Heart rate / Blood pressure monitoring wristwatches?

[cowtown]

Hi guys,

I do a lot of cardio workouts, usually 30 minutes per day, five days a week, in a gym.

I've been riding a stationary bike that has built-in heart monitoring, so I can run my heartrate at (for example) 80% of maximum allowable for my age (34).

I want to start doing other cardio exercise on machines that don't have monitoring - rowing machines, nordic, etc.

I see a bunch of wristwatches that monitor heartbeat, but don't know what's good. Polar, Casio, Impact, Reebok, Ekho, Mio, etc.

I'd rather not wear a chest strap, and would like continuous monitoring, not spot-checks. Oh, and blood pressure monitoring would be an added bonus.

Any advice?
Thanks,
Colin

[nikita76]

Hey Colin, Being an avid cyclist and trainer I can say that I, as well as friends and clients all have Polar units of some type or variation. Chest strap is unaviodable I believe. Go to their web site to select the right unit for your application.(cycling,running,swimming,etc...)

Good Luck!

Nikita

[cowtown]

Thanks Nikita! I did some Web reading and came to the same conclusion - no good heart monitoring without a chest strap. The Polar watches do look very nice.

[Willem Fick]

Colin, you do get HRMs without the strap, but they are a bit of a hit and miss afair - go for the strap, and go Polar!

[K.B.]

I got an Omron wrist model blood pressure unit that did the trick for under $50. I got it to keep tabs on my high BP. I worked at my diet a little more seriously. I already didn't use salt or eat red meat. My doctor was telling me to drink more water so I put in a 5 gal bottle dispenser at home. My BP dropped. I quit taking my BP medicine.

I recently talked to a relative who always lifted weights/ worked out at his girlfriends house and drank a lot of water there. His BP was a little high. His Doc asked him if he ever drank water that went thru a "softner". The only place was at the gf's house. He stopped drinking the water and BP went down. Gf's parents were high BP's too. They stopped drinking the water. Their BP went down. That must be why mine went down too.

"Softners" add salt to the water. Salt raises BP.

The moral of the story is *****Don't drink water that goes thru a water softner!*****

Little off topic, but it made such a difference I have to pass it on.

KB

[MFAFF]

Polar is the way to go.....great pices of kit and really robust. Been using one, the same one fro 10+ years now and not a single problem other than changing the batteries.

Sure the chest strap makes you feel slightly silly but after all its for yuor health.

I know that there is a top of the range one which can link to a Pc to give you a trace if you feel so inclined...

[Bill Verburg]

Just a little different opinion, I use the Timex bodylink system, heart rate and GPS, gives you an unbelievable about of info.

I believe the chest strap is mandatory.

[cowtown]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I was hoping to avoid the chest strap, but will look into the Polar and Timex systems. I just hope I will actually wear the thing. It's amazing how lazy one can be in preparing for a workout.

[Craig 930 RS]

Polar is numero uno in my booko -

[turbo6bar]

I haven't worn my Polar in several months. I think it makes my exercise more of a work-out, than fun. The new year is here, but of course, so I reset the odometer on my bicycle. However, I have no plans to strap on the HRM.

Colin, my vote is no HRM. Do light workouts if you want to lose weight. Throw in a hard day to boost your strength. Have fun. Otherwise, you won't be doing it for long.

[cowtown]

Hi guys,
Just to close this thread out, I picked up a Polar M61. I'm concentrating on cardio health, and weight management - but I want to avoid losing too much weight. I want to stay at 195 (6'2").

Turbo6, I get your point, and if the watch makes it a chore, it will go on Ebay. But I didn't stand a chance - the "gadget" aspect of it reeled me in.