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JohnnyCash
10-31-2003, 08:33
How accurate is the heart rate monitor on cardio bike machine?

There are two metal plates that you are supposed to grip in each hand on the handle-bars of the bike and I guess it gets your heart rate through your hand?

How can heart rate be measured through one's hand?
hopefulskeptic2
10-31-2003, 09:09
Well, I don't know how they work, but . . .
I just bought a heart rate monitor so I could monitor my ENTIRE workout indoor or out. There's a strap that goes around your chest/ribs that transmits a signal to the receiver that looks like a wristwatch. $99 btw. Anyway, I'm getting the same readouts using it while on the machines as what the machines said before, so, I guess the machines I was using were pretty accurate.
I GUESS. :D
CaliYanksFan
10-31-2003, 10:47
I bought a heart rate monitor ..made by Polar ..mine was $45 ...and I've noticed that the machines on the bikes/treadmills can be all over the map ....some are right on, while some are as much as 10 off.

They need to be calibrated on a regular basis since they are used so much ..but most gyms don't do that.

Go get one of the Polar heart rate monitors ...they are nice. You rap it around your chest ..and have the read out on a device that you wear on your wrist like a watch. There is a huge range of models ..I just bought the low-end one ...I just wanted to monitor my heart rate ...not wash the kitchen sink (that's what I have my wife for) :D (actually, my wife says that about me ..but that's another story all together.)
JohnnyCash
10-31-2003, 13:09
I just found out that I should have a rate around 165 (that on the high end) when I'm doin the bike. How long should I maintain this rate?
CaliYanksFan
10-31-2003, 13:21
Minimum of 15 minutes to start seeing any benefits.
fmr-army
11-22-2003, 07:40
I'll add a plug for your own personal heartrate monitor. Mine too is from Polar and I love it. I use it whenever I PT, to get an objective readout of how much stress my heart is taking doing different things. I even use it when I do strictly weight lifting - it helps me remember to breathe.

Another thing that I like about my personal one is that after I run/bike/whatever, I see what my heartrate was for the workout, and then I can track my recovery heartrate as I cool down.

The only problem with it is that sometimes the chest strap feels like it's slipping. I guess I now know a little how my wife feels in her bra....