# Any ladies here use a heart rate watch with no strap? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267 "2007-07-18T14:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/1 "2007-07-18T14:47:10Z")
And by no strap I mean no chest strap. My wife does Jazzercize and is looking to get a strapless HR watch. She does not want a large, bulky thing. So, any recommendations? How are the MIO watches? They look bulky in the pictures I have seen, but I don’t know how they are in real life. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/2 "2007-07-18T15:58:19Z")
I don’t think I have ever seen a HRM that didn’t use a chest strap. [Polar](http://www.shoppolar.com/_polarelectrostore/cgi-bin/pd.cgi?frompage=category&page=product_detail&fromcategory=Accessories&category=Accessories&pid=F2222ZQA79WHFZKSD7G) makes a bra that incorporates the chest strap if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/3 "2007-07-18T16:49:00Z")
The straps really not that bad, even with out the special bra. I just tuck it up underneath the band of my sports bra and forget it’s even there. It gets a little sweaty but it’s not uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/4 "2007-07-18T19:53:56Z")
Well, there are sevveral strapless varieties out there now. They are basically “on demand” monitors, you have to touch a spot on the watch for a few seconds and it tells you your heart rate. I don’t set the specifications, my wife said she doesn’t want a strap, so that’s what she’ll get 🙂 And Rick, I am not sur eI want to know why you know about bras with heart monitirs built in. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/5 "2007-07-18T20:07:55Z")
I have one. It’s gray. I got it at Radio Shack for about $30. It’s more bulky than something I’d wear as a watch, but not awkward to wear while exercising. I do need to take a break from exercising to get a reading from it. There is a little spot to hold my finger over, and I don’t hold it steady enough if I’m doing anything more than a slow walk. MMV. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/6 "2007-07-19T09:19:28Z")
I was in the market for a heart rate monitor a few months ago. I wanted a strapless one initially but ended up going for one with the band because every review I read said that the strapless ones don’t work unless you’re standing perfectly still, which I’m not doing while I’m working out. On the plus side, most new exercise machine will read the signal from the band so you don’t have to bother with the watch part. ---
**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/7 "2007-07-19T14:00:26Z")
I have one from Polar where you touch two sides of the watch to tell you your heart rate. The model I have is not on the Polar website, so it might be an old one…It is called A4 and looks like [this](http://www.apfitness.de/shop/pictures/371.jpg). You touch the left button and the silver area at the top right to get your heart rate. It’s somewhat fiddly to use while you are running or exercising, so it’s best if you stop; and then it doesn’t always work, which is a bit annoying. However, it came with a strap anyhow, so if your wife decides the strap is the better option, she can still use it - the newer straps are really small and not that intrusive. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/8 "2007-07-19T14:05:09Z")
A lot of aerobics classes have periodic pauses for heart rate checks, which some people do manually. So needing to stop to use the watch might not be a problem like it would for other kinds of exercise. Thinking about that, the OP’s wife’s request makes more sense. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/9 "2007-07-19T17:45:16Z")
I’ve only known one person who had the wrist only monitor - and he hated it. Basically, to get it to work, he had to hold it down in exactly the right place for a significant period of time, and then it would read. Doing that while jogging was problematic at best - so, he’d have to stop first which slowed down his heart rate and didn’t give what he was looking for. Mine (with a chest strap) makes the exercise bra feel slightly more annoying, but isn’t that bad. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-ladies-here-use-a-heart-rate-watch-with-no-strap/412267/10 "2007-07-20T00:59:07Z")
I had one. Have, I guess, since I haven’t tossed it. I hate it. It’s inaccurate and ugly and gets in the way.