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heart rate monitors
jk
Posts: 1
in General Chat
Just after some advice from others about HRMs. Been thinking about getting one, probably a Polar, but reluctant to get one with too many 'bells and whistles' if you know what i mean. Too many functions just puts me off. My wife got a Polar S625X i think and doesnt use half the functions. Think i'm after one that would help my running mainly but easy to use is the main thing. Whats views on the RS polar series? or could I go simpler than that even? Cheers for your help. John
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Don't see the point of anything else, but you have to ask yourself what do you want it for and then you can find the appropiate one for you. Don't bother wasting your cash the top of the line bling machine.
a)avg hr - for the end of the session if this is in my training zone then I have hit the correct intensity
b)max hr - also for comparision at the end
c)current heart rate is in the zone I am training in - it beeps when I go over..I allow this to happen on hills but on the flat /smaller hills I back off a bit if it goes up..
probably not making the best use of it but its working okay for me....
It does have one drawback and that is that it is not coded and therefore liable to "crosstalk" from other Polars. I would seriously advise spending the extra on a coded model to avoid the frustration of a ruined workout.
Cheers
Craig
Heart rate and interval training (two indipendent timers with n°repetitions). for a runner or biker is a very good hr-monitor!
i but it at 125 euro(130$?).
BYe,
I hope in the future to became a triathlete...
All the comments earlier are spot on. Get something simple that displays the information that you need and in a way you can see and understand it fast. The higher end HRM add some great features but to be fair (speaking as a coach and a PT) much of that information is useless if you dont know how to apply it or if the base information is not accurate. For instance if you have a Vo2 MAX number in your head that was derived from submaximal testing or done on equipment that is not the sport you train for and then enter that value with other assumed numbers, other values that are calculated from those base figures become abstracted and therefore a little misleading. In addition to this your HR is just one of many things you need to be 'listening' to. This only gives you an idea of what your heart is doing at that time. (Remember that some HRM read every 10 seconds, so expletive intervals become a little tricky to measure) Even respiratory calulations are based upon heart R-R reading. The body parameters we can all listen to for free are the obvious, muscle soreness, breathing, breakdown of good form, even our own facial expressions. The other thing to consider when doing brick sessions is to remember that Vo2 does correlate with HR in steady state exercise but does not accurately correlate with HR during start stop training sessions. In conclusion to all this I would, in my opinion, buy a simple HRM from a good manufacturer, spend the extra money on a Vo2MAX and lactate test, and finally, get a coach, even if its every so often. Money well spent, in my opinion.
I use a polar F5, that does pretty much al I need for riding and running. it displays the heartbeat and stopwatch at the same time and generally has been pretty good. If you dont want to spend a fortune, you can pick them up on EBAY from some of the shops, so You'll get a new set for around £25 (List is 49.99). Also, if you want to go cheap, then argos do a really cheap one for 14.99 by target fitness. That'll do everything that you need on realyu basic functions (HRM, Watch, Stop watch, average, Max HR etc) for pretty much next to nothing. Although it's totally down to personal tastes and training methods, the really expensive ones are full of functions that i wouldnt have a clue how to use or benefit from.
Good luck.
Not sure where in the UK Decathlon have branches, but for generic sports goods like this they're worth a look.