Polar Heart Rate Monitors – Options for Cyclists

The Polar watch has become a staple in the fitness industry for runners, walkers, and cyclists. Because Polar heart rate monitors are superior in functioning, durability, and overall effectiveness than most competing brands, they are the most often purchased heart rate monitor for cyclists. There are over 30 different Polar models on the market right now, but the ones used for cycling are those designed to strap onto bike handlebars.

The small computers that all Polar heart rate monitors are equipped with allow cyclists to see a wide variety of feedback on their workouts. Some feedback that is often reported back includes: speed, heart rate, distance, and pacing. Many professional athletes use these monitors because they are the key to getting in effective training sessions that pay off on race day. Many amateur cyclists also use them as a way to determine how much fat they are burning and how high their heart rate is going.

This Polar watch range also gives you functions like calorie expenditure calculator, fitness tests and automatic target zone monitoring function, which presents a perfect training gadget for cross-trainers, beginner triathletes and fitness cyclists as well as cyclists who simply wanted to stay in shape.

The most effective way to use these advanced monitor features is to purchase a watch that can transfer stored data directly to a computer. This allows the cyclist to complete their training session then download the information for analysis into the computer. For instance, a cyclist who has completed a variety of fitness tests to monitor changes in heart rate, stress levels, and recovery levels can download the results of those tests right into their computer and find out a variety of information about that cycling session, including: pedal revs, altitude, total distance, exact route taken, ascents and descents, and the continuous heart rate during the workout.

Polar heart rate monitors can be used no matter what the weather is like outside and they are designed to be very easy to use. This ensures that literally anyone can take advantage of them, regardless of their level of expertise in the market. Interfacing the Polar watch with a computer makes it very simple to analyze the results of fitness tests and even get limited updates for the watch.

All of those functional perks do not mean the Polar monitors are completely flawless. For instance, many users complain that data download speeds are incredibly slow and that there can be some inaccuracies with the reported results. The accuracies often come from the inability of the monitor to pause when the user drops speed, such as stopping for traffic when cycling on a busy road. Since the watch continues counting overall heart rate and speed even though the user has stopped completely, the reported data for average heart rate, speed, and cadence can be incorrect.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the top selling Polar heart rate monitors and the features that set them apart in the market. The Polar CS600X is a great sports watch with GPS, G3 technology, and all of the other basic features of a monitoring watch. The Polar CS300, CS100 and CS200cad report top notch feedback on the body and have a nice cadence sensor. The Polar FT40, FT60 and FT80 are some of the smartest watches currently available and all feature separate models for men and women. The Polar RS800CX is a great model for professional athletes because it practically sees everything going on inside the body. It is a limited edition issue designed especially for professional cyclists.

Different Polar heart rate monitors are suitable for different people, depending on their training routines, their need for consistent motivation, and other features that may be advantageous to different people.

Author Lance Durden is a fitness expert that has been using Polar Heart Rate Monitors for use in his programs since 1995. Try polar heart rate monitors from the top online retailer, and start improving your workouts.

March 15 2010 | cycling | No Comments »

The Benefits of Working Out While Using a Polar Heart Rate Monitor

A polar heart rate monitor presents a reliable and accurate means of measuring heart rate and instantly getting biofeedback. To help people manage their health problems, the Polar F11 was introduced as a helpful tool to maintaining fitness. The product is designed to minimize the risk of overtaxing the body while doing routine physical exercise. It is designed to digitally measure precise heart rates, which is essential to optimizing the benefits of mild to intense exercise training programs.

At a certain level of physical exertion, our heart beats ways faster than the normal rate. The real-time measurements of heart rate help fitness buffs to stick to the specified intensity of their exercise programs. The real-time, continuous and accurate heart rate monitoring solutions provided by Polar F11 proves to be useful and convenient in this regard.

How it Works!

A Polar heart rate monitor is actually a watch that you wear on your wrist, and a transmitter that you can very comfortably put on around your chest. The transmitter’s job is to pick up the signals from your heart, and those signals are sent wirelessly to the watch.

One great thing about Polar heart rate monitors is that they involve no wires in monitoring your heart rate. It displays real-time heart rate data, which will guide you in optimizing the results of your workouts.

Benefits

In essence your Polar F11 becomes your coach, regardless of where you workout. It will guide you through each step of the workout. In endurance workouts, it will set your pace, preventing you from overdoing it. When you are doing tempo runs, it will keep you on track. For those interval workouts, it will calculate your workout so that you are working hard enough, yet can allow you recovery time.

Along with calculating recovery time, this monitor can also let you know when you need hydration or nutrition. You won’t find another heart rate monitor that does that.

Training with a Polar F11 puts all your workout concerns at the back of your head for it practically takes care of you. It doubles as a watch and timer that monitor your workout hours. It keeps you focused more on doing your workouts, which makes you less anxious to see results.

Using the foot pod, you can calculate heart rate, running speed and distance, as well as cycling speed and distance using the speed and cadence sensors. What more could you need?

The innovative specifications of Polar F11 make one of the best heart rate monitor models in the market today. It pretty much gives you the support given by your fitness coach, nutritionist and doctor in providing valuable work out information.

By using a personalized training program, the Polar FT60G1 will let you train in the manner you desire, while making your personal fitness targets reachable.

When it comes to heart rate monitors, quality matters, the new Polar F11 gives you more than that. With guaranteed accurate and precise measurements of all your work out stats, the product is every inch a true fitness partner. For a reasonable price, Polar F11 heart rate monitor gives you a powerful fitness advantage that works for you.

May 04 2009 | cycling | No Comments »