I have the Polar M51 to workout. The strap is not uncomfortable at all. I use it for various reasons
w/o intensity
I use it in cardio to check if my w/o is intens enough, so if my HR is below 155 I'm not trying hard enough or the w/o is too easy. The M51 has the feature of three w/o zones. I did feed it in the info it wants (my "fatburning zone" is 135-165), but I don't care much for it. It also tells you the fat% of total calories burned. Again this one is not of interest to me, but might be to you. I do keep track of total calories burned to make sure I fuel up properly and it's another way of measuring my w/o intensity. I also like to keep track of total hours that I've been working out per year.
Progress
The HRM has a fitness test. I use that one about once every three months to check my progress. Now progress is very slow the more fit you are. So keep that in mind when you use this feature and not let it discourage you.
Now I also wear it when I do strength training, but that's just cause I'm used to it. Strength w/o burn only somewhere between 100-200 cals for a 50min w/o depending on which one I do. S&H burns far less calories than ME. But I like to keep track anyway. HR is usually in the 85-125 range.
overtraining
In my w/o log I write down my RPE and if my RPE is high but my Polar tells me I had a relatively low HR and relatively low calorieburn, for me it's a sure sign of early overtraining. And I either do yoga for a few days, or take a day (or more) off from working out.
For running I have the Polar625X. The strap of this one is even more comfortable. It has the same features as mentioned above. Plus you can upload the info into your computer or Nokia cell phone. It has some extra features, like telling you your overtraining, distance measurement, etc. Now the zones have a totally different meaning here. 135-165 is my aerobic zone, 165-175 is my anaerobic zone, 175-185 is my red zone. During long runs I try to keep my HR between 150-155. I check occasiolly when I think I'm going to fast. For speed training I keep my HR in the anaerobic zone. I have recorded my HR occasionally at HR192 so my HRmax would be a little higher (or I'd be dead ;-))) Which is just my logic ;-)))
Hope this helped.
Dutchie
