New Review: Polar F6 Heart Rate Monitor
Wednesday April 2, 2008
I'm a gadget freak when it comes to exercise and one gadget I can't live without is my heart rate monitor.
A heart rate monitor is a great tool for checking up on your intensity when you're working out, allowing you to work in your
target heart rate zone as well as getting a sense of how different activities feel. This is especially good for those of us who tend to do the same workouts over and over. A heart rate monitor can encourage you to work harder, if your heart rate is a
little low, or back off if your heart rate is
getting too high.
I've used a variety of heart rate monitors over the years, but the F6 has become one of my favorites. It's a little hard to figure out at first (which is true of most heart rate monitors), but it has some interesting features that allow you to get a little more out of your workouts and may even give you some new ideas for goals. Check out my review of the Polar F6 to get the details and leave a comment if you have thoughts about using a heart rate monitor in your workouts.
Comments
I have this exact watch (on infact). I love it, have had it since November. Functions well for my work at the hospital also. My only problem is that I can never manage to get the ownzone to give me a high enough maximum heart rate… and when I run I hover between 180-190bpm and it still feels good. How do I know when my heart rate is too high? I assume if my body is feeling good and I’m still breathing, I should be okay…
Must have item. For $100.00 you get a excellent workout tool plus a watch to boot. Between the watch and the life form software you can track precisely where you are at.
I have one of these and love it. The own zone works well. I agree that it’s difficult to find the stop watch area and also to change the setting from Low/Med/High Intensity workout you have to stop the workout to do so–wish you could just change it while exercising. Also, I haven’t had any luck with uploading the information from the watch to the computer. But I really do love this watch. Great little instrument !
HI everyone - just wanted to let you know there is a new strapless heart rate monitor in town. It’s made by Seiko in Japan and is accurate and CONTINUOUS - a first for strapless HRMs. This is a perfect heart rate monitor for running, jogging, walking, spinning and more…check out the site http://www.advancedhrm.com.
After looking at several different heart rate monitors I decided to go with the F6. I could not be happier! It comes in the color pink for the ladies and fits my small wrist. One of the best features I like is that it also doubles as a wrist watch so I don’t have to wear a watch on one wrist and a heart rate monitor on the other.
The only issue I had with this heart rate monitor is trying to figure out how to upload your workouts to your computer. But once you figure it out you get really great readouts on the computer and can keep up with your daily, weekly and monthly workouts. I highly recommend this product.
I agree that the F6 is great, however, I find it unfortunate that Polar calculates HR % differently than the internationally recommended standards (they say this on their web site). For example for a 37 year old with a 183bpm max Polar’s 60-70% range is 110-128bpm while the international standards are more like 133-146. This can make it a bit more difficult if following a training program based on international standards.
I am assuming the battery pic next to the light button means the battery needs replacing… Anyone know who can do this for me?
Or am I wrong- what DOES that pic meant? The watch was crammed into a bag for a few days while I was travelling, maybe something pressed a button. How do I get rid of it!?
Thanks
While there are several things I enjoy about the F6 I have found the accuracy of the calories burned reading to be way off. I initially thought I just wasn’t burning many calories but when comparing to friends doing the same workout I found their calories burned were more than double mine. Just to confirm I did a couple workouts using a Timex Polaris monitor and sure enough, my calories burned were over double those displayed by the F6. Not yet sure if there’s a problem with my particular device but let’s hope that’s the case.