any reccomendations for heart rate watch / monitor?

[pg600rr]

there seems to be a ton of these out there now, any reccomendations on a decent one that isnt too pricey?

 

[gort]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product I use that one and it does the job just fine. Lets your set your heart rate ranges you want to stay in and determine how it alerts you if you drop out of the range. Has workout summary when you're done to tell you how long you worked as well as how long you were in the target heart rate zone. I don't put a whole lot of faith in the calories burned counter since those are only ballpark without knowing your VO2 max. I'm sure there are better/fancier ones out there but this one has worked great for me since I got it in February 2010 and I use it 5-6 times a week.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by gort

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product


Does this come with the chest strap sensor or do you need to buy that separately?

 

[gort]

Comes with the watch and the strap you wrap around your chest. It's nice because it'll read into a treadmill or elliptical if you use one at the gym so there's no "PLACE HANDS ON SENSORS" annoyances every 30 seconds.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by gort

Comes with the watch and the strap you wrap around your chest. It's nice because it'll read into a treadmill or elliptical if you use one at the gym so there's no "PLACE HANDS ON SENSORS" annoyances every 30 seconds.

That sounds cool.. I'll have to look into purchasing one.

How does the device interface with the treadmill? I thought that the hrm and treadmill/elliptical models have to be the same but perhaps I am mistaken... are the interfaces standardized? Having the heart rate display on the equipment would sure beat having to glance at one's wrist constantly.

 

[Gradstudent78]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

That sounds cool.. I'll have to look into purchasing one.

How does the device interface with the treadmill? I thought that the hrm and treadmill/elliptical models have to be the same but perhaps I am mistaken... are the interfaces standardized? Having the heart rate display on the equipment would sure beat having to glance at one's wrist constantly.

Polar is the standard, should be able to use the following with most gym equipment without needing to buy the watch: http://www.amazon.com/Polar-WearLink...f=pd_sbs_sg_16

I would guess other transmitters probably work just as well, but I have no experience with them.

 

[gort]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

That sounds cool.. I'll have to look into purchasing one.

How does the device interface with the treadmill? I thought that the hrm and treadmill/elliptical models have to be the same but perhaps I am mistaken... are the interfaces standardized? Having the heart rate display on the equipment would sure beat having to glance at one's wrist constantly.

I can't give any specifics on how they actually interface together. All I can say is once the chest strap starts detecting my heartbeat it makes a very quiet little beeping sound and I push a button on the watch to signal that I am starting my workout. The few times I've been on an elliptical wearing it, it just picked up the signal from the chest strap without me having to do anything.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by gort

I can't give any specifics on how they actually interface together. All I can say is once the chest strap starts detecting my heartbeat it makes a very quiet little beeping sound and I push a button on the watch to signal that I am starting my workout. The few times I've been on an elliptical wearing it, it just picked up the signal from the chest strap without me having to do anything.

Cool... good to know. I'll just have to spring for one - the $100+ price tag of the Polar monitors held me back but this is much more affordable.