Polar FT40 Heart Rate Monitor

The FT40 is a very poor design. I got this for my wife and it came up with "Error: Contact Polar Service" in just over a year of low-use. Return to Polar service is $$$. I researched the error and it turns out the sensor is a piece of crap and fails within a pretty short time-frame, so getting it repaired is a short-term solution.I've been using my Garmin 310XT for 6 years. Yeah, it's big and ugly, but I beat the crap out it mountain biking (I crash a lot), triathlon training (swimming too), running, XC skiing, falling off my bike seat to cement - the thing is nearly indestructible. I use it several times a week, charge it maybe once/week, and even after all these years it's still good for 8-10 hours on a charge, at least. The case is beat to heck, but somehow the lens is still perfect. Find something like this instead of the FT40.

Ever since I learned more about heart rate training, I began to implement the use of a heart rate monitor into my own training. I needed my monitor to do these two things: count calories and show heart rate.*Initial Thoughts*I had been using my Garmin Forerunner 405CX for indoor workouts. Although it’s a great tool, I didn’t need all the data it offered and the large watch constantly got in the way of everyday tasks. The large, clunky watch was heavy and got pretty banged up throughout the day. I decided to look into the more simple, yet effective Polar heart rate monitors and settled on the Polar FT40. I love how the slim design allowed it to be worn as an everyday watch. As someone who works out throughout the day, I value the ability to press a button to track my calories as I taught a class or trained a client.*Setup*Setting up my Polar FT40 couldn’t have been any easier. Upon opening the box, I inputted my information into the watch: height, weight, activity level, gender. The heart rate strap is not as high in quality as Garmin’s premium strap, but it was good enough. One of the best parts about Polar straps is that a replacement can also be purchased for less than $20. I wet the electrodes and put on the HR strap so the watch can conduct the Fitness Test. The Fitness Test calculates your heart rate for a few minutes while you’re in a relaxed state, and then ranks you according to your resting HR. I kicked back, relaxed, and let the Fitness Test do its thing.Users have reported wonky data within a few months of consistent use, and this is usually fixed by hand washing the HR strap. I always wipe down my watch and HR strap at the end of the day to prevent harmful salt buildup and gently hand wash the strap (without the snap on device) every week.*During Workouts*The watch was easy enough to maneuver for my first workout. With a simple click of a button, the watch was able to pick up my heart rate with ease. Throughout the workout, the watch has the ability to manually scroll through a few screens: heart rate, heart rate effect (fat zone vs. fitness zone), calories, and the time. Because of it’s comfortable design, you forget that it’s there. My Forerunner buttons would constantly jab into my wrist and stop time when I performed any exercise that required wrist extension, like a plank. No such problems like that with my FT40.*Post Workout Data*Although you can cycle through screens throughout your workout, more information is available at the end of the workout. The calorie counter is especially important because I use that data to input into my food diary. I don’t like to rely on machines or My Fitness Pal to guesstimate how many calories I’ve burned. Granted, the watches guess too, but they take into account more information than software on treadmills.The FT40 also provides information such as your average and maximum HR, along with what percentage of the workout was low intensity vs. high intensity. Since the body burns a greater percentage of fat in low intensity workouts, this is exemplified through the display, “Cal. Fat”During the workout, the FT40 has a screen that tells you whether you’re in the Fat Loss vs. Fitness zone. Unfortunately, the number that dictates Fitness is decided solely on the watch and can’t be manually adjusted. The Fitness threshold is set at 65%, which is technically the proper intensity of %maxHR (MHR) to elicit a physiological response in the body. Keep in mind that if you’re in great shape, you’ll need a greater intensity of about 85% to push that adaptation threshold.If you don’t know your MHR and you’re healthy with good joints, I suggest doing a max test on a treadmill to find your true MHR. If you can’t do that, skip the simple 220-age formula and use 206.9 – (0.67 x age). The latter formula has been shown to be more accurate than the antiquated 220 – age. A max test to test MHR is recommended every five years because MHR declines with age.Find your resting HR (RHR) by taking your heart rate first thing in the morning. Count the beats for a full 60 seconds and take the average number of a couple of trials. As you get in better shape, your RHR will lower and you will need to update the information stored in your watch.*Conclusion*If you need something simple that can get the job though, the FT40 is for you. The simpler FT7 is similar in function except that it doesn’t have the fat loss vs. fitness capabilities. I really love that I can wear my FT40 as an everyday watch and that the HR strap is pretty comfortable. This is a great motivational tool for people who want to increase fitness and monitor their workouts. The calorie counter is indispensable for calorie counters who need to lose or gain weight.

Purchased this in January 2013 and used multiple times everyday consecutively for about 60 days. Then off and on throughout the year until I started having crazy readings in November. I'd say I really used the HRM no more than 200 hours total. I took care to clean the strap and store the transmitter away from the strap, watch, etc.. everything was placed separately. In late Oct or Nov the watch started either not connecting with the transmitter or showing either 00 or 200+ bpm. I changed the battery this weekend, but the watch is still malfunctioning, it connected a couple times, and would show 00 bpm, then 200 bpm, then 80 bpm, etc, within seconds of each other. I stopped it and tried again, and then it would not connect to the transmitter. Stopped and tried again and got the crazy readings again. I had high hopes for this HRM but now it's just an expensive rubber watch. I googled around to see about the 2-year limited warranty but you have to register the piece that you think is the problem, pay for shipping, wait for them to fix it, and wait for them to ship it back. Someone on another Polar HRM review said although it's not stated on the Polar website, the warranty is void if you purchased from Amazon. I don't want to hassle with this.

I've only had this HRM for a month and so far I'm very pleased, but not going to give it 5 stars yet because it's so new. It's easy to use right out of the box. From what I understand, the fitness test you can do while inputting your settings personalizes your numbers that much more (meaning hopefully more accuracy!).I love being able to have a better idea of my effort and cals burned. I know no HRM is going to be 100% accurate but I have a MUCH BETTER idea of my output than before I started wearing the HRM. So far no real bugs to speak of. I was on a 6-mile run the other day and it did stop reading my HR and never picked it up again...not sure what happened. After my run I started it over and it worked fine. Took a 20-mile ride this morning and it worked fine the whole time. Another time, it didn't track my HRM consistently while playing tennis but I attributed that to the stop/start aspect of being in a tennis lesson. We'll see moving forward.P.S. I'm not really tracking the data yet...but need to get started on this because I want to train smarter.UPDATE as of 4/2015: maybe my review is moot now...is the FT40 even being sold anymore? Oh well. This heart rate monitor worked for about 18 months. Then I had to pay about $35 to change out the batteries and it worked for a month or two and now it works when it feels like it. So frustrating. I will hesitate before buying anymore Polar products because this is the 2nd Polar HRM to just quit between the 1-2 year mark. I took really good care of both of them too...followed the cleaning instructions to a T. I guess you get what you pay for. I really hope the new generation of HR wrist monitors pans out.

I've wanted a proper heart rate monitor watch for a while and this one has proved to be exactly what I was looking for.I had one previously that you had to use your fingers to identify your heartbeat, but it proved inaccurate and often didn't work.Having the strap and monitor to go on your chest is great, I know exactly how much I am burning, what my heart rate is, and how long I have been doing fitness vs. how much time I have been burning fat.This watch is a lot of money, but it has been completely worth it to me, would highly recommend to anyone!

Love my watch. I'm currently pregnant and its great to know my heart rate while I'm exercising. I'm also a fitness instructor and its fun to know how many calories I've burned plus the patrons love to know too. Its a great motivator, Its easy to use. Great watch.

I've been using this product for five months and am very happy with it. Sometimes the heart rate monitor loses connection (not often... like once per month) but other than that I'm extremely pleased with it. Highly recommended!

the style, the option, the result ! Everything is very good. I like it. I recommand for everybody need to lose weight

Great watch, work out with it all the time. Wasn't aware you had to wear a chest strap with it, but I just didn't do my research. Overall great buy, super happy.