HRT Monitor ???

acarolinagurl

acarolinagurl

Cathlete
Hi Everyone,

I have a Polar HR monitor, it is the wrist watch only, it doesn't have the strap that goes around my chest. I didn't won't that one. I haven't used my HR monitor in a while now, as it was confusing to me and I didn't feel I was getting an accurate reading, due to my lack of knowledge with it. These things are confusing to me. So, my question is this. Does anyone else have this type of HR monitor and if so, can you help me figure out how to use it to get the best and most accurate results and has anyone on here tried the "Body Bug" and do you like it, how does it compare to the Polar HR monitors.
We are having a contest at work, it's all about walking and get moving. Every step I take is recorded through a "tracker", everyone that participated has a profile on line that shows their results, except calories burned. I would love if the Tracker saved that info as well but it doesn't. This is why I ask about the HR monitors, I would love to know how many calories I'm burning, while having fun with this journey/contest. :)

Thanks in advance!
Sandy
 
Good luck with your contest at work Sandy. Even though I don't really use one, I can see how they are great motivators to keep you working hard.
acarolinagurl said:
Hi Everyone,

I have a Polar HR monitor, it is the wrist watch only, it doesn't have the strap that goes around my chest. I didn't won't that one. I haven't used my HR monitor in a while now, as it was confusing to me and I didn't feel I was getting an accurate reading, due to my lack of knowledge with it. These things are confusing to me. So, my question is this. Does anyone else have this type of HR monitor and if so, can you help me figure out how to use it to get the best and most accurate results and has anyone on here tried the "Body Bug" and do you like it, how does it compare to the Polar HR monitors.
We are having a contest at work, it's all about walking and get moving. Every step I take is recorded through a "tracker", everyone that participated has a profile on line that shows their results, except calories burned. I would love if the Tracker saved that info as well but it doesn't. This is why I ask about the HR monitors, I would love to know how many calories I'm burning, while having fun with this journey/contest. :)

Thanks in advance!
Sandy
Click to expand...
 
I loved my Polar, until it died:( I used to be a calorie counting fiend. It is really motivating to see the numbers, at least for me it is. What was the problem with it?

The way most Polars work is that you input your age, height, weight and gender/sex. The reason this is important is that all of those factors influence how much work your body is doing. The way my watch had worked (before the battery died twice.) is it would display the time, time in my THR (you can set your HR limits.) and you could switch between displays depending on the information you wanted displayed. For me, I tended to like the little bars telling me how long I was in my THR, I set that at 150 or higher. My goal had been to see 60 min./day in my THR. Each bar represented 10 minutes. It would turn to black each time I completed an additional 10 minutes.

I don't have a body bug. I know there are other Cathletes who have had one. I didn't think it would be that helpful. Here is why, if you are diligent about counting your calories, keeping your food journal and staying clean on your eats/foods, you can get much of the same information just by watching the effect that foods have on your body. Some people like the bugg, a lot of people don't get any results from it. I lost most of my weight (80 lbs.) just watching my eats with Fitday, getting cardio with Cathe or running before breakfast, and doing yoga. I developed what I call the "Do Not Eat" list, its foods that always put weight on my body. If I eat a donut, I will weigh one more pound tomorrow, if I eat KFC, I will weigh 4 more pounds tomorrow. Its just that I don't want to have a bad weigh in, so I don't eat that anymore.:cool:

It sounds like you might benefit from a pedometer. It tracks your steps.
 
Hi Cathe and RapidBreath!

Cathe I just have to say you've been such an inspiration to me. Seriously! I have many of your workouts and my fav's right now are MMA Boxing and MMA Kickboxing! The contest at work is great and has a lot of us up and moving!

RapidBreath, honestly it's been so long since I used it. I'm going to give it a try tonight when I get home. I would like to wear it all day just to see if it calculates everything ya know? Just curious...but probably wouldn't if my heart rate isn't up.

I do remember setting up my profile as far as my weight, height and such. I do like to "see" the numbers, although I know when I work out and bring on a sweat, I'm burning some calories! :) I'm not sure I knew about the display screens, that would be a nice feature to see.

Congrats on your weight loss!!! Whoo Hoo! After hearing what you've said about the body bugg, I think I'll stick to the Polar. I count my calories, I was doing WW, but I think counting calories works best for me, I understand what you mean about certain foods that are not good for you/me. That makes a lot of sense, I'm going to start tracking that as well. This was good advice!

The tracker I wear keeps up with our steps, love it! I love coming in to work after the weekend just to see how many steps I got in! It makes being active fun!

Thanks again ladies!!! :)
 
Hey Sandy -


I wear a polar HRM when I workout and I wear a Bodybugg pretty much 24/7. I love both, though the BB is not very accurate for me when it comes to burning calories when I am working out. But the BB is very good for me to help motivate me to keep moving. I am a researcher at a university and I am in front of a computer most of the day and well into the evening. The BB helps me get off my butt and up and moving. I am one of these people who workout hard in the am, but am so sedentary the rest of the day that I have a fairly low calorie burn for the day - something I knew, but having the BB to tell me how little I am burning or how much really helps. It is like a pedomenter - if you are trying to get those 10,000 or 15,000 steps/day keeping track of how many steps you've gotten in so far during the day can really help you get up and move. BB, does the same thing for me.

But everyone is different and what motivates one person doesn't work for another. I think the recommendation of a pedometer is a great idea. I have one, of those as well (yea, I'm a gadget hound). I find just moving more can really up the calorie burn. I have an omron pedometer which I love. I got one for my mother as well and she loves hers, too.

Good luck with your contest! Sounds like a great idea!
 
I use a HRM for cycling & sometimes for running but that's abt it. It is an important tool to me when I am training for a bike race & following a training plan. I do a field test (on the bike) to determine my HR zones & from there I can follow the plan.

I have used my HRM for the HIiT workouts just to see, & I have to say the MET values in the Workout Mgr are pretty darn close. And I have compared them to my Garmin, too.

So, if you were wanting to use a HRM for workouts like Cathe's try using the WM for the MET values.
 
Last edited:
I have a polar (chest strap model) HRM and a BodyBugg. The calories burned that comes out of the HRM are pretty close to the calories burned in the Workout Manager. The calories burned as calculated by the BB are pretty close to the WM on steady state cardio workouts but can be a little more off on interval (Imax type) workouts and really far off (by a couple hundred calories) on weights only workouts.

Like a previous poster, I like the BB because I have a desk job and the BB forces me to get off my hiney and burn more calories throughout the day rather than just in my morning Cathe workout. I lost over 60 pounds without the BB just by tracking my calorie intake but got to a plateau and needed something to help me bust through. The BB really did it for me. I have lost 8 pounds in 4 weeks of wearing the BB so the intiial purchase price shocker has definitely been worth it.

In addition, I really think the BB will come most in hand when I am ready to maintain my weight. Something I have struggled with my whole life. Normally, when I reach my happy weight I go back to eating normal and assume my workouts will take care of the rest. Having the BB will show me every day how many calories I burn each 24 hour period and then I will truly know how many calories to consume each day.

I know that is a lot of information to digest and as a previous poster said, everyone has different things that motivate them and help them achieve their goals. It may take some trial and error but you will get there.

Good luck on your contest!
 
Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for the infomation on the BB and WM! I've never used the WM and I'm going to read up on it tonight and start using it! The Tracker that we purchased through our employer sounds simular to the BB, except it doesn't count the calories for us, but it does record any and all steps we take. If we do another exersise such as a weight work out, we can record that in "other activities" it counts it, but doesn't put the number in our "steps" walked.
I'm going to read up on the BB also, as I have a desk job too, but this tracker and the contest we have going with the entire company and then having department teams as well, has me getting up and walking!!! I LOVE a challenge and this has really motivated me! :)

Thanks so much for the great advice!
 
Hi Everyone, I made a mistake when I posted about my Heart Rate Monitor. Instead of it being a Polar, it's a MIO. I replaced the battery and reset everything as the last time I used it, was in 07 ( shrieks) anyway I did MMA Boxing this afternoon and it showed I burned 571 cals? Could this be accurate? I did work hard and was sweating, but I was surprised to see that number, happy, but surprised! :)

Let it be true! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top