Training & Nutrition - Newbie A5 HRM question

The Polar A5 HRM arrived and I'd like to do a base line HRM by wearing it at the office several hours and measuring HR upon waking.

I don't see any beep control in the manual.The thing beeps like every10 seconds while running. Is there any way to stop the beeping *and* view the HR at the same time????

And also when you wear the monitor, should the sensor on the strap give a continual light zap? :eek: O that's how it improves performance cattle-prod style.

The Polar A5 HRM arrived and I'd like to do a base line HRM by wearing it at the office several hours and measuring HR upon waking.

I recommend you establish the base when you first wake in the morning rather than derive it after naps at the office. :)

And also when you wear the monitor, should the sensor on the strap give a continual light zap? :eek: O that's how it improves performance cattle-prod style.

I see you've found their new defib function, for when you overexert yourself and need to restart your heart.

:beer: ...

The beeping thing could be because you're out of your targetted zone. Try lowering the zone a lot or turning the zones off.

I don't see any beep control in the manual.The thing beeps like every10 seconds while running. Is there any way to stop the beeping *and* view the HR at the same time????
That sounds like the "you're outside of your target zone" warning beep. If you're just standing there, it's nagging you to pick up the pace.

I have this same unit, and I switched off the warning beep long ago; it was driving me nuts at every stoplight.

To do this, first enter "exercise" mode (where it shows your HR and is accumulating stats; not "measure" mode). Then, press and hold down the button at the lower left side of the unit, the one that you'd tap to switch the backlight on, the one nearest the little speaker icon. This should toggle all of the beeps: the warning beeps, the little chirps that confirm button presses, etc. Ahh, sweet silence.

Some other observations about this unit: first, the target HR zone it chose based on my user profile was way too conservative in its estimate of my max HR; you'll probably want to set the limits manually, if you have some idea what your max HR is. Sometimes I wonder if it's over-estimating calories burned, though I have no easy way to test that.

Second, the "walk test" was pretty useless to me: I had a hard time walking quickly enough to keep my HR above 120, so the A5 spent a lot of time griping at me to walk faster. I ended up almost jogging to keep it happy, and I suspect whatever formula they run on the walk test data probably doesn't mean much for the wild-looking gait I ended up with. Whatever.

Overall, I'm really happy with my A5; it helps me to pace myself. Enjoy yours!

-JAB

And also when you wear the monitor, should the sensor on the strap give a continual light zap?
Yikes, definitely not. Well, mine doesn't, and I'm glad for that! :) If you get the monitor close enough to the transmitter, it will click and display some things, but nothing should be zapping you. If nothing else, it'd be burning valuable battery energy to do so.

-JAB

The beep thin is because you are out of the target zone (it should be flashing). To silence the alarm push (I think) the button on ther bottom left (that turns the alarm on and off). What I did with mine is set me zone limits very low and high that way it will not flash. I know what my targets are.

Bill

Joking aside...Can't be the targeted zone, cuz I'm just measuring "resting HR" without even getting on the bike. It seems to beep each time it receives from the strap.

Wonder if the faint "zapping" happens when the sensor is on a rib or the strap is slightly loose. How tight should the strap be?

Joking aside...Can't be the targeted zone, cuz I'm just measuring "resting HR" without even getting on the bike. It seems to beep each time it receives from the strap.
Well... the HRM doesn't know that you're not on the bike, or that you're trying to measure resting HR. :) In both "measure" and "exercise" mode, the unit beeps once per heartbeat when you're outside of your target zone. The toggle I described gets ride of this.

As far as the strap, I have to wear mine pretty snug; otherwise, it moves around when I get sweaty and with lots of breathing motion. It gives bizarre readings when it's loose, too, sometimes missing beats and sometimes double-counting as it jostles around. I snug it down good: I wear it just loose enough that it's not uncomfortable, and that it doesn't feel like it's hindering easy breathing. I also moisten the contacts before putting it on, to help get a clear signal initially.

-JAB