Heart Monitors

[scott]

I have a friend (believe it or not) who is a runner and uses the Polar M21 Heart Rate Monitor. According to the users manual, it says it is water resistant to 100'. My friend says he never runs without it and thought it would be great for a freediver to monitor/lower their heart rate while freediving.

Do any of you out there utilize a heart rate monitor for freediving and, if so, which specific product do you use.

Any info would be appreciated as I'm only one click away from ordering one (now that my fin and mask collection is complete, for the moment, I've got to have something else to buy).

Thanks,

Scott

P.S. To Jon, my wife did just buy some new shoes.

 

[ickledevil]

Hi,
Just so happens I was thinking about buying the same product, I contacted POLAR about it and was told that the monitor and watch are both waterproof and function to -30m as long as you do not operate any buttons below the surface. The only other thing is that you loose some of the accuracy of the heart rate monitor because of the water density, so the deeper you go the less accurate it is. I think there are about 4 models waterproof to -30m.
Let me know how you get on it may sway me into forgetting the credit card bills and getting one!
Joe

 

[thin_air]

i have the Polar Beat, and i have used it in the pool a few times, just to see if i was keeping my fitness over the winter,

i didnt have any problems with it, mine doesnt have any buttons so its probably less likely to flood, they dont make it anymore(changed their whole line...) and i dont think it was waterproof to 30 meters

the M52/M52 looks like a sweet choice, only thing missing is a depth guage...

if you have more money you might want to look at the M71ti, water proof to 50 meters, (i would also say to look at the M91ti but i dont think any of us will dive past 50m on a regular basis)

cool idea,

reminds me that i need money....

 

[Erik]

Originally posted by scott
(now that my fin and mask collection is complete

Hahahahaha! Keep telling yourself that my friend
Cheers,
Erik Y. (sold 4 masks this year, and 5000$ of scuba gear-still have 7 masks,2 monofins, 3 bi-fins, 2 snorkels, 2 wetsuits, 3 dive bags, 2 dive computers, just ordered a front-snorkel and monobag, and all the stuff I gave to my wife):ban

 

[scott]

Sale Complete

Thanks guys for the additional info. I settled on the S-210 Model (water resistant to 50 meters).

I bought it off e-bay and they have alot more available. Selling around $50 cheaper than any other web outlet I could find (about $169 on various sites, I just paid $122).

I'll give it a try once I recieve it and post what I think of it.

Scott

P.S. Erik, you were right. Stopped at a sporting good store earlier this evening to buy my kids baseball gloves and they had a (soft) bag for travelling with golf clubs on sale ($10). Thought I could use for my Sporasub Pure Carbons. Who knows what I may find tomorrow, as until this A.M I never even thought of a heart rate monitor but then all of a sudden I just had to have one.
:duh

 

[Jersey Jim]

Polar M71ti

Hi Scott:

Last summer I bought the Polar M71ti. It has a titanim case, and is good to 50 meters. I initially bought it for dive training/ learning my body, etc., but have only used it for running. I would never consider running without it. If you run with the same heart rate, as you improve, you will see your time and energy level improve. If you keep your time the same, you will see your heart rate lower. I particularlly like the calorie calculator. Last night 6.5 mile run showed 750 calories.

I don't believe the deeper one takes down a heart rate monitor, the less accurate it is. The dielectric / insulating properties of the water between the distance of the chest-strap transmitter and the watch will be the same at any depth. It will either work or it won't. Like I said, I have not had mine in the water yet, but flawless operation for 7 months. By the way, the transmitters are sealed, and have a life rating of 2500 hours operation. That's about 7 years of use! I would never consider working out without one. I believe it allows me to get more from the workout, and prevents overtraining.

Please keep us posted as to what you get, and how you like it.

Take care,

Jim in S. Jersey

 

[scott]

follow-up

Well I got my Polar S-210 heart rate monitor this past week. Used it for jogging and just measuring my heart rate until I could get out diving today (Saturday).

I went to Blue Springs and just hung out at the cavern entrance (60' - didn't want to push the water resistance on the first day). Hit my pb (non-static) of 2 minutes and watched my heart rate go to 37 bpm. It was great having the extra tool and it really made me concentrate on conserving energy and keeping the heart rate low. Also, I would not begin my next dive until my heart rate had sufficiently slowed from the prior one.

Overall, very pleased and the monitor worked great underwater (specs say good to 160').

Scott

 

[ickledevil]

Excellent,
glad to see for once things do what they are meant to do!
Where did you get your polar from? any ideas on cheap places on the net?
Cheers
Joe
p.s well done on your P.B

 

[Jersey Jim]

Congrats

Scott:
Congradulations on getting a good instrument. In my opinion (and many others) Polar is the leader in heart rate monitors. I still haven't had mine in the water yet, but am very interested what your rate was up to during breath-up after a long dive. And "how long" did it take to come down to "what" before next dive? I checked out the model you S-210 and it's quite a nice instrument. Did you wear it under a suit, and if so, did the chest-strap stay in position OK?

Ickledevil:

You may want to check out bodytrends.com they have many models of many makes. Complete with spec comparisons, pricing, etc. That's where I purchased my Polar M71ti. With this sport, so much is based around knowing your body/heart, and a heart rate monitor provides vast insight to reactions to training, stress, relaxation, and importantly, Nutrition. I gave up coffee entirely after having my monitor for 6 months. No soda either. I think your making a good decision.

Good luck,

Jim

 

[scott]

Joe & Jim,

I got the monitor on e-bay for $122 ($179 at our local Sports Authority). I purchsed the first closing auction once I knew what I wanted, without scrolling through the other auctions. Turns out several "buy it nows" for only $114. All are brand new.

I wore the chest strap under a 3 mil shorty and it stayed in place just fine. Heart rate was about 100-110 at the end of the dive and took 3-4 minutes to get to about 75 before the next dive. I had wanted it to get much lower before beginning a dive, as my just sitting around heart rate is around 50. However, at the Spring, the flow is so strong that you have to slowly fin every second or so or else the current will push you away from the spring vent. As such, I could never get my rate any lower (yet).

Looking forward to continued experimentation. Now about giving up coffee...

Scott

 

[thin_air]

Originally posted by scott
a dive, as my just sitting around heart rate is around 50. .............


Looking forward to continued experimentation. Now about giving up coffee...

Scott

with a resting heartrate like that i dont think you need to give up coffee, and i was happy when mine was at 60

happy to hear so many freedivers are in good shape

 

[scott]

it must be the genes

Vince,

Believe me, my low resting heart rate does not mean I am in great shape. It has always been in the 50's, even during long periods of inactivity (at least on the supermarket blood pressure machines). I have been exercising fairly reguarly this past year and hence it has dropped some due to this.

Interestingly, I have two sons, ages 12 and 11. The elder favors me in many ways and the younger favors my wife (he's the lucky one). The younger is more athletic but yet his resting heartrarte is 10 bpm higher than the elder (70 vs. 60). So my unscientific conclusion is that heredity plays a factor as well as fitness.

Scott

 

[ickledevil]

My resting heart rate is about 60bpm, Im not in great shape and have slightly high blood pressure. (Hereditary) The only real difference I notice when I train myself into better shape is a reduction in recovery times and less tendancy for my heart rate to 'spike' at the start of exercise. Now to go look at ebay!!!