The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans

Anyone in the market to purchase a heart rate monitor (HRM)?

My heart rate monitor is one of my favorite pieces of exercise equipment and I truly think it is necessary to achieve weight loss and fitness goals.  I wrote about my love for my old HRM previously and now, April and I are sharing with you our thoughts on the two newest Polar HRM’s to hit the market.

Polar FT7

I have an older Polar HRM (heart rate monitor) and I never gave it any thought that there might be bigger and better HRM’s out there. However, once I put this watch on and figured out the basic features, I realized that yes, indeed, there are bigger and better HRM’s out there and this was one of them!

My favorite features of the Polar FT7 include:

• The “pause” feature. Oh, this one is the best features ever invented. I like to warm-up, pause to stretch, then get going on my run or workouts. I don’t want to include my stretching as part of my workout time, especially for running or if I feel the need to stretch further along in a run. The “pause” feature allows me to pause my HRM, then start it up again when I am ready. Pure genius!
• The sleek design of the watch. OK, I’m a girl and well, the last HRM watch I had was big and bulky and frankly, a little ugly. This one is pretty, oh so pretty. Sleek, sporty, clean. LOVE IT. My husband even commented that it looked nice enough to wear every day.
• EnergyPointer feature. This feature tells me how much time I spent in my fat burning zone and how much time I spent in my fitness zone. This allows me over time, to know if I am achieving my fitness goals, whether it be to burn fat or to improve my level of fitness.
• Calories burned. I am little obsessed with this feature. Since I have been using a HRM for years now, I kinda know how many calories I need to be burning to lose weight and to maintain my weight. I am constantly amazed at how many calories I can burn in a period of time given my level of energy put into the exercise. Plus, I leave my calorie counter ON for a while after I finish exercising so that I can see how many more calories I burn from the benefit of my exercise.  Obsessed, yes, I know.
• Heart rate. This is a heart rate monitor so yes, it tracks my heart rate. During a workout, it will tell me what my heart rate is and afterwards, the watch gives me a summary of my average heart rate and maximum heart rate. Very useful information to have.
• Basic watch features. Time, date, calender and a low battery indicator. Back lit console, waterproof up to 50m, stopwatch and display information available in 8 languages.  Wowsers.
• The transmitter. I feel like this transmitter is better made and it is comfortable to wear. The battery in both the watch and the transmitter can be changed easily without having to send it in to Polar- SCORE!

Overall, I am very happy with the Polar FT7. I know there are even more features of this watch that I am not even using just yet, but once I find a few minutes to look into those features, I will.  This watch can take you to a whole new level of fitness, or at least make you aware of what the inside of your body is doing as you workout.

Polar FT4

April’s thoughts:

For a while I thought about getting a heart rate monitor.  I’ve seen ones in stores and on TV, and I know they can be very helpful not only in keeping track of your heart rate, but also they can be great work out aides.

When my Polar FT4 arrived on my doorstep, I actually squealed with delight!  I love love love the look of this piece.  It’s cute and sports-y.  My only problem with the piece itself is that it’s a bigger watch than I’m used to wearing, but for exercising or hiking, it’s perfect!

The settings are super easy to follow and set.  The numbers are big and easy to read and see even when you’re moving around.  I’m still getting used to wearing the transmitter belt, but after wearing it for a bit, I don’t even think about it.  I love that not only does it keep track of my heartrate, but it also will show me how many calories I’ve burned and will show me how long I’ve worked out.

I see myself using this not only on my runs, but when I go hiking as well.

Features:

Of course, you could always go sit on Santa’s lap and let him know if you have been naughty or nice!