Heart Rate Monitors

[BosunsWife]

My doctor told me that I might want to invest in a heart rate monitor - wrist type. I'm currently trying to get off a plateau and he suggested working out just to burn fat and to keep my heart rate at the optimum (sp) rate for fat burning. I've looked at a few, but they greatly range in price. Anyone out there that has one and what should I look for when buying one.

[MPHenderson]

I love my heart rate monitor. I've had three different brands at all different price ranges. IMHO, the most critical criteria is 1)can you change the battery and 2) can you find a store that has the batteries you need. Believe it or not, I've had one that didn't have a changeable battery; it ended up being a "disposable" heart rate monitor! Then I got one with a battery but after extensive searching, I could not find any store that sold the particular battery it required. So...that's my two cents!

Melissa

Originally posted by BosunsWife:
My doctor told me that I might want to invest in a heart rate monitor - wrist type. I'm currently trying to get off a plateau and he suggested working out just to burn fat and to keep my heart rate at the optimum (sp) rate for fat burning. I've looked at a few, but they greatly range in price. Anyone out there that has one and what should I look for when buying one.

[clairea]

I'm also a big fan of my heart rate monitor. I have the very basic Polar model, and have been very happy with it. I think these run around $49.99, but you can probably pick one up on sale sometime if you keep your eyes out. The wrist monitor only provides your heartrate (not time, etc. as some of the more expensive models do) and does give you the option to set the range you want to be in, with audible alarms if you go above or below your target range. Unless you need these other features, it probably isn't worth getting a more expensive model, IMHO. Before we got the Polar, we had one made by Nashbar, but had a lot of trouble with inaccuracy. The treadmills at my gym will pick up your heartrate monitor, and they are always within a beat or two of what my wrist monitor says, so I think the Polar is pretty accurate.

Melissa -- I never even thought about the batteries. Now I want to go look at mine and see what it has . . .