hi,all.does anybody use these.talking to some cycling buddies who swear
by them for training.i'm not sure how you can use these for running though.any ideas!!.
cheers,andy.

Have a look at their website polar.co.uk
Lots of ideas on there.

cheers,Steepler.
i'll take a look now.
rgds,andy

Some runners swear by them but I've managed to resist temptation so far - in fact there are whole books devoted to the subject.

I just cannot keep the chest band on - it just ends up round my waist!

There's an obvious response to that but I'm too PC to make it!

Hi there

I use them and they re great. I’ve recently gotten back into running (am an absolute slug at the moment) but I used mine when I was at Uni and I have to say they are a great tool to assist in feedback data. However they are just that an additional tool.

Cheers

Chalky

I have a nike one, I read a book by John L Parker called "Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot" and although I don't follow it's plans as such, the information I picked up from it is fantastic!!! It allows your training to be a lot more focused (in my opinion of course) and also allows you to monitor your effort levels a lot better - perfect if you're unsure of pacing in a race!

Just as an example, I had a PB of 42:50 which I achieved at Lincoln 10k 2007, a very flat and fast course. Not long after I got my Nike HRM and ran a 10k training run including a number of hills (one particularly bad), ensuring my HR stayed at a constant level (can't remember exactly what this was, but it was as recommended by the book). Anyway, considering it is generally deemed very hard to match race pace on a training run, I was pleasantly suprised to finish it in 42:33!! So HRM's get a big thumbs up from me.

I think it's excellent at telling me that I am making more effort than I think or not training hard enough. What I mean is, sometimes I'll be happily going along with a smile on, but look down and my heart is doing 190, other times I'm frowning and struggling but only beating at 160. Helps me to back off when I am going to hurt myself, or notice when I may be ill and not realise it yet.

Was lucky enough to get one for my 50th birthday last week, and have used it ever since.
Find it very interesting to find how fast my heart is working and encouraged to know how many calories I have burned up, anything that helps is a bonus to me!