Can anyone recommend a good heart monitor? I am having a difficult time finding consensus online as to which models are best for swimming... seems there are a lot of issues with accuracy and/or quality, since obviously the pool environment is stressful for electronic goods.
Not a competitive swimmer and don't need to invest hundreds of dollars in a state-of-the-art monitor... just need something reasonably accurate and durable so that I can begin keeping better track of my progress. Appreciate any advice readers are willing to share.
Former Member
Amazon.com: Polar F4 Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch (Blue Ice): Sports & Outdoors
This is the one I have. I don't use it to keep detailed track of my HR, but it gives me my max HR and average HR at the end of each workout, which is interesting to know. It also estimates total calories used. You can set your ideal workout HR either by the default or manually and it beeps when you are lower or higher than that HR. I find this useful between sets - when it starts to beep my HR has come down enough for me to start again, on kick where I get lazy so need to kick hard to stop the beep, and in cool-down. ie swim until it starts to beep again.
Its nothing fancy and you can't download stuff to your PC like some of the watch/HR monitors/computers out there, but its kinda fun to use and see if your workout matched what it felt like. I've had it about 8 months now and is holding up well.
I will second on the Polar F4. I've had mine for almost 2 years and it works great.
I know from experience that the strap can be uncomfortable to wear, in or out of water, for a long period of time. I know that people have asked about other HR monitors and if you search previous threads on this forum, you might be able to get some different recommendations.
