRM. I never thought I'd say that and I *cringed* when I spent what I spent ... but it's been worth every penny and then some.

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I knew about the Polar's although didn't know the different models. I do like the colored ones. Although on Amazon, the #1 rated heart rate monitor watch is $32 and by Omron.

Has anyone seen or used this one? It has a chest strap as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HR-100C-...dp/B000A5CEUO/

The Polars are slightly less popular but I'm assuming due to price/value not functionality.

check out the timex ironman (they make womens too) I got mine at walmart but they sell them at amazon. mine counts laps but they make one that's a HRM

I have a friend who has a very expensive high end Polar and she said she doesn't really trust the readings in the pool but she takes it there.

I'm excited because after a bit of back and forth, I decided on one and I was thinking of waiting for a while versus buying it now. I decided to go for it now.

I ordered the Polar FT40. Its a bit more expensive than I wanted initially but I think with my goals, it will stay with me for a while before I feel I need to upgrade to a higher end model, if I decide to go that way.

http://www.polarusa.com/us-en/produc...straining/FT40

My HRM is a super cheapo "SportCraft" from Walmart. It does all I need it to do - basic HRM and stopwatch features (minimal lap stops, but I've never needed it), and water resistant to 30m. I've worn it in the pool for years, and other than needing a replacement elastic band for the chest strap (due to the chlorine eating the elastic) it's been perfect.

The only warnings in the instructions were to not push buttons UNDER the water (fine if it's wet and above water), and I've never had a problem with the thing. I think it was $35 or so, but that was probably 5 years ago.

I have the nike imara but have not worn it in the water so I cannot report on H2O perfomance. I paid $35 at costco. It is now being sold for $29.

I have a Polar F6, and I love it. I got mine at Teh Sports Authority... they were on sale, 25% off, adn I had a $10 off coupon.. So I think it was $80ish.