What heart rate monitor do you suggest I buy?

This is a question that I get asked all the time. One reason is that I like to give runners and triathletes guidelines to follow in relation to their heart rate. No matter what your philosophy is regarding using heart rate to pace your running effort, a heart rate monitor is at the least a good device to provide meaningful biofeedback as you try to improve your fitness.

So let’s assume you are beyond the debate of whether to use or not use a heart rate monitor and you are ready to buy, what heart rate monitor should you buy?

What I have used:

Sigma Sport
I began using a heart rate monitor back in 2000. I had run a couple marathons by this time and needed to find a way to train more intelligently, because after running a 3:53 and a 4:00 marathon, I wasn’t satisfied. As a college student that was waiting tables to cover tuition and living expenses, I found the cheapest monitor I could find. I ended up with a Sigma Sport. It worked well for the first couple years, but it gave just the very basic detail. It gave me the time (chrono) and my current heart rate.

Looking at their current site, it does look like they have current models that include more advanced technology.  But I can’t give any testimony to their current devices.  I can say that back when I was using their product, they had some of the best customer service that I’ve ever had to deal with.  Even with a cheap monitor, they worked with me and completely replaced my unit at one point.

Suggestion:  You will find something more common in use among other triathletes and runners, which in my point of view is valuable knowledge.  And despite the good customer service, I have never bought another Sigma Sport, which also says something.  I’d find something that is more actively used in our endurance culture.

Polar
When I wanted to upgrade the heart rate monitor I chose to buy a Polar.  One of the reasons that I bought the Polar was due to the fact that Polar heart rate straps were what we used in the exercise physiology lab.  At the time, it seemed like Polar was well known for their reliability and I believe that they still are.

I have had two different Polar heart rate monitors, but the main device that I’ve used over the years is the Polar F6 .  I have really liked this monitor for a general purpose watch.  It is pretty basic in relation to all the advanced watches they offer, but it has worked well for my purposes.  Here are a couple Pro’s and Con’s:

Pro’s — I like the size of the watch.  It fits like a watch and not a computer attached to my arm.  I also like the basic and user friendly settings.  It stores the last 12 workouts that you can pull up on the watch.  Those records include time, percent fat used, average heart rate and max heart rate.  It will also pull up exercise totals and a diary.

Con’s — This watch is in the Fitness line of their devices, which means it lacks some basic features that a runner or multisport athlete would want.  The biggest feature that I would like is a lap function.  It was a bit frustrating at times when I first began using it to realize that I had to stop the watch and restart a new session to get my splits during a race.  If you look at my Ironman Wisconsin finisher’s photo you’ll notice I am wearing two watches, a timex wrist watch on my left wrist and the F6 on my right wrist.  I have done this for all my races the last few years so I’m used to it now, but not ideal.  In fact, at Ironman Louisville I came out of T2 and didn’t stop and restart the watch.  So when I was finished I only had the cumulative splits of Bike/T2/Run for heart rate.

The one big negative about a Polar monitor is when the batteries die or you need to have something worked on.  Even changing a simple battery requires you to send the unit to Polar to be serviced.  A major bummer!  It will leave you without a unit for a couple weeks and it will also start to add to the expenses because of the shipping and the cost of the service.

What I would buy next time, if I bought a Polar:

The athletes that I know that use their running / multisport watches don’t have the lap problem.  Even the beginning Polar watches in the running and multisport category like the rs300 sd or rs 300x g1 offer all the features I believe I would need.  They do offer the rs 100, but I think the ability to add the speed and distance with the rs300 sd or the gps capabilities of the rs300 g1 would be nice.

I had an athlete that trained with the Polar RS800CX for Ironman Louisville.  She seemed to be very happy with the unit, hopefully I can get some additional comments from other athletes.  I’ve included links to amazon so you can read some of the reviews (and provide a little side bonus to me should you chose to buy through them).

Garmin
In 2007/2008 I coached the running team for our local chapter of Team in Training.  As a “Thank You” gift from one of the athletes, I was given a Garmin 305.  I was incredibly excited because I had wanted to use gps to track my running and cycling.

In 2008, I used the Garmin for every single run and bike I did (ok, I may have missed 1 or 2 workouts?).  I even used the monitor when I used the treadmill so that I could have the heart rate data.  This would have worked out really well if I had the foot pod so I could get the distance without the gps syncing.    Here are some of the Pro’s vs Con’s:

Pro’s — I enjoy getting all the data.  It can be a type A personality athlete’s best dream.  You get a lot of data on the go:  lap pace, overall pace, heart rate, lap heart rate, distance – Here’s a link to the specs at Garmin’s site.  I also think that Garmin has the best online integration with their devices, Garmin Connect is a very nice and easy to use site.

Con’s — There are a couple things about the 305 that I don’t really care for: #1 is the size of the watch.  It is something I put up with while training, but not willing to do while racing a triathlon.  That being said, Nikki used her’s during Ironman Louisville.  I also know others that used them at IMLou and during many marathons.  Actually, I have used them during a couple stand alone marathons too, but I do think if I was seriously racing the constant feedback might be a little too much.

#2 – The other issue is the battery life.  I really dislike that I have to constantly worry about getting the watch charged.  And at times, I forget and it runs out mid run.  The battery often lasts around 6 to 8 hours, but Nikki has had it last much longer than that a couple times – not sure how?

Other Garmin Products:

I have a couple people I know that are using the Garmin 50. It is there basic watch that is only a heart rate monitor. While the Garmin 50 doesn’t have a gps, you can purchase the foot pod and still get speed and distance. The other thing that I really like the 50 is that it uses the ANT+ wireless system, which makes downloading your data much easier than the docking system that I have to use with my 305.

The other Garmin products that I have known people to use are the Garmin Forerunner 405
and the newer Garmin Forerunner 310XT . A lot of the feedback about the 405 is that the user controls are difficult to manage and are very sensitive. I know one runner who went back to the 305 after using the 405 for a period of time, but I also know those that have been using the 405 and have gotten used to the user controls. The 310xt is new enough that I have not had enough discussions to determine how valuable it is. The two positives the 310xt presents is the long battery life (20 hours) and it is water proof, which makes it a more multisport friendly watch.

Suunto

I have been intrigued by other runners and triathletes that have been using the Suunto watches lately.  I have one triathlete/runner that has started using one for his training in the past few months, but I don’t have enough experience to give a good review.

I have asked a few people to share some thoughts on their experiences with the different units, hopefully I can get some more information and pass it along.  I will have to say that looking through their catalog of products, they do seem to be innovating for the fitness and training demographic more than some of the other companies.  Products like the memory belt and the Team Pod are very interesting devices (Although I’ve heard Mike Boyle discuss that the way the company goes about selling the team pod system makes it unattractive and impractical?).

So what would I personally buy today:

If I had to buy a new monitor today I would buy either the rs300 sd, rs300 g1 or the garmin 50.  The sole purpose being that I am fairly cheap and buying a $400 watch would probably make me resent the technology more than appreciate it.  Those three watches all give me the basic functions I need, heart rates, times and when paired with the right accessories speed and distance.

Now if I had a little more time to review options and save up to buy a top end watch, I’d look at the Garmin 310xt (although it still seems large), the Polar rs800 cx (and just use trainingpeaks.com for all my downloading) or continue to learn more about the Suunto line of watches (you can check out a few thoughts from Bret at Zentriathlon here).

Hopefully that helps you in your decision when choosing the right heart rate monitor for you and your budget.  I also hope it will create some discussion about the pro’s and con’s of the different products so I can learn about some of the newest technology I haven’t been able to play with yet!

Added Note:  If you want a great discussion comparing the Garmin and Suunto units, check out the blog Zentience written by Morten Leibach.  Here’s the link – Garmin or Suunto?