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Heart Rate Monitors

VickiK

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I get irritated with that too. I think the newer or newest Apple Watch is on all the time, eliminating the need to tap or wrist-flick, and has all kinds of other features. I still get excited when my watch face changes by itself, so I haven't felt the need to buy the latest/greatest.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
In all these reviews, is there a chest-strap version of a heart rate monitor that comes with its own wrist strap monitor that shows what the heart rate is as you're moving, so you can see what your heart rate is as you run? One that you don't have to buy a separate watch to synchronize your heart rate monitor to?

I'm hoping to purchase such a thing, but it's hard to tell whether one needs to buy an apple watch or some other expensive watch to see what's going on with one's heart as you run. A wrist or arm band may not work for me. I think I'll need the chest strap version.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Update on Whoop strap. I will be ending my 10 month experiment with the Whoop strap 3.0 in a few weeks. The first few months were great. I was really impressed, my data was regularly available on my phone, and the strap seemed to work as promised. Then Whoop decided to prematurely launch its next version the 4.0 September 2021. Unfortunately this launch will go down in history as one of the most failed roll outs as not only could they not deliver the product as promised (4+ month wait vs. 4 week) but the 4.0 had many software and hardware issues. Additionally the new software updates created connectivity issues for the 3.0. In fact to date, they have not remedied the connectivity issue for the 3.0 and as such I have to manually connect my strap every day. This involves removing the strap from my wrist, tapping it excessively, pairing it with my phone and waiting hours for it to download the information. I then have to go back and correct the information as the automatic sleep and activity tracker does not always log activities correctly. On the positive side Whoop has continually credited me "months" every time I reach out to customer service because of the issues. I guess they would rather have me use the 3.0 for free then remedy the problem, perhaps hoping I eventually sign up for the 4.0. After reading the reviews for the 4.0 I decided it was not worth it to upgrade (had been waiting over 3 months) and decided to keep the 3.0 for a few months more during ski season. Sometimes the Whoop works well and tracks my activities. Sometimes it says I'm sleeping when I'm watching tv. I'm not fully convinced its totally accurate. For surfing, it has been great to see my "estimated" heart rate without having to wear a chest heart rate monitor under my wetsuit. The information regarding sleep has been helpful, but again probably not always accurate, but interesting to see heart rate etc sleeping at sea level vs 9K elevation. The company really seems to be more focused now on spending money on its sponsored athletes and blog posts. Originally I chose this company because it appeared to have more privacy and security, however, as my membership went on it was clear they were using everyone's data when blogging about activities or specific dates -- example: 50% of members had reduced sleep quality on January 1st. Sure I learned some things from wearing the strap, and it did seem to do some things well. The monthly/ weekly analysis were interesting. However the necessity to take the strap off and beat the hell out of it to get it to pair with my phone every day has become a real drag and not worth the effort. My last 2 month credit ends in April, and so I will be saying so long, farewell Whoop.

*for the record DD and DH also tried the Whoop the same time I did. DD's strap never worked right and she returned w/in 30 days. DH's strap started to have similar connectivity issues and he ended his 6 month commitment early. The connectivity issues exist with both android and IOS. Whoop offered to send me a "refurbished" 3.0 which may or may not solve the current issues. Apparently there were "a few" 3.0 that have a unfixable connectivity bug, they are still working on it.... The last few emails to customer service have been much better than previous, but to upgrade to the 4.0 would require me to pay for a 6 month commitment in order to receive the new strap. Since a simple google search shows others that are just as frustrated with the 4.0 I think I'll pass. I understand that other wearables have similar issues and its a new area of technology that is continually progressing - it will be interesting to see how things unfold in the future.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I recently bought a Garmin HRM-Dual, which is the chest strap only and it just links to my phone (or other devices). No dedicated watch required. I downloaded the Wahoo app on my phone which works great with it, especially for bike rides.

I used to have a HRM with a wearable watch style thing (which is just one extra thing... and when am i without my phone these days? ) And I've also tried various wearables like a fitbit that supposedly takes your HR from the wrist but they seemed wildly inaccurate or unable to detect my HR at all most of the time.

Anyway, the Garmin chest strap connects to my phone instantly every time and seems to have no accuracy or connectivity issues. Can't complain!
 

yogiskier

Angel Diva
I've been using the Polar H10 chest strap monitor for a month now and it works great for me! It sends HR data to my Coros Apex GPS watch seamlessly. I got it from REI, which I liked because I could try it on, they have a generous return policy, and you can use or receive member points for it.

 

Amie H

Angel Diva
Jealous! I always loved wearing a similar Polar monitor w chest strap for the instant feedback to my treadmill so I could adjust my pace on the fly. But I either developed a sensitivity to the strap plastic or my boobs are just too volumous (DD) so even w the strap tight and 2 sportsbras on, I was getting open sores where the strap touched my skin, right under my breasts. Sorry for the TMI! #BigBoobProblems
 

yogiskier

Angel Diva
@Amie H I'm so sorry to hear about the issues with the chest strap! Was it a hard plastic strap that you used before? I used to have a Garmin HR monitor that was a hard plastic strap but my new one is a soft fabric material, so it's a lot more comfortable (though there are silicone nubs to help it not slide and the small buckle is made of plastic).
 

Amie H

Angel Diva
@Amie H I'm so sorry to hear about the issues with the chest strap! Was it a hard plastic strap that you used before? I used to have a Garmin HR monitor that was a hard plastic strap but my new one is a soft fabric material, so it's a lot more comfortable (though there are silicone nubs to help it not slide and the small buckle is made of plastic).
Tbh (tmi warning) my breasts are sometimes problematic during/after sporting activities. I have lately needed to use medicated salve or powder on the advice of my dermatologist under my left breast. So until I get that generalized irritation resolved I'm going to keep it simple. I will look into the fabric band you mentioned as that sounds promising for future monitoring use.
 

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