# Heart Rate Monitor Recommendations Please

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-rate-monitor-recommendations-please/470190>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 30, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-rate-monitor-recommendations-please/470190 "2008-10-30T01:46:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-rate-monitor-recommendations-please/470190/1 "2008-10-30T01:46:03Z")

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Help me Dopers! I’m trying to get healthy and fit, so a little over a month ago I started the Couch to 5K program. So far it’s going very well, and I’m halfway through. I also started tracking my calories by food journaling, and in an effort to keep accurate, I’d like to buy a heart rate monitor so I can track calories burned. I know everything is just an estimate, but websites can be wildly inaccurate, so I’d like a better estimate. 🙂

I don’t want anything really fancy. I’m looking to spend between $60 and $100. I don’t need it to do anything more than tell me what my heart rate is and what percentage of maximum I am at during a workout, and estimate my calories burned based on my personal stats. I don’t know whether or not to get a wireless one or one with a chest strap. If anyone has used both, I’d like to know your thoughts on the differences.

I thank you for helping me in my quest for fitness!

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-rate-monitor-recommendations-please/470190/2 "2008-10-30T01:55:37Z")

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Polar has always been the gold standard. I don’t think calories burned would be much more accurate with a HRM as it’s still an approximation. It is useful to help gauge effort and keep your workouts under control.

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-rate-monitor-recommendations-please/470190/3 "2008-10-30T02:16:10Z")

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Forgot to add-go with the chest strap. I don’t know what you mean by wireless as the chest strap models are wireless. Don’t get the type where you touch a contact or fit a sensor over your fingertip-poor accuracy. Your heartrate drops very quickly once you stop, I counted a drop of 25 bpm in just 10 sec.