I am going to buy a heart rate monitor and wanted to see which ones you ladies have and would suggest. I know I want one with the chest strap. I found a timex one that I like as well as a pink ladies polar one. I want to make sure it is the best when it comes to calories burned.

Depending on your budget, you might look into the Gowear fit. This is a consumer version of a technology (bodybugg) often used in research studies where data on participants' daily caloric expenditures are needed. It tracks calories burned throughout the day (you can also track food, I think) through body heat, not just heartrate. It's supposedly quite accurate compared to even more expensive clinical technology.

Note that in order to access the data the gowear collects, you have to buy a monthly subscription. The subscription is on the order of $7/month, and 3-6 months' subscription often gets thrown into package deals and sales. Many people use the gowear for 3-6 months and then resell it, because by that point they have a pretty good idea of how many calories they burn in a day through day-to-day activity, exercise, even sleep.

I don't have any insight on "regular" heart rate monitors, because it's been 15 years since I've used one. Back then, it was Polar or Polar. I assume the technology & the market has changed a wee bit since then.

//b. strong
Kim

PS. I'm not affiliated in any way with gowear or its manufacturer.

I have a polar ft4 coming soon.

I use the pink polar one. Unfortunately, I've noticed that my battery life is kinda short - the screen keeps blanking out. I love the watch, but don't know if this is a defect of the watch or the user.

a trainer I've spoken with a few times highly recommended the Polar FS2C. I haven't gotten around to buying it yet. But he said amazon has the best prices on it.

I've just been researching the heck out of heart rate monitors too. There are so many options, it's mind boggling! I bought one about 12 years ago and WOW!!! have they changed!

Heart rate monitors are cool and you can do so much with them. Polar has been the standard, but their limits are basically heart rate monitors AND if you want to download stuff to the computer, they are not mac friendly. It 'can' be done now with mac with intel processors, but only if you do this, then this and so on.

Then there is Suunto which makes some nice heart rate monitors (same mac incompatability though) and their top fitness watch uses EPOC, supposedly the best way to count calories.

And the brand I just went with is Garmin. I went that route for my specific wishes in a heart rate monitor. I plan to walk and perhaps later, run. It is designed for runners (optional foot pod if you want to use a treadmill) and it uses GPS technology, so you can track your workouts online with their provided software. SInce I live in a planned community with a lot of trails, these seemed the best for me. I went with the oldest (still made) GPS watch and I'm waiting for it to arrive. ANd it's completely PC and Mac friendly.

There's just sooooo many choices. I would go to Polar, Garmin, and Suunto's sites and just look. Then go to Amazon.com to read reviews.

My understanding with the Timex is that it's OK, but other brands do better, but I could be wrong!

Happy researching!

I've always had Polar and they last a long while. The less bells and whistles the better for me -- all I want to know is time, average heart rate, max heart rate. It's nice if it can store data from a few workouts, but not crucial to me. I don't really use the rest of it.

So think about what it is you want info on, and try to find the best model to suit your needs.

GL!
A.

I have that. Got it on eBay, from one of those people. I LOVE IT.

I love that I wake up at 5:15 and I've already burned 500 calories, I love knowing that. I love going to the gym, and checking the before and after, and knowing how much I burned.

I had the 'one month' but you get 3 months free. I've been wearing it daily since 11/15ish and I can tell you, I love it. I just called last night and had my membership extended to be the one-year thing.

It helps me stay motivated, because my calories are ALWAYS right there.

My DH got my a polar RS200 for Xmas. So far I love it. My DH is somewhat obsessive, so he really researched the crap out of the different models and chose this one. It is really versatile and I love that it track "sports zones" (how hard your heart is working) and that it shows calories burned.

I also can easily upload the information to the Polar website and can track my progress.

I have a Polar FT60 with the soft wearlink transmitter strap, have been using it for two years now. It is pink, so might be the one referenced above as having quirky battery life. I haven't had problems with battery life, have had to change them twice now. I have had trouble with the screen blanking out since the last battery change and wonder if I broke something, but that would definitely be from user error and not the fault of the HRM itself.

I like the fact that the FT60 has 'Own Zone' settings where you can go in run a utility to set your own heart rate ranges based on your exertion levels through the process. I run a little higher heart rate than the averages so if I don't set them myself I get an inaccurate calories burned number.

I had a timex HRM with the chest strap and loved it, but, after buying a GoWear Fit (I got mine on ebay for $80) I have found that the HRM was really really overestimating by about 200%!!!!

I love the GoWear Fit and would recommend it, you get to see how many calories you burn for a whole day and night and it shows your sleep efficiency too!

Just my 2¢

Omron 100C ? it has a strap and I bought it because of price and amazon. and I didn't need a calorie counter or a mile tripper or anything else. I just wanted the facts. and its' water resistant.

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

Hi guys! I wish I could stand the chest strap on most of the heart rate monitors but I find them annoying and constricting. So this last summer I switched over to the Mio Motiva Petite!

I FRIGGN LOVE IT!

I actually compared the results to my old Polar before selling it on ebay and it was within 5-10 calories burned during 10 different workouts ranging from cardio, weights, yoga, pilates, Bikram yoga, jogging and various other workouts.

I love that I don't need a chest strap and love that it's just a watch! Also, I bought mine off of ebay for 25 dollars! They are regularly 75 dollars. So, I'm happy with that! Mine can track calories, but I don't do that. Hope this helps!