Polar Heart Rate Monitors

Polar is acknowledged as one of the leaders in heart rate monitors. Since its establishment in Finland in the mid-1970s it has continually pushed the envelope in terms of new products and innovative technology.

This trend continues, with two new products that were released at the end of 2009, and which raise its technology to a new level. If you are looking to buy a heart rate monitor in 2010, do check out these items. You will struggle to find anything with such advanced technology on the market.

The first of these is the Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor. It is based on research which shows that a balanced fitness program of higher and lower intensity exercise is more effective and efficient than a strategy of continually working out harder and faster.

Thus, it incorporates what the company calls an "Automatic Target Zone", which calculates exactly what heart rate range is best for each user, at each stage of the work-out, and continuously reminds the user to stay within that target.

The FT4's memory file is large enough to record and store up to 12 training files. In addition, it incorporates other functions that include the ability to display calories burned.

The other new product is the Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor. It combines all the features of the FT4, and adds an expanded memory that stores up to 99 training files and 16 weekly training summaries. In addition, it incorporates Polar's new EnergyPointer program, a visual display that continuously identifies whether the user is working in what the company describes as the "fat burning zone" or the "fitness improvement zone."