Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor - Review
My wife purchased a Polar F4 heart rate monitor as a gift for me over a year ago and it has been an excellent workout tool. I'm not the most frequent exercising person, but I have used it enough to get benefits out of it. Plus, I like cool gadgets and this falls into the category.
Basically it is a plastic strap that goes around your torso (just under your chest) and transmits a heart rate signal to a watch that you wear on your arm. The watch then shows you your heart rate at any given time.
The watch also features basic software to calculate statistics for you. You punch in your weight, heigh, and gender when you first use it and it will roughly estimate calories burned, what your peak heart rate is, and other information. It also keeps historical information about past workouts for up to 60 workouts I believe.
Gauge Your Cardio Performance
For myself, it allowed me to gauge my cardio performance. I try to maintain 160 beats/minute when I'm running. It helps keep me working out at a good rate. It also keeps track of how long I have been in my peak zone (this is over 126 beats/minute). So when I work out, I make sure to exercise in the peak zone for at least 30 minutes and keep my heart rate near 160 by adjusting the difficulty on the treadmill. It helps me to see how my body is improving as I need to bump the speed of the treadmill over time to maintain the 160 beats/minute.
Keep Your Heart Rate at a Training Level
It also has allowed me to try and maintain heart rate during weight training. I won't let my heart rate drop below a certain point when resting after a set before I start another set. I didn't realize how tired you can be when you keep a tight reign on your rests between sets.
See Difficulty of Other Exercises
I also found it interesting to watch my heart rate during other cardio activities like cycling and rowing. It was very hard for me to even get above 130 beats/minute on a bicycle for half an hour because my legs were just not strong enough. It definitely gives you targets to maintain to make sure you are getting something out of your workout.
Compatibility
A side bonus I found out after I started using the Polar heart rate monitor was that it is compatible with a lot of exercise equipment. I noticed my heart rate showing up on the main displays of the treadmills and bicycles at work. Then you don't have to worry about look at your watch if you don't want to.
Conclusion
This has been an excellent addition to my exercise program. Mainly because it gives me more insight into how my body is doing and how to keep it pushed to a level that will improve my body. And secondly, it is just a neat gadget to make your workout less boring. I would definitely recommend it for anyone that hits the gym.
By the way, the F4 Polar says it is a "women specific" heart rate monitor, but I have found it works perfectly fine for me. It still asks you your gender when you configure the watch to do calculations as well.
Any wireless heart monitor will do the trick though.
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