I'm thinking of investing in a heart rate monitor to see just how many calories I am burning vs. what I am consuming. I'm big on number crunching and seeing if the results pan out. Anyone have a heart rate monitor? How is the accuracy and do you have one that you would recommend?

I've been looking that the Polar ones, specifically the Polar Ft4.

I just got the FT4 and I like it. It's bigger than I expected. I have no idea how accurate it is though - it gives me a higher number than the (non-weight/gender adjusted) one my treadmill gives me. I think of it almost more like a "score" than a hard and fast cals burned number.

Calorie counting is all estimates anyway so I am learning to be ok with that

I have a Polar F11 and it's great I burn much more than my treadmill says and to me it makes sense. I also have a GoWearFit and it's slightly higher than that but the numbers are pretty consistent

Mine have always been polar. The most recent is a Polar F6.

I also have a fitbit -- that replaced my sportbrain... but I kinda miss that the sportbrain was compatible with my Polar.

Neither the newer sportbrain versions nor the fitbit do that yet but track steps just fine.

A.

I have the Polar F6. I love it - won't work out without it now. I had a polar rep/personal trainer help me get started with it. I know now exactly where my heart rate should be for the best fat burning results. If your heart rate is too high, you start burning muscle. If your heartrate is too low, you burn fat but at a much slower pace. My target heart rate is 130. But my trainer recommended getting in no more than two high intensity workouts twice a week. Even though it's not the best for fat loss, it's still good for your heart. My max heart rate is 175 for those sessions but I limit my time to 20 minutes.

Why does your trainer say not to go more than 2 High intensity workouts per week? Could you PM me why he says that? Thanks!

I have the F6 too, but recently replaced the battery at an authorized Polar service dealer, and they said my strap was 51% off (inaccurate) and that to replace it would be $40 something... I was like, no thank you, and i've tested it and it still works fine, but who knows, it may be off a little, like 25-50 cals or so per workout. I bought it in 2008.