Friday, April 20, 2012

Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor Review!

Polar FT60 heart rate monitor

As you may know through my blog, Facebook Page or weight loss group, I use a Polar heart rate monitor during my work outs. I used to use the FT7 which was great but ever since Polar USA was kind enough to send me this FT60 heart rate monitor to review, I have been HOOKED! The FT60 offers so many features! In fact, I'm still learning about many of them.

First, let's talk about the design. I know looks aren't everything, but this one is killing other heart rate monitors. It just looks so cool and well, let's face it, I already look bad enough as it is as I'm working out, I could definitely use a few cool points. ;-) The FT60 is very sleek and comfortable. A nice size screen for easy viewing.


Okay, let's move on to some of the cool features. I think my favorite feature is the calorie counter. This tells me how many calories I am burning during my work outs and how much of it is from fat. It has been pretty eye opening for me. It's interesting to see how less intense (or what I believe is less intense) work outs burn more fat calories. It totally makes sense though. Back when I had a trainer in December he broke this down for me. By the way, my personal trainer totally loved this heart rate monitor and was happy I had it on hand.

Click to enlarge


I love how at the end of the week I can see how hard I have trained. The monitor tells me how many calories I burned that week and if I'm improving. This is a big motivator for me! If you look under your weekly summary, it will also tell you how many sessions you had along with how long you trained, which is awesome if you set a goal to do 5 sessions and it only shows 3, you know you need to get your butt in gear next week!

This heart rate monitor also breaks your heart rate down into 3 different zones. This will help you maximize each work out.  You can view all of the data as you're working out by pressing the top of bottom buttons on the right hand side.

If you're worried about setting up the watch, don't be! It's easy and completely fool proof! I thought it would confuse me but it's as easy as 1, 2, 3 thanks to the manual! :-)

There's a back light which is awesome if you don't have the best lighting or if you're in the dark (brave soul!). 

The chest strap the heart rate monitor comes with is comfortable and actually fits me, so no worries there. I actually forget I even have it on!

You can purchase this heart rate monitor on Polar's website, Amazon or stores such as Dick's Sporting Goods.

I learn new things about this watch every day so this is not the last you will hear from me about it. If you would like to see more pictures, please check out my facebook page as I post a picture of the HRM after every work out. www.facebook.com/nikgetsfit 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!