Need endorsement of good heart monitor product

[BLADE]

Reggie white dead at 43 of a heart attack today.

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/ho...l.jsp?id=20331

I need to know how hard to push my running, therefore I need to know how fast my heart is beating.

Whats a really great product that is not going to break but at a good price point ?

THANKS!

[CF-OC_gal]

Polar makes good HR monitors.

[goodgirl]

So, it was a heart attack? Man oh man....that was a shocker learning about that today!

I have a Polar HR monitor....my bf bought it for himself about a year or so ago for about $80. He doesn't use it so I'm using it now. I really like it. They are the best on the market from what I hear.

[Tuna Fish]

Blade-

If you are at all concerned about your heart or any potential probs you may have while doing cardio, go see your doc and have a stress test (treadmill or bike usually) and a CRP test.

At least that way you'll know if you are at risk, before taking things into your own hands.

Still get the HR monitor, though, it will help you immensely with your cardio sessions.

[Bruce1975]

I have a phase and a sigma hr monitor and they both do everything I need them to do. The sigma that I bought retails for around $90 or so. If you just want a basic monitor that displays hr, average, max and calories I highly recommend it.

My heart rate was getting a little weird a couple of months ago. On short not so steep climbs on my mtb my heart rate was jumping up to around 187 - 189 when it should have been 160 - 165. After it did this on two seperate occasions with both hr monitors I made an appointment with the doc. I was a little concerned since my uncle and grandfather died from heart attacks in their early 40's. Since then I have had 3 EKG's, a stress test, an echocardiogram and I wore a holtzer (sp?) monitor for 12 hours.

I was very relieved when I found out that my heart is working fine. I'm sort of glad that I had the little scare though. It scared me enough to get me off of my butt and start losing weight.

[gymrat]

I also have a Polar HRM and I absolutely love it BUT the transmitter (the part that wraps around the chest) recently stopped working and I just bought this in April. I'm a gymrat and a personal trainer so I probably use it more than the average person, but it was pretty disappointing that the transmitter pooped out so quickly. It's still under warranty so I've sent it in to Polar to have it fixed and it's been such a bummer working out without it.

[BLADE]

Originally Posted by Tuna Fish

Blade-

If you are at all concerned about your heart or any potential probs you may have while doing cardio, go see your doc and have a stress test (treadmill or bike usually) and a CRP test.

At least that way you'll know if you are at risk, before taking things into your own hands.

Still get the HR monitor, though, it will help you immensely with your cardio sessions.

I did the stress test treadmill. Heart did great against a failing cardio, blood pressure went straight up and stayed there, very lengthy recovery time too.

However many people pass and have a heart attack. I need the new thing which is like an MRI of your heart, allowing them to look inside at the clogged arteries.

Its 400 out of pocket though.

[Tuna Fish]

Originally Posted by BLADE

I need the new thing which is like an MRI of your heart, allowing them to look inside at the clogged arteries.

Its 400 out of pocket though.

400 bucks is mighty inexpensive for peace of mind when you think about it. :

How much did you spend on gaming systems recently.....????

[BLADE]

Originally Posted by Tuna Fish

400 bucks is mighty inexpensive for peace of mind when you think about it. :

How much did you spend on gaming systems recently.....????

Yeah I may do it - I should at least inquire as to what it will cost.

Finally got the Nike Triax C6 for the C5 price since they were out of C5's.

I am a disaster 90-100 BPM just sitting here typing at my desk. Talk about hypertensive. Then I go jog around the area in street clothes and just putzing along and it goes up to 160-180 so I guess what I have learned from this device is :

1) I need to do cardio every day even if its just fast walking
2) I need to take it easy and not die trying until I improve

[Lift2Live]

Just to say on the heart attack issue. Reggie White from everything i've heard/read, had sleep apnea which caused the abnormal stress on his heart/respiratory system. Over time, people who do not address sleep apnea usually have short lives. It's really too bad all the same. I wouldn't worry about your heart Blade, if you've already done the tests and come out solid although, it'd be nice to have a 'for sure' answer that an imaging system can give you. If it's hypertension, start watching your sodium intake reall closely and see if you've been getting too much, that stuff will exacerbate issues.

[BLADE]

HUh - lying in bed this morning my resting heart rate is 60.
At the computer now its 75-85
After I finish this energy drink it will likely be 100.
I am going to go run for mins but at a slower pace than usual.
220-41=179
I will run 140-160

[Lift2Live]

Sounds like you are in normal ranges to me. The 100 after eating food is probably due to digestion and your heart needing to pump more blood to the stomach etc,...

[BLADE]

I am still trying to fix the failed cardio stress test.

Hey I LOVE this HRM. I ran for 30 mins at 160-170 until the sprint across grassy park for 188. Cool down was hung at 188 for a block of walking then came down.

Many times I felt like I was not doing anything but I would look and see i was right in the range so I felt better, I did not need to sprint off and then try to recover while still jogging.

Worth every penny.

I am a heart rate monitor junkie. The monitor is a great tool to keep one from overtraining. For me, I've found that wearing it results in the potential to overtrain. Seems like I want to spend too much time in the high range of my maximum HR. So as a newbie, watch yourself and pull back if you catch yourself always wanting to put the pedal to the medal.

Become aware of your resting heart rate (the BPM when you first wake up before getting out of bed). If it starts to be higher than normal, that's a sign that you are overtraining.

A must read is a book written by Sally Edwards on the subject. Can't remember the title. A good site for running workouts is www.runnersworld.com.

Good luck.

[BLADE]

Thanks everybody, today is my b-day and this HRM is a perfect gift from me to me.