Heart rate monitors?

saracen fan

Hi,
Im looking for a decent heart rate monitor, one that you wear on your wrist and doesnt require a chest strap....
I was watching the newest HULK movie (edward norton) yesterday and the one he wears just reads of his wrist, I have been looking online and the only ones I can find require you to place 2 fingers on the watch for 6secs to get a reading. which isnt ideal if your flying down a hill lol

My question is, is the one in the film real or just make believe? :oops:

if it is, where the chuff can I buy one?

ta.

Anonymous

as far as i know strapless hrm require you to touch snesors.

ive often wondered why hrm couldnt operate from youwrist without a remote strap, how hard would it be to put the sensors on the watch strap itself?

is there any reason why you dont want a chest strap version? ive got a suunto one and its very comfy.

chedabob

sheepsteeth wrote:

ive often wondered why hrm couldnt operate from youwrist without a remote strap, how hard would it be to put the sensors on the watch strap itself?

Cost and complexity. Chest-straps also work with a lot of exercise equipment.

saracen fan: If you've been put off by the crappy straps that a lot of them have, Polar ones have fabric straps. Takes a bit of practice to get it to sit right, but I've been running 10km for months now and it stays put and is pretty comfortable. You can even get a vest that you clip the sensor onto so you can do away with the strap.

saracen fan

I dont really like the chest strap because from past experience they chaff like chuff! lol

Also I want to wear it in general anyway, there is a history of heart problems in my family which thankfully I seemed to have dodged but I would like to monitor my heartrate throughout the day just to see how its doing you know? but without having to touch the sensors, I just want it so I can glance at my wrist and get a current reading whilst driving ect....

Seems odd there isnt one like shown in the film, i mean there is a strong pulse in the wrist so i cant understand why the one in the film doest exist?

I just want something like I saw in the film lol

chedabob

saracen fan wrote:

I dont really like the chest strap because from past experience they chaff like chuff! lol

Also I want to wear it in general anyway, there is a history of heart problems in my family which thankfully I seemed to have dodged but I would like to monitor my heartrate throughout the day just to see how its doing you know? but without having to touch the sensors, I just want it so I can glance at my wrist and get a current reading whilst driving ect....

Seems odd there isnt one like shown in the film, i mean there is a strong pulse in the wrist so i cant understand why the one in the film doest exist?

I just want something like I saw in the film lol

The technology necessary doesn't exist. Chest-strap ones measure the electrical signal generated when the heart beats, which isn't present at your wrist. The ones you touch measure electrical resistance (or something like that) and the electrodes wouldn't be far enough apart on your wrist. You could put the electrodes on the strap, but you'd have to have it really tight to get them to sit properly. It'd also churn through batteries.

shinobishoryuken

I used to want a robot like the one in Rocky 4!!

I got a wristwatch heart rate monitor with strap from Lidl about a month or so ago after seeing an advert. Cost me £12.99 and works a treat! I can look at my watch at any point of a ride and see heart rate.

I was surprised that I wasn't working as hard as I should be for training benefit at times.

A definite training tool for low cost. The strap is fine too- I thought I'd struggle with it but it doesn't cause me any bother.

njee20

The Polar WearLink fabric straps are good (not all the watches come with one though), although I'd suggest if you find any chafe then they're the wrong size/position. I have no problems with Polar or Garmin plastic ones.

Have to say though for just monitoring your HR during the day why not stick 2 fingers on your wrist and count for 15 seconds?

Unless you're going to buy a very expensive HRM and upload all the data for every day onto your computer to retrospectively analyse it I'm not sure what you'll gain.

MountainMonster

njee20 wrote:

The Polar WearLink fabric straps are good (not all the watches come with one though), although I'd suggest if you find any chafe then they're the wrong size/position. I have no problems with Polar or Garmin plastic ones.

Have to say though for just monitoring your HR during the day why not stick 2 fingers on your wrist and count for 15 seconds?

Unless you're going to buy a very expensive HRM and upload all the data for every day onto your computer to retrospectively analyse it I'm not sure what you'll gain.

It just helps you come to grips with your heart rate, find out what things work well for you, and in general is just good knowledge. I've got my birthday coming up in a few weeks and am getting a new HRM for it , and will be using it for daily use as well.

Anonymous

chedabob wrote:

Chest-strap ones measure the electrical signal generated when the heart beats, which isn't present at your wrist.

+1 for that. If you want something accurate that measures ECG, it's the only way.


P.S. Constantly checking your heart, BP, etc if you're worried about medical conditions when you're actually healthy can just lead to further worry and that route leads to anxiety and all kinds of non-existent issues. I'd concentrate just on how the heart performance improves with exercise and don't look for problems, only positives.

Oh, and if you do consider a chest one and have a Nokia phone, then Sports Tracker is selling the Polar WearLink+ with bluetooth that works with Sports Tracker. Not the cheapest HRM you can get though.

Personally, just for the heart rate itself I need nothing at all when riding as I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. The only thing I look for is how fast it returns to a reasonable resting rate. The full ECG monitoring stuff gives you a lot more data but it's probably best connected with a GPS track as you can see how things perform depending on the route, climbs, elevation, etc.

saracen fan

thanks for all the ideas and suggestions,
I was mainly curious to see if there was something that constantly monitors your HR that doest require a chest strap.....there isnt lol


will prob buy the watch type that you put your fingers on....whats the best make?

dont wanna spend more than like £60....

ta.

Dazzza

Won't get much recommendation for that variety im afraid, id just buy the best polar you can, plenty of cheap second hand ones going on ebay.

My F11 used to retail for £120 plus and got it on the bay for £30 works like a charm and as said most exercise machines will read from it, making life much easier.