Does anybody use one of those heart-rate monitor straps?

I got one last week, and I think it's great. I always hated having to keep my hands on the stupid handle-sensors on the cardio machines, but this way, all the life-fitness & stairmaster stuff picks up the signal so I can swing my arms and don't have to worry so much about keeping my heart-rate up. The machines just automatically adjust to give me a workout based on the data it's receiving.

I can also use it to track my heart-rate while doing weight-training, too. Just wondering how many other people use them, and if you think it's helped you any in your exercise endeavors.

--Janis

I used one when I was in college and on the crew team. Our coach would adjust our workout accordingly. Usually it indicated that we wern't working as hard as we thought we were, and he would take it up a notch. I think they are great and can help you plan a workout.

If you do it right, you can make your whole weight circuit cardio too. we would start with some cardio, then move to weights, we didn't allow for much downtime in between stations, and if you did have to wait we would just throw in some jumping jacks to keep moving.

Heart rate monitors are amazing. I started using one recently, and have been working-out more ever since. It keeps you motivated beacuse it shows how much calories you've burned, keeps you in your fat burning zone and keeps count of the exercises you do per week.
I would never exercise without it

I have a basic polar heart rate monitor. I like to know what my heart rate is when I'm working out at curves so I know when I need to work harder!

I got one for christmas and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Now I know how many calories I'm actually burning and I also know to work harder on the bike and not as hard on the treadmill to stay in the zone. It is such a great tool!

Amber

I need to get mine back out and figure it out again- its been a few years-lol. I know when I did use it before, that it really does help make sure you are working hard enough...its too easy to think you're exercising harder then you really are. Plus its another incentive to workout a little longer- can I keep it up at xxx for another couple minutes?...and before you know it, you've done an extra 5-10 minutes beyond what you planned

I have a polar heart rate monitor that calculates calories.I work out about 2hours a day and when I am done the watch says I burned about 1200 calories.Is this accurate,does anyone know how accurate the watches are?

I don't really go much by how many calories it says I burned. After 40 minutes at roughly my 124 bpm target heart-rate or more, and another 40+ minutes doing weight lifting, my polar watch usually says I burned about 500-600 Kcal. Which would verify what the cardio machines tell me. I don't really pay as much attention to the calories I burn as the calories I consume. I figure I'm getting in my 40 minutes of cardio above my target heart-rate, I'm doing weight-lifting, I'm getting my exercise in, and that's all I can do.

--Janis

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what heart rate monitor to purchase? Polar? A few mentioned that or any others?

I have the one that came with the treadmill I bought a few years back. I never used it because I didn't want to get it all sweaty. I had used one at a gym once (the trainer who was doing my eval made me wear it) and it sort of grossed me out to know I was probably strapping someone else's sweat on me. Hey, you never know if those things have been wiped off properly.

Anyway, we've moved several times since I got the treadmill and I'm not sure where the monitor is now. But this thread has inspired me to go look for it. I mean, I've decided to make this my new, healthier, more active way of life, right? I just got a new pedometer (love it) and a personal blood pressure reader (love it), so may as well go all the way and measure that heart rate accurately. I've just been doing the pulse thing.

I'm going to go look for it right now! And I'll be sure to wipe it off after using it .

I have a Polar one. I figure all the machines at the gym are rigged to read it, and even the ones who don't advertise Polar seem to pick up the signal.

As for sweaty... yeah - ew. Just wipe it down or wash it in warm soapy water when you're done. It's waterproof. (At least my polar transmitter is waterproof.)

--Janis

I have been thinking about getting one too. It has made such a difference using the ones on the treadmill to gauge my intensity. I also find it really funny when someone near me starts using one and all of a sudden my machine will start reading crazy stuff.

If you are going to use one at a gym with other people around, make sure you get one that has electronic shielding to prevent cross-chatter. It's pointless to be wearing a monitor and have it display the heartrate of the guy on the elliptical next to you! The very basic Polars and Nikes don't have this- I think the minimum you can get one for is about $70-80 but it's worth it if you are using it in public.

I use a monitor when I do spinning classes because I tend to overdo it, and I don't want to be pushing the anaerobic threshhold too often. Recovery takes too long. When I just use the elliptical or treadmill I usually don't bother once the novelty wore off. As long as I feel like I'm working, it's good.

Mel

For me it's more about not having to have the grip of death on the sensors of the machines. I tend to have a very faint pulse, so without the heart-rate monitor, it's hard to get a good reading on just the handle-sensors. Also, while I pay attention enough to make sure I'm working hard enough, mostly it's just measurable data I can use when I'm playing with my spreadsheets and overanalyzing everything.

--Janis