Suunto - Polar interval timers
17/09/2008 by Tris.
Customer question:
Please can you tell me, which of the male-specific chest-strap type heart rate monitors that you supply have an integrated ‘interval timer’ preferably with separate warm-up but not essential? Do any have 2 seperate inteval timers e.g. 40sec High, 60sec Low, and seperate 20sec High and 90sec Low?
heart rate monitor uk says:
The Suunto T3C heart rate monitor - Suunto T4C heart rate monitor and Suunto T6C heart rate monitor have
1 x WARM UP TIMER
followed by
TIMER 1
followed by
TIMER 2
then repeat timer 1 and timer 2
During these stages of interval timing, the heart rate zone does NOT change - it only has 1 x active HR zone
The Polar RS200 has 3 x timers.
Tmr1 Tmr2 and Tmr3
Each timer has it’s OWN HR zone
You can run just T1 on repeat - or - T1 then T2 and repeat or - T1, T2 and T3 then repeat…
You can start heart rate monitoring by pressing START once, WARM UP manually… then strat session proper by pressing START again, this then starts T1-T2-T3 process….
The Polar RS400 and Polar RS800 have even more flexibility - adding RECOVERY times between intervals
An example of a Polar RS400 heart rate monitor Polar RS800 interval session would be
10 mins warm up between 100 - 130 bpm
Then 5 x 3 min intervals between 140 - 155 bpm with a second recovery interval
Then 20 mins steady at 130 - 140 bpm
Then recovery down to 90 bpm.
Suunto FOOT POD failures ??
11/09/2008 by Tris.
This is a common mail we get at heart rate monitor UK
I bought a Suunto foot pod from you on xx/xx/xx
I’ve used it an estimated 40 hours of running but it’s stopped functioning. I’ve tried changing the battery (using the one from my Comfort Strap which has only been used about 5 times and is working fine) to no avail.
Can you advise how I should proceed with getting a replacement please?
This is what we said:
We are sorry to hear about this unusual failure
Please check the battery contacts
We have seen on numerous occassions the POSTIVE (side contact) being pushes in too far. Teasing it out with some TWEEZERS might be all you need to do.
You may also want to try RE-PAIRING it : http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/suunto_pairing_t6_t3_t4.html
If neither of these options work - you may need to return them to Suunto directly
http://www.heartratemonitor.co.uk/mainwarranty.html#suunto
QED - problem resolved - CUSTOMER HAPPY - heart rate monitor UK happy 
New Polar FA20 FT40 FT60 FT80 heart monitors
11/09/2008 by Tris.
Heart Rate Monitor UK www.heartatemonitor.co.uk are pleased to offer the new Polar FA20 Polar FT40 Polar FT60 and Polar FT80 heart rate monitors. These new models are aimed at general fitness enthusiasts of all levels. The distnguishing feature of these new range of heart rate monitors is their appearance. They are very stylish and have moved away from the - look, I’m a heart rate monitor - style to - look, I’m a stylish watch, and a competent heart rate monitor too !!
We have started reviewing these models at heart rate monitor UK and so far - we are very impressed.
The one big notable difference in the new line up is the Polar FA20. The Polar FA20 is NOT a heart rate monitor - it is an ACTIVITY MONITOR with step counter, activity monitoring and calories burnt throughout the day. This is great for the user who’s main activities are walking, jogging and running - but don’t want to have to wear a heart rate monitor belt and are not concerned about level of training intensity, just want feedback on general activity.
All the rest of the range are regular chest strap style continuous heart rate monitors. All using the comfortable Polar Wearlink coded chest strap, compatible with most popular gym equipment.
The range has sensible feature progression from Polar FT40 to Polar FT60 to top of range Polar FT80. The FT60 and FT80 have the ability to support the Polar G1 GPS or Polar S1 Foot POD to give running speed distance and pace. You can compare the feaures from this page - top of page there is a Polar FA FT series comparison table - available here in PDF
r-r intervals - Polar RS800 - Suunto T6C
17/06/2008 by Tris.
A useful question asked today by a customer regarding Polar RS800 and Suunto T6C and their use of, and analysis of R-R heart rate data - with regard to heart rate variability.
I have been looking at Suunto T series because of the R-R facility. (1) How does this compare to Polar’s R-R facility.(2) How does the software differ between T6 and T3 (not really interested in T4 Coach system).
Thanks for the mail regarding R-R analysis.1) The big difference is that the RS800 Pro Trainer software gives you ACCESS to the R-R data - so you can extract the RAW R-R information
The Suunto Training Manager does NOT
<<CORRECTION>> it IS possible to extract the RAW R-R data from a T6C or Memory Belt using TRAINING MANAGER software, please see the COMMENTS posting by our kind contributors. I stand corrected - thanks JamieB (10-07-09)
HOWEVER….
Suunto analyses the R-R data it has stored and outputs TRAINING EFFECT and EPOC data to give the user a very clear understanding of the WORK LOAD.
That means you have TRAINING EFFECT data for EACH and EVERY session you perform, so it is clear to see when you are over training
The Polar has the OWN OPTIMISER test. This is performed voluntarily and, upon completion, gives the user an idea of their current wellbeing - over trained, under trained, balanced training state etc.
Both are GOOOD.
For the average user, TRAINING EFFECT is useful and gives immediate review of progress and workload
The Polar RS800 is possibly better suited to the purist, the user that wants access to the RAW DATA.
2) Please review the SCREEN GRABS on these pages:
Suunto TRAINING MANAGER software with TRAINING EFFECT and TIME versus HEART RATE curves
Suunto TRAINING MANAGER LITE software - does NOT give time versus heart rate curves
The T3/4 does NOT give a TIME versus HEART RATE curve.. the T6 does
www.heartratemonitor.co.uk
Hope we can help