Hi all!
Today I did a ton of weeding and clearing garden space. I did this steady for over an hour. I was surprised, when I called it for the day, to see this activity burned over 900 calories. I wouldn’t have ever known this without my heart rate monitor. I feel this is a necessary tool for anyone serious about losing weight.
So, what do I use? A decade ago, when I was steady exercising and losing weight, I used a Polar watch with a chest strap. These generally worked well, only occasionally giving issues reading. A few years ago, I purchased a second-hand Garmin that came with chest strap. It wasn’t as accurate, to me, as the Polar had been. It worked, but lost connection more.
About 18 months ago, I purchased my current heart rate monitor (hrm) a Polar M430. This is an intelligent hrm with gps and even a Fitness Test. This test gives VO2 Max level. If your are serious about getting in shape, this number can greatly help you. It also monitors your sleep. There is no chest piece on this setup. It is simply a watch that works.
I have found this Polar watch to be as accurate as the chest strap versions had been. I had tested their accuracy and have tested this one with a 30 second manual test. To do that, I find my pulse in my neck and make a hash mark for each heart beat I feel for the time frame. I found less than 2 beats difference the two times I checked it.
Now, for complaints or weaknesses the device may have, I have only two to bring up.
**The band connection to the watch. The band itself is a fairly durable plastic, but after wearing it for about 9 months the connection where it connects to the top of the watch broke and came loose. I was able to reconnect and fix it with super glue. It has only come apart once since and is again reattached and glued. About 3 months ago the bottom connection to the watch came loose. It wasn’t as bad a break and was easier to reconnect and I glued it as well.
Again, these issues happened with 24 hour wear, doing a variety of rough things.
** The second issue I would bring forth is it’s a bit complicated to add custom exercises. You have to use their website on a device you can hook the usb connector to to get the changed uploaded to your watch. The site is a bit rough to navigate at times.
Overall, if I were to rate the hrm I use now, I’d give it 8 out of 10 scales. It works as it should the vast majority of the time and does exactly what I need it to do.
I will probably update to a newer one in the next few months. I will do a review of the new device once I have it.
I hope this helped anyone looking into this device or a similar one.
Keep it going,
Kimmie
Losing 100 plus pounds 