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I’m in love (with my heart rate monitor)
I think I’m in love with my new heart rate monitor.
It swims with me. It aqua jogs with me. It cycles with me. Soon, when my injured calf muscle is healed, it will run with me.
It’s called the Polar FT60, and it’s sparked a whole new facet of my obsessive/compulsive personality.
At first, I resisted its lure. It was just one more gizmo I’d have to figure out how to use. And all my techno-savvy brain cells were being fried learning how to use my new iPhone (which, by the way, I also love dearly.) Did I really need to know how fast my heart was beating and how many calories I was burning every moment I was exercising?
In a word: Yes!
My Polar FT60 has many parts. First, there’s the watch, a big, kind of ugly pink monstrosity with silver trim and five silver buttons. There’s a stretchy black band that fits snugly around my chest, and a little black computer pod called a WearLink that snaps securely onto it. I’ve also got a GPS unit that attaches to my upper arm, and a separate little tray called the Polar FlowLink that lets me download all the information gathered by my heart rate monitor to my computer.
Polar introduced the FT 60 in September, targeting it to what they call “fitness and cross-training enthusiasts.” That’s me! I especially like it because I can take the heart rate monitor (not the GPS) into the pool with me. I just have to be sure to snap the little computer pod off the chest band when I’m done, so it dries off completely.
It took a while to get over the intimidation of setting it up. Polar should re-edit the user manuals — I cursed more than once trying to figure out the basics. That done, I set up the watch and WearLink to test my current fitness level. (It’s easy; you just lay there quietly and it predicts your VO2max.) My fitness level is already good, so I told the device my goal was to maintain that level. You can also put it in weight loss or improve fitness mode.
It takes a bit of practice to get used to how it works, but now it’s a snap. Before swim practice, I put the chest band and WearLink on under my swimsuit, strap on the watch and press the start button when I hop in the pool. It gives me a constant readout of my heart rate. At the end of the session, it tells me my maximum heart rate and average heart rate. It also breaks down my workout into how much time I spent in each of three intensity levels — light, moderate or hard. You can read more about what each of those levels does at the Polar website.
The GPS unit is handy when I ride my bike. It tells me how far and how fast I’ve gone. And when I start running again, that info will be really useful in my marathon training program.
The whole system takes all the guess work out of my training. I don’t have to estimate how hard I’m working — I can look at the monitor and see.
When each session is done, I press the stop button and the watch stores up all kinds of interesting info, including calories burned. During one particularly tough swim practice last week, for example, I burned 666 calories during a 63-minute practice. My average heart rate was 147; my maximum was 170.
I can set weekly targets, and get guidance on how to improve my fitness, too.
When I get back home, I head straight to the computer to download all the data. That’s easy, too. I just lay the watch on a little tray. A light flickers to let me know it’s working, and just like that, the info is transferred to my computer. I can call it all up by going to a special website at www.PolarPersonalTrainer.com. Besides logging all my exercise sessions, I can look at my long-term progress and chat with other Polar users.
It’s OK if I don’t download each workout right away, too. The watch holds 100 workout files and 16 weekly training summaries that I can scroll through.
My only complaints? Polar should update its graphics. There’s a lot of info there, but it’s not so easy to grasp looking at the webpage. Definitely not very pretty to look at. The GPS sensor is a bit bulky on the arm, too.
Oh, and there’s the cost. The Polar FT60 sells for $239.95. If you buy it with the GPS sensor, it costs a whopping $349.95. The PowerFlow data transfer thing tacks on $54.95.
Not cheap. But for the exercise obsessed, it might be worth it.
I, for one, am hooked.
Anyone else use one?
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment Categories: Gear and equipment
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By edgar dee
December 1, 2008 11:14 AM | Link to this
if you think the polar is pricey you should take a look at the Garmin 705!!! And you cannot even take it into the water with you!
By Chris@Polar
December 1, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
Welcome to the training revolution!
Glad to hear you are happy with the FT60!
Let us know if you have any questions..Door is always open
-Chris @ Polar USA
By Becky
December 2, 2008 10:30 AM | Link to this
Chris at Polar - I have a question. My heart rate monitor is not as fancy as Pam’s, and is about three or four years old. I love it, but I have always thought that the “calories expended” reading must be off. It has my weight, and I have checked the heart rate against different machines, so I have no doubt that it is accurate, but it will tell me that I have expended way more calories than is realistic, even for a big person doing a lot of hard exercise. Any ideas what I might be doing wrong? Thanks!
By Ama
December 2, 2008 2:42 PM | Link to this
I have a Polar F6 not quite as fancy but only $100. I am quite facinated with the numbers even though I haven’t quite figured out what to make of it all. I love seeing how hard cycling (especially mountain biking) is working me or running.
Becky- It is assumed amongst HR monitor users the calories are off. I have heard as much as 25%. I just subtract 25% to give myself a picture I find more acceptable. I am trying to lose weight so I do not eat a bunch of calories burned. I just like seeing the numbers.
By Pam LeBlanc
December 2, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
Pam here — Ama and Becky, I’ve asked Polar if someone can respond to your questions. Check back. Thanks!
By Chris @ Polar
December 3, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this
Hello again,
Energy expenditure on Polar products is based on exercise heart rate,body weight,Ownindex, gender and other demographic variables(maximum heart rate and v02max). We have found the estimation to be +/- 5-10% compared to gas analysis.
Heart rate monitors tend to be the most accurate way to monitor calorie burn for exercise. The rate at which individuals burn calories varies from person to person. The factors used in Polar products usually provide a much more personalized and precise measurement.
In comparison with other devices that monitor energy expenditure(treadmills or elliptical machines) they typically don’t allow you to enter as much personal information as a heart monitor. Also, the most important factor of all, your heart rate, may be missing from the equation.
Hope this answers your questions!
Chris @ Polar