Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor

Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor - For those who want basic heart rate based features to keep their fitness training simple.

Key Features:

Target Zone Indicator

Automatic age-based target zone - bpm / %

To help you train safely and effectively, the heart rate monitor determines your heart rate target zone limits automatically according to your age-based maximum heart rate (220 minus age). The limits are determined either in beats per minute (bpm, as pictured on the left) or as a percentage (%) of your maximum heart rate. See also Manual target zone.

Graphical Target Zone Indicator

This feature points out graphically on the display the zone you are in during a training session helping you to stay on the desired intensity zone.

Polar OwnCal® - calorie expenditure

OwnCal is the most accurate calorie counter on the market. It calculates the number of calories expended during a training session based on your weight, height, age, gender, your individual maximum heart rate (HRmax) and how hard your're training.

Body Measurement Features

• Heart rate - bpm / % - Heart rate is the measurement of the work your heart does. Heart rate can be expressed as the number of beats per minute or as percentage of your maximum heart rate.

Polar WearLink®+ transmitter
• HR-based target zones with visual and audible alarm - You can define your target zones for a training session based on heart rate to help define the right intensity. When you are out of the preset zones, the training computer will give a visual and audible alarm.
• Manual target zone - bpm / % - This feature enables you to define the target zone as you want and is suitable for your training. You can set the target zone for your training as beats per minute (bpm) or as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.
• Polar OwnCode® (5kHz) - coded transmission - Coded heart rate transmission automatically locks in a code to transmit your heart rate to the training computer. The training computer picks up your heart rate from your transmitter only. Coding prevents interference from other training computers.
• Displays average and maximum heart rate of training
• HRmax can be manually adjusted

Recording Features:

• Totals - Totals includes your training data starting from the last reset enabling you to follow your long-term training.
• 10 training files (with summaries)

Training Features:

• HeartTouch - button-free operation of wrist unit - When HeartTouch is on during exercise bringing your training computer close to your transmitter, the unit will display the time without pressing buttons, for instance, when gloves make pressing buttons difficult.

Watch features

• Backlight
• Date and weekday indicator
• Display text in English, German, Finnish, Swedish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian
• Dual time zone
• KeyLock
• Low battery indicator
• Time of day (12/24h) with alarm and snooze
• User replaceable battery
• Water resistant - 30m

What's in the box?

• Polar FT4 heart rate monitor
• Polar WearLink®+ transmitter
• Quick guide

What is a heart rate monitor?

Heart rate is individual and changes according to your exercise. The transmitter measures and sends the heart rate information to the watch unit and the watch unit displays the heart rate and exercise information. Put simply a heart rate monitor shows you how hard you are working.

"Put simply, regularly monitoring your heart rate is the best way to tell how effective your exercise is. I use a Polar heart rate monitor to keep track of how hard I'm working during every training session, but you don't have to be a professional to feel the benefits of heart rate monitoring. I would recommend anyone, no matter how much or little they exercise, to wear a heart rate monitor when working out. It can give motivation by providing targeted workout zones according to your personal fitness level, to ensure you're always training at the right level for you and your body. And by showing you how hard you're working throughout exercise sessions, heart rate monitoring can help you to achieve your fitness or weight loss goals quicker and often with less effort than you think." (Matt Roberts, Celebrity Personal Trainer)

Heart Rate Training Zones
Click here for a larger image

Why train with a heart rate monitor?

Getting the most out of your training doesn't always mean working faster or harder. The best way to improving and seeing results is to train at the right intensity. So with a heart rate monitor, you can make sure you're not over or under training, and make each session count. Use Polar as your training buddy and you'll have evidence of your progress - motivating you each and every time you train.

Polar will help you achieve your goals:

Weight Loss

To maximise weight loss, exercise intensity needs to be varied. With a Polar heart rate monitor you can control and monitor the intensity of your exercise. Most Polar heart rate monitors show you how many calories you have burned - great for motivation.

Improved Fitness

Polar heart rate monitors have a number of features to help increase your fitness levels. Look out for the Polar Keeps U Fit Program which gives you personal guidance on how often, how long and how hard you need to exercise to reach your personal fitness goals. In addition, there are running and cycling specific products with speed and distance features combined with heart rate to provide you with all the feedback you need to take your fitness to the next level.

Performance Gains

If you are serious about your training and want to maximise your performance, look out for products with features such as Polar Sport Zones, Polar OwnOptimizer and products with Polar Pro Trainer 5 software which enables you to plan and create training sessions and analyse your training data in detail.

Why choose Polar?

Smart Coaching

As the inventors of the first heart rate monitor for training over 30 years ago, Polar truly are the specialists in the field. Since then they've been leading this category, and the world's top specialists have been working on the most accurate and intelligent training computers and heart rate based features.

What makes Polar truly unique is that their features give guidance based on your personal information, and individual heart rate and its variation. The state-of-the-art intelligence of Polar products can tell you how much, how often and how hard to train. This is why so many top athletes use Polar training computers. But you don't have to be a professional athlete to benefit from heart rate monitoring. Polar understands how important training is to you and they make it as much a part of their lives as it is of yours.

And their success is clear to see. Today, Polar employs 1200 people worldwide, manufactures all products in its fully owned factories, has 26 subsidiaries globally and manages a distribution network supplying over 35,000 retail outlets in more than 80 countries.

Polar is widely recognised as the leading product and the most respected brand for heart rate monitoring equipment and services in the sports industry. Polar is proud to have exclusive Partnerships with a number of high profile Sports Associations including:-

UKA, PGMO, League Managers Association, England Hockey, Rugby League Match Officials, Rugby Football League and Rugby Football Union Women.