Polar F4 heart monitor is awesome

I got a new gadget yesterday, only this one is really, really useful, not just a toy to play with.  :) I had a $50 knee brace from Modell’s that doesn’t work, so I returned it and used the cash toward this Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor.  It’s useful in part because it works with the machines at my gym...everything that reads heart rates will also read Polar’s signals.  What I learned in the first day of using it is that cardio-wise, I’m doing about a bajillion times better than I used to.  My sitting heart rate is around 85, and I can reach almost any rate I want and hold steady.  I try to hit 135 for half the walking and 144 at the end...I actually had to raise the incline and the speed today in order to get there.  That’s something I didn’t realize before. 

The other thing I love is that it tracks time, calories, heart rate, gives you averages over time, all sorts of data.  Of the 30 minutes I walked, 23 of them were in my “optimum zone” according to the summary on the watch.  I think this is going to help me a lot.  It’s even waterproof so I can use it in the pool.  And speaking of the pool…

I haven’t been able to swim in weeks.  That collateral ligament injury is just now healing up.  I wore the hinged super-brace every time I did anything at all for a week and it started to feel great.  I then wore it only when doing anything that might strain my arm.  Now it only hurts in one or two specific positions with pressure on it, so I’m going to try swimming again next week (with the brace on!).

Have I mentioned that treadmills are evil?  :)

Posted by JimK at 09:52 PM on December 15, 2007
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