General Cycling Discussion - Good conductor for heart rate monitor?

My wife and kids just got me a heart rate monitor for fathers day? :-) I know that spit works but is there any other household product that will work? Or do I need to get a product made for the monitor?

I just wait until I start sweating. Usually doesn't take too long. :)
I would think KY would work well since it is water soluble. I'm sure others here will have some good ideas.

I've never had any problems with good ol' fashioned spit...

EKG conductive gel works very well or the above mentioned advice is free unless you have perpetual cotton mouth.

Nice Father's Day gift. Your wife and kids are so thoughtful, it shows exactly how much they care about your health. Ever heard health is wealth? Treasure your health a whole lot. If other people are caring for your health, all the more you must take good care of yourself.

As for the conductor for the heart rate monitor, there is actually no need for it. If you sweat, well, that's good enough. You can start with some water, and till you break into a sweat, the water will do fine. So far, using water as a start works perfectly well for me, and I have never use any special conductor so far.

i just slap some water on it, and i'm ready to roll

I use the "tongue to the rubber belt" technique. Works great.

Ditto what deliriou5 said, but make sure it's water and not gatorade (Don't ask me how I know this) :)

Zack

I got some of the signal enhancer stuff that they sell and it reminds me of, um, KY jelly. I guess that's a household product, haven't tried it on my transmitter strap, tho.

have you guys ever had a problem with water? it's cleaner than spit and cheaper than "intimate lubricant". what am i missing here?

the instructions that came with my polar HRM said water, and it seems to work fine for me.

Saline solution for contacts works great.

I put some salt into water then put it into an eyedropper type container. Before I work out I put a drop on each of the transmitter pad areas. I use this in the winter when it is cold and it takes a while to start sweating.

Sweat has salt and is a better conductor than plain water. Salt water mimics this better than plain water.

Water probably won't work, because it lacks the necessary electrolytes to conduct the electrical impulse.

I have a very quirky Polar hrm. I have used EKG gel from the local home health store, and I have tried a product called "Ba-bump" made specifically for hrms. You can find it online, I found it at a local running store. Unfortunately, I only used it a couple times before losing it at a race, but it was twice as expensive, and I didn't think it worked that much better than the EKG gel.

In the end, the most effective conductor for me has been spit. Even so, I don't always get the best contact until I start to sweat, which doesn't take long in the summer.

Originally posted by cyclinrunt
Water probably won't work, because it lacks the necessary electrolytes to conduct the electrical impulse.

Might be something to this. On some occasions I have wet my strap and chest profusely with tap water, hoping to improve performance, and it seemed like it didn't pick up as well (interference from power lines, etc.). Possibly, whatever goo has oozed from your pores mixes with the water to make a better conductor than water alone. And too much water washes off the goo/electrolytes.

Not that feltup asked about it, but I find I have to have the strap fairly snug, and positioned just right, too.