Shopping for Fitness: A Guide to Heart Rate Monitors

Last month I covered the basics of training within heart rate zones, detailing which zones are good for which aerobic/anaerobic adaptations. I also discussed the various formulas for calculating your heart rate zone, the age-based formula and the Karvonen formula. Luckily for us there’s a much easier way to figure out which zone you’re in, while you’re exercising (no need to stop and do the math). 

The heart rate monitor, my absolute favorite piece of fitness equipment. Nothing has motivated me to work harder, work smarter, and work longer than my heart rate monitor (henceforth referred to as HRM). 

This isn’t an ode to the HRM, although it very easily could be.

Polar Monitor

You keep me on track daily

Now I work out hard

If I were to go shopping for a new watch today, I’d narrow down the field as such. The essentials are just what they sound like, the bare minimum that I require my watch to do. The options are plentiful and you alone must decide what is important to you and what is a selling point that you’ll never really use.

The essentials:

1. A watch with a chest strap. If your HRM comes without a chest strap it will rely on radial pulse readings or the user manually touching the watch, both of which are less accurate than utilizing a chest strap.
2. Output based on input. Does this watch allow you to input your gender, age, height, weight, resting heart rate, and (optionally) fitness goals? If not, how can it accurately determine your calories burned.
3. Coded transmission. This ensures that the information from your chest strap will only be transmitted to your watch and/or cardio machine, not your neighbors.
4. Easy to read heart rate zones. The point of a HRM is to monitor intensity and effort levels and stay in the corresponding zones.
5. Battery replacement. Does it void your warranty? How easy is it to do at home? If you use your HRM 5x/week for an hour you’ll need to replace the watch battery within a year or two. Who wants to wait 1-2 weeks for something you can do at home?
6. Comfort. I.e.: does the watch fit your wrist, are the buttons easy to push, is the screen well lit or large enough, are the options fairly intuitive? If it’s uncomfortable to use something chances are good you’ll use it less and less until it sits in the pile of neglected fitness apparatus, along with the Shake Weight and Ab Lounger.

The options:

1. GPS. Many higher-end watches come with built-in GPS that accurately track speed, distance, and route on a larger screen.
2. “Running options”. I’ll lump speed, cadence, distance, splits, and lap-tracking options together as one. For runners looking to improve times, these might be essentials. For mountain bikers, maybe not.
3. Add-ons. Does your watch allow for the potential purchase of a pedometer, GPS system, bicycle mount, or other accessories if you change your mind and decide you really want to use your watch for another purpose.
4. Data uploads. Some watches download your data from the watch automatically; via USB drives, or only when additional accessories are purchased.
5. Waterproof versus water-resistant. If you’re using your watch for swimming, triathlons, surfing, or other water sports you’ll want to be sure your watch and chest strap are waterproof up to a certain depth.
6. Weight tracking. Are you using your watch as a tool to count calories? Tracking your weight along with it may be useful.
7. Doo-dads. Some people want stopwatches, back-lit faces for outdoor nighttime runs, alarm clocks, dual time zones, calendar, etc. Most watches come with these features built in so they’re not a huge selling point in my opinion.

My experiences:

I’ve purchased two monitors in my life, with greatly different expectations and experiences resulting from each. Like yin and yang, you cannot know the good without the bad.

My very first HRM was a “daily deal” for a Proform Precision Heart Rate Monitor. I bought this to track my calories burned versus the machine readout (unfortunately, I burn much fewer calories than most machines tell me). 

The Proform and all its' pieces.

Pros:

• The kit came with a watch, chest strap, bicycle mount (never used) and manual.
• It was affordable.
• Large, easy-to-read face.
• Calculated calories and fat percentage based on input data.

Cons:

• The chest strap and watch had to be VERY close together to work (less than 2’).
• The heart rate readout would jump from maximum to minimum for no apparent reason.
• The transmitter wasn’t coded; interfering with nearby machines, causing quite a scare for neighbors who thought their heart rate was 200bpm!
• Only saved 20 workouts.
• The watch, but not the strap, is water resistant.

My current HRM is the Polar FT60. I purchased this HRM to replace the Proform which lasted me about 6 months and gave me more grief than anything. I’m currently using the Polar to monitor my heart rate zones while running, increase caloric burn while weightlifting, and monitor for burnout.

My Polar FT60

Pros:

• Three HR-zones and current bpm shown on screen (VERY easy to read).
• Average and max HR shown when workout is completed
• Polar OwnIndex test – is supposed to be similar to a VO2 max test (the test is based on heart rate and heart rate variability at rest and personal information). Mine has gone down since using the Polar HRM.
• It estimates the percentage of fat calories burned during your workout.
• Coded transmission = no interference.
• If you choose to use the STAR training program and you meet your zone and duration workout goals for the week you’ll see stars or a trophy on the watch face for next week (it’s a good motivator!).
• Store up to 99 workouts.
• Prompts you to update your weight so it can update your caloric burn goals.
• Water resistant to 30m (the watch and strap).

Cons:

• HR zones are calculated via age-based formula, which isn’t the most accurate but it can be manually altered.
• Must buy Polar FlowLink to upload data.
• GPS and FootPod sold separately.
• User can replace battery, but doing so may damage the sound chip (I speak from experience).

As you can tell, the Polar FT60 was a much better fit for me based on all the information it tracks. The inexpensive Proform was a great introductory watch into the world of HRM’s, and it might be a great watch for you. Before you go HRM shopping, ask yourself these questions:

Why am I working out?

Will having a HRM encourage me to work out harder, work out longer, or track my progress more easily?

Do I have obsessive tendencies? Will using a HRM cause me to overwork my body or obsess over the numbers?

Can my goals be tracked via another method, like a notebook or pedometer?

What is my budget? HRM’s can run from under $20 to over $300!

Goal                                        Action              Tracking Method

Weight loss                             Walking            Pedometer

                                                Running           HRM

                                                Bicycling         HRM

Weight loss on a budget                                   Map your route via Google Maps

Racing                                     Running           GPS watch

                                                Bicycling         Cyclometer

General Fitness                                               Anything goes, enjoy the process

If you have any questions about HRM’s, heart rate zone training, or general fitness contact me at SeeMeFit or leave a comment here. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences involving heart rate monitors.