I love them!

I bought a cheap one and it lasted a couple of years.
I bought a polar and it has lasted 5. I just put a new battery in the watch,
but that's it.

When I was lean and competeing in triathalons, it helped me to maintain
consistancy, so that I did not push too hard in the early part of a race and
burn out with nothing left for the end.

Now that I'm heavier and my exercise is limited, it keeps me honest. If I
slow down my pace on a walk/run, it let's me know immediatly so that I can
pick up the pace and stay in the "zone".

When you get a monitor, you enter your height, weight and age.
It calculates based on that information what your target heartrate should be
to improve your cardio and lose weight.

The theory is that is you maintain a heartrate of 65-85% of your max, you
are working within your max zone. best for cardio and best for heartrate.
if your out of shape, you get above 65% real fast.
If your in great shape, you must work harder.

I have read that the best fat burning zone is between 70 and 75%...when I
run walk bike whatever, I try to stay in this zone for a min of 30 min.
(the best way to improve cardio is to do it for at lease 30 min.)

Oh, they are great in the pool too! (yes, you can hear it beep under water)

you need to reset the weight at each 5 pound change, otherwise, it's really
easy. I strap mine on, push start and go.
it beeps to let me know I'm below (or above) my zone and goes silent when I
am in my zone. If I hear beeping during my workout, I pick it up!

a final note:
I am hoping to use it for another triathlon (1st one in 5 years) in June of
2006!!!

jojo