Hi everyone! I´m new here and I have a few questions..

Do you use a heart rate monitor?
Is it useful?
Which one do you have?
Is the calorie count relieble?

I´m planning on buying one but I wanted to ask you first for your experiencies and opinions..

Byeee

I use mine all the time. I think it's useful - mine gives me my average, highest and lowest heartrate for the session. I use to have a Polar which I really liked until it ran out of batteries. You have to send them to a qualified Polar rep to get a new battery. I now have a Timex which I like just as well and you can change the batteries yourself. As far as calorie count - mine gives one but I have no idea how accurate it is. Good luck with your search.

Ohh thanks so much...
One last question, which polar or timex model do you have?

My Timex is the "Ironman Triathlon Midsize Digital Heart Rate Monitor 59761". It has quite a few features and yet it's smaller than most of them.

I don't know what my Polar was - I bought it at least ten years ago so I'm sure the models have changed.

I have the Polar F4 and I love it! I'm sure the calorie count is more accurate than the estimates on the machines and on the activity calculators on the web and I find that setting calories-burned goals for myself really helps to motivate me. It's also nice for when I do non-gym exercise (like going on a bike ride) because I get to count the burned calories. It's great! I'm very glad that I bought it.

Thanks.. I think i´ll buy the f4.. I saw the website and it sounds pretty cool! Or maybe the f6 but i´m kind of broke now so I´ll have to see. Maybe my mon sponsors me lol

i absolutely love my heart rate monitor . more then a normal person should. very useful. i have polar f4 !!!!!!!!!! buy one . i completely recomend it. youll love it. im telling you im a fanatic.

I have a Polar F6 and love it. It syncs up with the cardio machines at my gym, which is a plus.

As for accuracy -- HR monitors are very accurate reporting your heart rate. For calories burned, monitors use a generalized formula to calculate calories based on your heart rate, given your age, height, weight, and gender. So it's only an average for women who are your age, height, and weight, with your heart rate. Unfortunately, they can't directly measure how many calories you're actually burning.

Even though it's only an average, I find the calories burned on my HR monitor to be much more plausible than the ridiculously high number given on the cardio machines. My elliptical machine told me that I burned 420 calories this morning in 30 minutes; my HR monitor told me 248. I think the HR monitor may still be a little high, but much closer to reality.

It looks like everyone loves their F4, maybe I´ll get that one... although the pink F6 is beautiful lol!!
Thanks guys...

I think the F6 is just the F4 with a few more doodads, so if you love the color, go for it!

I have used a couple Polar Heart Rate monitors. I bought an expensive one a few years ago, but now I would just get the pink one, the one I have is slightly large for my small wrist.

I've got a Polar RS200SD, which I like. It does all sorts of whizzy distance measuring stuff which I actually use more than the HR measurements. I like the way the equipment at the gym just picks it up.

I don't really rely on the calorie calculations, although they seem relatively realistic most of the time.

I also have a Polar F4 which I use consistently, and like very much. The only complaint I have is that the chest strap usually starts to slip on me about half-way through my workout and then i spend the rest of the time worrying that it is going to slip all the way down!...I'm not an excessive sweater (sorry), I think its more from the movement...I've got it fixed as tight as can be...does this happen to anyone else? Any suggestions?
I saw this ad for some new shirt that has fibers that actually have the heart rate sensing stuff woven in so no need for the strap, but its $80 and I think I'd be afraid to wash it!

19.3/40 WRE Miles

veggie girl one , also on the polar website they sell sports bras the have a holder thing for only 34 bucks, and its washable. .. . ill look for the link and pm you it

My sports bra has a wide band around the rib cage and so long as I tuck my chest strap firmly under it, it pretty much stays put. Maybe it's just a matter of finding the right bra?

I agree that the chest strap is really clumsy though. You'd think there'd be a better way. (How do men keep the strap in place, with no bra to help?!)