Training & Nutrition - Heart Monitors

Does anyone have an opinion on these moniters? Are they worth getting? I am interested in knowing how many calories burned etc. They are expensive. Any advise on these would be helpful. Do you know what would be a good one to buy?

I normally don't say "do a search" but in this case there is a whole lot of content on this topic. You'll find no shortage of opinions! IMHO, yes they are worth it and expense is relative.

A good place to start in terms of which one is to decide if you want it bike mounted or the wrist version. Polar is pretty popular though they have had some recent quality issues.

They are useful for tracking progress, etc. A good resource is the Sally Edwards book on heart rate training.

Polar is the most popular, probably because they were on the market before everyone else. You can get a Garmin computer with cadence and HR, but the prices are higher. You can buy the wrist style and then buy a bicycle mount. I don't use the bicycle mount, I just strap my wrist style around the bars and look at it there.

I don't care about the calories burned, so I just have the cheapest polar there was at the time and use it for everything. Running, biking, elliptical, weight lifting, walking.

I use a HRM to keep me in check. When I wasn't using one, I'd get out and beat myself to death, now I keep it in the range where I can go for 2 or 3 hours and not fall off the bike when I'm done. I bought a Polar and so far it's been ok for me. I think it was the FS1 model from Wal-Mart $50.