The Best Heart Rate Monitor Suunto t6

This post is about The Best Heart Rate Monitor Suunto t6.

If you are looking to get the best Heart Rate Monitor for under $500, this is it, the Suunto t6/c.

The Best Heart Rate Monitor Suunto t6

Heart Rate Monitors

If you are anywhere remotely interested in fitness, a good heart rate monitor will be the best investment you could ever make. Better than any workout program, any machine, any supplement or any tool you could buy. Why? Because it’s a measuring tool on how hard you are working, how long you have been working, perceived versus real effort. It’s basically your dashboard in personal fitness. How else would you know if you are feeling good or just having a bad day in your workouts?

I have the older model Suunto t6 that I bought 4 years ago off EBay. This model has only been eclipsed by the newer Suunto t6c. The only major differences are that you can use the newer Suunto Comfort strap heart rate monitor with the newer t6c; however, you lose the altitude and barometer.

But the real reason anybody would drop $400 on a heart rate monitor is not because it’s *just* a heart rate monitor. No that would be stupid, because you can just grab any cheap heart rate monitor and call it a day.  The real reason is. . . . .

The Best Heart Rate Monitor Suunto t6

EPOC

The reason you spend $400 on a Suunto t6/c is for the EPOC. Sure it has some cool other features like calorie counting, a speedometer, and a pedometer if you buy the food pod (which I have and it pretty cool). EPOC is a Suunto and Firstbeat branded word for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. What this does is “extrapolate a range of physiological measurements from the heart rate alone.” What this means in laymen’s terms is it kicks ass and gives you a bunch of data you can use to better your fitness OR show off to all your nerd friends.

Beyond a HRM

In ordinary Heart Rate Monitors (HRM’s) they only give you how fast or slow your heart is beating and that’s it. This is fine but far from ideal once you start getting into some serious shape and training for sports or your own personal enjoyment. Having HRM telling you what is only going on at the moment is only 5% of the show. As any elite or serious fitness nut will tell you, the magic happens when you’re not working out and when you are at rest.

EPOC takes the guess work and gives you the amount of oxygen VO2max you need after your training or workout by telling you how hard your workout/training session was. Why is this important? Because you only grow when you’re not working out/training and if you can gauge your recovery and oxygen consumption after you workout, you become much more effective at obtaining your goals.

If you train too hard, you just wasted a workout. If you don’t go hard enough, you just wasted a workout. Quit waisting workouts. If you are going to do it, do it correctly.

Problematic

Here in lies the problem with the Suunto t6. It’s far from perfect, so if you’re not computer savvy, forget it; get a Polar HRM.

If you need a live customer service representative here in the United States, forget it; get a Polar HRM.

If $400 for a HRM seems expensive or excessive, forget it; get a cheaper HRM.

Read the reviews on Amazon and find somebody who writes and thinks like you by clicking on their user name. If they hated it, you probably will too.

Not for everybody

If none of the stuff above makes any sense or seems pointless, then don’t worry about it and don’t waste your money on a relatively expensive HRM.

This watch is aimed at a very particular niche market and fulfills that niche extremely well.

You will love it

If what I just wrote above gave you even a small orgasm…what are you waiting for? Go get it…the watch is absolutely absurd.

This post was about The Best Heart Rate Monitor Suunto t6.