Polar RS200 Heart Rate Monitor

Important Note: The Polar RS200 has now been superceded by the Polar RS300X. The RS300X has almost all the features of the RS200, plus the ability to use the G1 GPS Sensor. The RS300X also uses a different device (Polar FlowLink) to transfer data to the computer.

The main features of the Polar RS200 heart rate monitor are:

• Continuous heart rate monitoring
• Polar Fitness Test: You do the test and you get a score called OwnIndex (comparable to VO2 Max) measuring your cardiovascular fitness. You also get your Predicted Maximum Heart Rate which is expected to be more accurate than the age based formula (220 - age).
• You can do 5 types of exercise: Free, Basic, Interval, OwnZone and Custom.
• There are 3 ways to use heart rate zone(s) in training: You can set the limits manually. You can use OwnZone in which case the RS200 does a test on your fitness to decide the zone limits before your exercise. Finally you can use Polar Sport Zones. There are five Polar Sport Zones.
• You can specify (up to) three heart rate zones to use in a single training session. You can set timers for the zones to come up with your own training plan.
• You can exercise without a pre-set heart rate training zone. However, while exercising, if you change your mind and want to exercise around your current heart rate, you can use ZoneLock to lock in a heart rate zone around your current heart rate.
• Heart rate can be set and displayed as BPM (beats per minute) or % of Max HR (percentage of maximum heart rate)
• The wrist watch beeps when you train above or below your target zone
• Instant (and post-exercise) display of calories burnt (OwnCal)
• Stop watch to start and stop exercise session
• Store lap and split time. Lap time is elapsed time for one lap. Split time is total elapsed time from the start. You can store up to 99 laps in total. You can also see your average heart rate in a given lap.
• Short post-exercise summary: Max heart rate, average heart rate, duration
• Full post-exercise summary (File): Name of exercise, date, time started, duration, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, target zone(s) limits, time in, above, below target zone(s), calories burnt, time spent in each sport zone, detailed lap information (see next bullet point)
• You get to review total number of laps, average time per lap, best lap time and number. For each lap, you see the lap number, split time, lap time, average heart rate, maximum heart rate, heart rate at end of the lap. Really comprehensive info!
• You can review the last 16 Files (exercise sessions).
• Weekly File. It adds up the sum total of stats for the week: Total calories burnt, total duration, and total time spent in each of the five Polar sport zones.
• You can review the last 16 Weekly Files
• Cumulative stats of sessions since the last reset date: Total duration, total calories burnt, total number of sessions
• Three exercise timers. Use them for running intervals.
• You can choose your display language from: English, German, French, Spanish
• Basic time keeping: Time, date, alarm, 2 time zones
• Event Countdown: Set this to remind you of an upcoming race.
• Backlight
• Water resistant up to 50m
• Polar UpLink to transfer data from a PC to the heart rate monitor
• Polar WebLink/SonicLink to transfer data from the heart rate monitor to Polar's fitness trainer website
• Coded analogue wireless transmission from its WearLink chest strap: You can replace the WearLink chest strap's battery yourself without sending it back to Polar

Note: The Polar UpLink feature requires a Windows PC with a sound card and loudspeakers or headphones. The WebLink feature requires a Windows PC with a sound card and a microphone.

The features of the Polar RS200 heart rate monitor are comprehensive and very useful for a runner. There are significant number of additional useful features (highlighted in bold in the list above) compared to the Polar RS100.

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Additional Features of Polar RS200 over Polar RS100

The Polar Fitness Test gives you two things: First, OwnIndex, a number comparable to VO2 Max, is a measure of your aerobic fitness. You should see it increase over the long term. Second, Predicted Maximum Heart Rate, is determined by the same test and should be more accurate than an age-based formula. This can then be used to calculate the limits of your heart rate training zones.

The 5 training types that you can do are as follows:

• Free: Do you own free training without setting any heart rate zone limits.
• Basic: Train in Sports Zone 3 (70 to 80% Max HR).
• Interval: Do a 5 minute warm up, followed by multiple repeats of 3 minutes in Sports Zone 4 and 5 minutes in Sports Zone 2, and lastly a 5 minute cool down.
• OwnZone: Train in your OwnZone (65 to 85% Max HR).
• Custom: Design you own training by setting your own heart rate limits and timers.

Polar Sport Zones are just definitions to help you design, use and view your exercise. They are defined for your convenience. They are: Sports Zone 1 (50 to 60% Max HR), Sports Zone 2 (60 to 70% Max HR), Sports Zone 3 (70 to 80% Max HR), Sports Zone 4 (80 to 90% Max HR), Sports Zone 5 (90 to 100% Max HR).

You can also decide to train without first setting heart rate limits. However, while exercising, if you feel particularly good about exercising near 75 % of your max heart rate, you can lock in the 70 to 79 % heart rate zone with ZoneLock. You can then continue to train inside this zone, with the zone alarm going off if you stray outside the zone limits.

The Polar RS200 heart rate monitor addresses one main weakness of the Polar RS100: the lack of support for saving multiple session training data. The RS100 can only save one session file. The RS200 can save sixteen session files. A major increase. Similarly with the Weekly file. You now get a much better view of your training progress over time and sessions. In addition, the Polar RS200 heart rate monitor has SonicLink: A facility for transferring data to Polar's web site for further analysis.

Summary

The Polar RS200 heart rate monitor is a very good heart rate monitor for runners. It addresses the main shortcoming of the Polar RS100 i.e. insufficient training data for long term review. The RS200 retails for around $159.95.

To incorporate speed and distance measurements, choose the Polar RS200SD heart rate monitor. The RS200SD is effectively the Polar RS200 heart rate monitor plus the Polar S1 Foot Pod. You can easily upgrade from the Polar RS200 heart rate monitor to the Polar RS200SD by simply buying the S1 Foot Pod.

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Useful Information

Important Note: The Polar RS200 has now been superceded by the Polar RS300X. The RS300X has almost all the features of the RS200, plus the ability to use the G1 GPS Sensor. The RS300X also uses a different device (Polar FlowLink) to transfer data to the computer.

The next one up in Polar's RS series is the Polar RS400 heart rate monitor.

Not sure which heart rate monitor is right for you? Take a look at the Which Heart Rate Monitor page.