HRM: Help needed

[jmowry]

I am wanting to get a HRM, but I have large breasts, 38DD. My problem is that when I excercise I wear a bra and a sports bra on top. With the strap, I would have three bands around my chest. I love cycling and spinning because it is great exercise, fun and low impact. What do you suggest I do? I am looking at the Polar F4 and my DH has the wearlink belt I can use.

[Bad JuJu]

I'm not sure if it's still available, but Polar used to make a sports bra that included a little pocket for the transmitter. That might make your life a little less complex.

[roguedog]

Hey Jm..

You can try the Numetrex system which is a sports bra with the transmitter integrated into it. It works with Polar HRMs

http://www.numetrex.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=HOME&Store_Code=N

Been getting some good press I believe.

[Cha Cha]

This very morning I noticed something that might be helpful - spooky huh?
:-) I wear my polar under a sports bra too - and noticed that the back part of the strap was hanging out (drooping?) below the bottom band of the sports bra. But it didn't really matter, because the sports bra elastic was plenty sufficient to hold the front part in place.

So, maybe it's worth a try to have the HRM band loose - you'll still have two bras holding down the plastic part in the front, and not so much compound strap-age to deal with.

The other thing you might think about is applying some small velcro circles to the ends of the front of the HRM (hook side facing away from the body) and wearing it without the elastic band- between the bra's bottom band holding it in place and a little bit of "stick" from the velcro, you might be able to get away with no back strap on the HRM at all.

Hope this is helpful! Let us know what works!

Amy

[Cha Cha]

One thing I forgot to mention - I have the Polar F4, and if I had it to do over again, would have bought a men's model instead. Here's why:

1. I keep the polar on my handlebars anyway, so the smaller size is not as important as you think. (I have very very tiny wrists.)

2. The display is not large enough to display heart rate and the stopwatch readout (or time) in the same screen, so you either have to keep pushing buttons to get the readout you want, or wear a separate watch with a stopwatch on it. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is really distracting. The display on the men's model is big enough to show both at the same time. Fortunately, my DBF gave me a women's Ironman watch for Christmas, so I use the stopwatch on that and it works great, but the smaller readout on the F4 is not cool.

Just my two cents' worth! Hope this helps!

[Bad JuJu]

the sports bra elastic was plenty sufficient to hold the front part in place.
So, maybe it's worth a try to have the HRM band loose
You know, I just remembered that I used to do this sort of thing in spinning class (just started back spinning last week). I removed the HRM unit from the band and just tucked the unit under the band of my bra. I never had a problem with it, and it was plenty comfy and stable. Plus then you don't have to be forever washing that band. Worth a try, at least in spinning class--I don't know how well this would translate to outdoor cycling.

[Offthegrid]

I'm the same size as you, and I just got a Polar HRM and have found it quite comfortable. In fact, sometimes I've forgotten I've had it on.

BTW, if you haven't already, check out the Enell sports bras. They are AMAZING but quite pricy. You won't need to wear two bras anymore. I started with the size 3, and now wear size 2 or 3 and will be replacing the size 3s as I go along.