Does anyone have the Polar F4 heart rate monitor?

midnight

Cathlete
I just bought one because I need to have a hrm for my spinning certification class. It's supposed to be designed for women with a smaller profile than the usual hrms. I already ordered it but I was wondering if anyone else has one and how do you like it?

--Lois


"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning" - Mahatma Ghandi
 
hi Lois!

I have the F4! I got it about 3-4 weeks ago. My old one (A5) needed to be sent in for a new battery. Well because I'm so obsessive about my HRM when working out and I can't go one day without knowing how many calories I've burnt, I ran out and bought the F4. It was supposed to be temporary and I had planned to take it back when I got my old one back - I KNOW, I'm so BAD... :p. Anyway, I like it so much, I'm going to keep it!

It is much prettier and more feminine looking than my A5. PLUS, it tells how many calories you burn even if you HR is under 100 - my A5 didn't do that. Also, with the A5, if I stood too close to my TV or had my cell phone or MP3 player in my hand, it would cause the HRM to do crazy things (like record my HR as 255 or something outrageous like that!) Plus it keeps a tally of the calorie burn for a week or as long as you like until you reset it. I try to reset it weekly.

So I guess I'm keeping mine. That's what I get for being so obsessed with my HR/calorie burn.
 
I don't have the F4, but I have the F11, which is also part of Polar's F-series HRMs. I really love it! The F-series HRMs are definitely a lot cuter than the others, and the fact that the calorie burn calculation starts as soon as you start exercising is a big plus. I think you'll definitely be happy with your purchase. :D
 
Laura could you tell me roughly the amount of calories you burn with each Body Blast workout, or PowerMax or StepJam or StepHeat?? My husband bought me one from GNC for Christmas and I wonder how accurate it might be.

Where did you get this F4 and how much does it cost?

Thanks!
 
I bought the F4 from Academy - a sporting goods store here in Texas. (Not sure where else Academy may be but I LOVE that store!) The F4 was $79 plus tax.

I don't have PowerMax, StepJam, or StepHeat but I did do KPC this morning (minus abs) and it came out to 378 kcals. For some reason, I have noticed other people burn significantly more calories than what I usually end up with. (Even people close to my height, weight, and age.) Not sure why, though. For the record, I am about 137 lbs and 5'4, age 33. I think when I did StepBlast recently, it came out to somewhere slightly over 300 kcals. I haven't done the other Body Blast workouts since I've gotten my f4 because I've been in the gym quite a bit lately. x(
 
I've heard of such varying degrees of calories burned and have to believe a large part of it is the monitor itself. I wish I knew which was most accurate. I range anywhere from 500 - 700 calories! I wish/HOPE it's true but I doubt it! LOL :)
 
Hi Emily. I just got the F11, too. Am having fits trying to get it not to automatically go into the OwnZone calculation (with a warmup type thingy) when I start working out, cuase it sets it ridiculously low, when my resting HR puts me at a very high level of fitness. Did you have this problem? Thanks! :)
 
Well, I wonder how many people leave theirs on until they have cooled down & have their final heart rate under 100 HBP. I usually leave mine on for a little while longer after a workout so I get a little more calorie burn caclculation. Also, I have the A5 too, so it doesn't record under 100 HBP.

But I have to say, when I kept track of my workouts & the total calories burned last year, they stayed pretty consistent. For example, RS usually burned the same amount of calories, Imax 3 the same, etc.

Marla
 
Bunbun - you can turn off the OwnZone calculation so it won't do it at the beginning of every workout. It's under HR Settings I think. Also, you can turn it off manually at the start of every workout by pushing Start again after the OwnZone thingy pops up. I don't like using the OwnZone either, so I have mine off all the time.

As for consistency in calorie burn calculations - mine are very consistent. Of course, as I become more cardiovascularly fit, I find that my calorie burn for a particular workout decreases - which one would expect. But I don't see huge ranges at all.
 
I've been wondering how long I should leave the HRM on; thanks for saying Marla! What amount of calories do you burn on an average each day??
 
Of course it varies on what I do and my rotations do vary. example: Terminator Viper-274 cal; gauntlet-540 cal; AJ Kickbox mish mosh-489 cal; Cardio kicks-385cal, L&G extreme (79 minutes) 415 cal. I notice that while the same workouts stay consistent, it depends on how hard I pushed myself through the workout too, On days where I was especially tired from work, my intensity was on the low end.


Just examples. Do you keep track of yours? If so what do your numbers look like?

Marla
 
I do keep track but I'm at work right now. I'm intermediate and did Body Fusion this morning and burned around 540... and that's with taking the HRM off immediately. Yesterday I did Step Jam and burned a little over 600 I believe. I'm not in as good a shape as you are and I have a different HRM. It's a GNC. I'm not sure if it's any good or not but at least it's a reference tool.
 
I do keep mine on during warm up and cool down/stretch and even sometimes a little afterwards. I still feel like it's lower than most people.

I had my BMR checked at the gym and it was 1400 per day which my fitness manager said was the average for women. I knew I had a slow metabolism for how hard I worked! I always have to work harder than most people to lose anything!!!x(
 
I don't know, Laura. Sometimes it scares me that my HR gets so high, although I am comfortable & not nauseous & can speak to you according to my intensity. I know I work out hard. Remember, I have been running since I was 15 so cardio has never been a weak point with me. I also wonder if its hereditary.

marla
 
Brendaz, you say that like its a bad thing. Not at all. Take advantage of the high calorie burns while you can, right? As long as you're not feeling dizzy or about to puke or having them in conjunction with chest pain or pressure or a severe headache, you should be fine.

Marla
 

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