can you recommend a heart rate monitor?

Re: can you recommend a heart rate monitor?

• Pacheco825 member

  April 2011

  I have the Timex Ironman Triathaoln watch and love it. Its not too big chunky so I wear it all the time. I just use the chest strap when I work out. Polar is a really good brand but a lot more expensive. Why are you looking at Garmin? Are you a runner? 

                   7/08, 1/12, 2/14, Due with baby #4  2/12/16 

  

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• dukestar5 member

  April 2011

  Thanks!  Yes, I am a long distance runner and a number of my friends have the garmin watch.  I was thinking of looking into that, but I wanted to see what my options are and what other people recommend.

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• asboomer22

  April 2011

  I'm a runner also. I just use a Polar.  I bought my dad a Garmin 305 for Christmas and he's obsessed with it.  I can't call him on the phone these days without a play by play of his latest run!
  

  

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• hannafemme member

  April 2011

  I have a Garmin forerunner and a Polar HRM.  Here are the differences and why I tend to use my Polar much more often:

  Garmin has GPS and uses your distance and pace to calculate total calorie burn.  If you do indoor workouts, you will not get a reading on calorie burn with the Forerunner unless you purchase the additional foot pod for running, and will not get any reading for non-running exercises i.e. cycling, classes, etc... Garmin has a lap counter which is nice for swimming.

  The Polar that I have is not a GPS model, so it uses heart rate to measure calorie burn.  It will always give you a calorie burn.  It you want to know your distance/pace, you can get that in a more expensive, GPS model from Polar.  

   The GPS models have to be charged frequently i.e. every day.  The non-GPS Polar never has to be charged, and the battery lasts about 5 years.

  The Polar strap is more comfortable IMO.  The Garmin has more plastic and leads to chafing.

   Hope that helps! 

  
  

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• strumpet member

  April 2011

  I have the Garmin Forerunner FR60 Womens and love it!  It does not have GPS so the battery lasts just as long as the typical Polar HRM.  I love that the watch is smaller than Polar or Mio and much more comfortable to wear. The strap is about as comfy as the Polar - some people like it more or less, but I don't mind either.  I have a foot pod but haven't used it yet.  There are several display modes that do not require the foot pod - I use the one that shows me total workout time and HR.  Once in a while I'll use the lap counter mode.  My favorite part of the watch is that you can wirelessly download your workout data using the ANT stick (USB dongle) and you will see a graph of your HR over time.  I think Garmin has the best data display/analysis interface out of all of the major companies and that was a huge factor for me.
  

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