Polar Loop Review

The Polar Loop:

Hi guys, here is my review for the Polar Loop.

Ok, first of all, the 2 items on the above picture, the chest band and the loop, are sold separately. You don't have to buy the chest band for the loop to work but I'll talk about this later.

The loop comes with a large wrist strap, so the first thing you'll have to do is to adjust the strap to your own personal wrist size. It is easy to make this adjustment, as your starter kit provides you with the necessary tool, which consists of a small screwdriver.  You will need a pair of scissors to make the adjustment, these are obviously not included. The instructions are pretty straight forward, I got it perfect at the first try. The clip to fasten the bracelet is a little old fashion but it is very secure.

Ok, firstly, I used the loop for about a week on its own (without the heart band) to see how it would work.  You basically wear it all the time even in the shower, as it is waterproof, and it counts the calories according to your daily activity. It is great to know how many calories you spent even when sleeping.  By monitoring the amount of calories you are burning the loop empowers you to control your daily calorie consumption so that you can achieve your goals.

For example, if it is your goal to maintain, you have to eat the same calories you are burning. If you want to lose, obviously you have to intake less calories than you are burning. So it is a great guide to help us achieve our goals. In a day that I don't go to the gym I burn about 1,300 calories and the days I work out I burn more than 2,100. So If wanted to maintain I could eat all those calories, YUMMY!!

Heart Monitor:

When I worked out without the heart band I found that the loop did not count my calories accurately. This is because to count your calories accurately, you need the heart band to get an accurate reading from your heartbeat.  For this reason, if you work out it is a must that you get both the loop and the heart monitor to give you an accurate calorie count.

To show your progress:

To charge the loop you simply connect it to your computer via the USB cable provided. Once connected, it charges pretty quickly and automatically syncs your most recent calorie records to your personal account on the Polar website. Over time this builds to show you progress week by week and month by month. I found this a great motivation to see my weekly readings from the previous week on a Sunday night and monitor my weekly progress.  If I saw that I was falling short of achieving my goals I could reassess my training programme to ensure that I hit my targets for the following week. This is what my last week looked like:

As you can see, the days I didn't work out shows my activity at 30/40%, this is all based on your age, height etc. You save all these details the first time you connect the loop to your computer.

The Application:

If you have a smartphone, there is an app from Polar that you can use, so instead of connecting the loop to your computer, your information is sent automatically to the app by bluetooth.  The downside of the app is that it's quite draining on your phone battery, as you have to have your phone with you while working out.  For this reason I prefer to connect the loop directly to my computer.  That said, the application works really well.

Battery:

The battery lifetime of the loop is excellent, a full charge takes about 30 minutes. It lasts for about 3 to 4 days when used with the chest band and up to 5 days when used on its own.  It's great that you don't have to be charging it all the time, so I pretty much only charge it twice a week.

The chest band comes already with a  battery and that battery can be replaced with one of those small batteries you find in any supermarket. I have been using it continuously for the last 3 weeks and battery is still working.

Conclusion:

If you work out, definitely get the heart monitor with the loop so that your calorie count is accurate! If you are sedentary, the loop is fine on its own, even if you only walk at a slow pace it is very good to use without the heartbeat band. But if you exercise or workout at a higher intensity, definitely get the heartband.

Overall, it is a essential addition to help you achieve your goals,  as it really assists you to be conscious of your calorie consumption and to live a healthy and active lifestyle.  If your life is already active then it is a great complimentary exercise buddy to help you monitor the calories you are consuming and it can allow you to eat more or less, depending on your goals.

My advice to you is to sit down straight away and write your letter to Santa and let him know you want this under the tree on Christmas morning. I guarantee you that it's definitely a present that you will be using for a long, long time and especially coming up January it is a great motivation to help you get back in shape after all the food and drink that it is involved over the festive season.

One final point I think is important to make is that Polars customer service is top class.  Anything I needed they responded to me within 1 working day and were always very polite and helpful. It's always a pleasure deal with a company like Polar, that truly cares about their customers.