Wear the transmitter to measure heart rate.
Moisten the electrode areas of the strap under running water and make sure that they are well moistened.
Attach the connector to the strap. Position the connector's letter L to the word LEFT on the strap and snap the fastener. Adjust the strap length to fit snugly and comfortably. Secure the strap around your chest, just below the chest muscles, and snap the second fastener.
Check that the wet electrode areas are firmly against your skin and that the Polar logo of the connector is in a central, upright position.
To detach the connector from the strap, apply pressure with your thumb and forefinger and turn your hand as indicated in the picture.
The Polar WearLink transmitter can be used with specific apparel that has built-in soft textile electrodes. Wet the electrode areas of the apparel. Clip the connector of the transmitter straight onto the apparel without the strap so that connector’s Polar logo is in an upright position.
Wear the transmitter and attach the cycling computer to the bike mount.
Start heart rate measurement by pressing the button. The cycling computer goes into pause mode.
Select the bike you are going to exercise with. Bike 1 is set as a default. Select Settings > Bike > Bike 1 > . Select Other if you only want to record heart rate.
Only the bikes that are switched ON are shown on this selection list. For further information see Bike Settings.
The number on the bottom, right hand corner indicates the bike that is going to be used. By pressing and holding the button, you can switch the bike quickly or switch to heart rate recording only. By pressing and holding the button you can switch the exercise quickly.
Within 4 seconds, your heart rate appears on the display. The frame around the heart symbol indicates that transmission is coded. The cyclist symbol on the bottom, left hand corner of the display, flashes until all the sensors are found.
If you want to change or view different exercise settings before you start training select Settings > Exercise. Select an exercise type or view exercise settings.
Exercise: Select Free, Basic, OwnZone or Interval, and press . (If you created new exercises, these will be listed, as well.)
Select: Set a default exercise to be performed the next time you train.
View: View exercise settings.
Altitude: Calibrate altitude.
Rec.rate: Set the recording rate.
RR data: Switch the RR recording on or off.
TZ Alarm: Switch target zone alarm sounds on or off.
HR view: Choose to view heart rate in beats per minute (bpm), as a percentage of maximum heart rate (HR%) or as a percentage of heart rate reserve (HRR%).
Bike: Select bike 1, 2 or 3.
A.Lap (Automatic Lap): Switch the automatic lap function On/Off.
Arr. time: Set the arrival time function On/Off and set the distance of your ride.
Display: Modify the display. For further information, see Personalize the Cycling Computer Display.
Here are some shortcuts you can use, when in Exercise pause menu:
Press and hold to quickly change training session type. The default training session type is Free exercise.
Press and hold to quickly change the bikes.
Press to enter to Time mode.
Press and hold to view the Settings menu
If you activate the AutoStart function, the cycling computer will automatically start and stop exercise recording when you start and stop cycling. For further information on AutoStart, see Autostart: On / Off . The cycling computer automatically chooses the bike you have used during the previous exercise.
4. Start exercising by pressing OK. The exercise type is displayed in the upper left-hand corner.
If the following message is displayed: (Exercise name) requires Speed/ Cadence*/ Power* sensor. Turn Speed/ Cadence/ Power sensor on, your exercise requires this sensor to display speed/ cadence* or power* data (e.g. you have defined speed, cadence or power* zones for the exercise). Select Yes to turn the sensor function on. If Exercise displays updated is displayed, speed/ cadence*/ power* data will be shown during exercise.
* Optional sensor required.
Your cycling computer offers you a simultaneous view of three different lines of exercise information. By pressing or , you can view different displays. The name of the display appears for a few seconds. The name indicates the lower row information. The display varies depending on the sensors you have installed, which features are set ON and what kind of exercise you are performing.
Customize the cycling computer display easily with Polar ProTrainer 5 software.
Default Views on Your Display When Using Speed Sensor
| | Speed Heart rate Trip distance Speed in km/h |
| | Heart Rate Burned calories/ hour Trip distance Current heart rate |
| | Stopwatch Average heart rate Average speed Stopwatch |
| | Altitude Time of day Incline Altitude in meters |
| | Graph Heart rate graph Altitude in graph Stopwatch (Total duration of the exercise so far) |
| | Zonelock Countdown timer Zone pointer Current heart rate |
Customize the cycling computer display to show information you want to see. See Personalize the Cycling Computer Display.
If cadence* or power* sensors are installed, you have a variety of ways to display data.
* Optional sensors.
| Text on the display | Symbol | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Time of day |  | Time of day |
| Cycling symbol |  | All the necessary sensors are found when the symbol stops blinking. |
| Bike number |  | The number on right, bottom corner indicates which bike is in use during this exercise. |
| Key lock on |  | Indicates that the key lock is on. |
| Rec -symbol |  | Displayed in the exercise mode when stopwatch time is running and the recordings are on. The symbol is blinking when memory is low. |
| Interval icon |  | Indicates that Interval exercise is chosen. |
| Countd. Timer |  | Countdown timer |
| Lap number and time |  | Lap number and lap time |
| Lap distance |  | This will show the distance of the current lap. If you record a lap time by pressing OK, it will also reset the Trip distance. This will be done automatically if the Autolap function is ON. |
| Stopwatch |  | Total duration of the exercise so far |
| Heart rate |  | Current heart rate |
| Heart rate |  | Average heart rate |
| Calories |  | Expended calories in kcal or Cal |
| Distance |  | Distance cycled |
| Trip |  | Distance between points A and B. This distance is reset every time OK button is pressed. Pressing OK will also reset the Lap distance. This will be done automatically if the Autolap function is ON. |
| Arrival time |  | Estimated time of arrival. |
| RR variation |  | Beat to beat variation in heart beat intervals, i.e. the variation in times between successive heart beats. |
| Cycl. Economy | | Cycling economy as kcal/km or Cal/mi. Numerical comparison of cycling efficiency and economy between different exercises or circumstances, or even between different riders. |
| Ascent |  | Ascended meters/ feet |
| Inclinometer |  | Uphill/downhill steepness in percentages and grades. Estimates in numerical form how steep uphill or downhill you are cycling and helps you to adjust cycling effort accordingly |
| Altitude |  | Current altitude |
| Cadence* |  | Measures the speed at which you turn the cranks of your bicycle (i.e. cadence), in revolutions per minute (rpm). |
| Speed |  | Speed you are currently cycling on |
| Max speed |  | The maximum speed during you training. |
| Avg speed |  | The average speed you are cycling on. |
| Power* |  | Power Output sensor measures the actual, average and maximum power values. |
| Pedal. index* |  | Describes how even power output is during pedal cycle. |
| L/R balance* |  | Pedaling power distribution between left and right foot in percentage. |
| Zone pointer (heart rate) |  | If the heart symbol is not visible and/or an alarm sounds, your heart rate is outside the target zone. |
| Zone pointer*(cadence) |  | If the cadence symbol is not visible and/or an alarm sounds, you are outside the target cadence zone limits. |
| Zone pointer* (power) |  | If the power symbol is not visible and/or an alarm sounds, you are outside the target power zone limits. |
| Time in zone |  | Time spent on the zone |
* Optional sensor required.
Press to record a lap. The display will show:
| | Lap number Average heart rate of the lap Lap time |
| | Lap number Lap distance Average speed |
When training without preset target zones (FREE exercise), you can lock your heart rate into a sport zone. For more information see Polar Sport Zones. This way, if you haven’t had time to define preset target zones prior to exercise, you can set a target zone on the go during a session.
Press and hold LAP (OK) to Lock /Unlock zone.
If, for example, you are cycling with a heart rate of 130 bpm which is 75% of your maximum heart rate, and matches sport zone 3, you can press and hold to lock your heart rate into this zone. Sport zone3 Locked 70-79 is displayed. An alarm sounds if you are below or above the sport zone (if the target zone alarm function is on). Unlock the sport zone by pressing and holding again: Sport zone3 Unlocked is displayed.
Press and hold to zoom into the upper row, and to zoom into the middle row. Return to the normal display by pressing and holding the button again.
To illuminate your display, press during the exercise. Night mode is turned on, and the display illuminates automatically when any button is pressed or exercise phase is changed.
Press and hold > Settings
The Settings menu is displayed when pressing and holding . In the settings menu you can change certain settings without pausing the exercise recording. The contents of this menu vary according to the exercise type. For further information, see ???.
Prev. phase: View summary information of the previous phase or repetition (displayed when you have created an exercise with phases with the Polar ProTrainer 5 software).
Keylock: Lock/unlock buttons to prevent accidental button presses.
Autoscr.: Select the Auto scroll On/ Off and displays will scroll during the exercise.
TZ Alarm: Turn target zone alarm sound on/off.
Change zone: Switch target zones (displayed when you have defined multiple target zones, except when an exercise with phases is created with the Polar ProTrainer 5 software).
HR view: Select how to view your heart rate.
Seek sensor: Searches for WearLink, Speed, Cadence* and Power* data, if the signal disappears during exercise due to interference.
A.Lap: Switch the automatic lap function on or off.
Arr. time: Set the arrival time On/Off.
Once you have changed the settings, the cycling computer will return to exercise mode.
* Optional sensor required.
Pause exercise recording by pressing .
In pause mode you can:
Continue: Continue exercise recording.
Exit: Stop exercise recording.
Summary: View a summary of functions that were activated during exercise.
Settings: Change all the same settings as during exercise. Additionally you can also change display personalization, which cannot be done during exercise.
Reset: Delete recorded exercise information. Confirm with and press again to restart recording.
Free mode: Change your exercise profile to free exercise type. This does not delete the exercise you have performed, but will continue the exercise without settings. If you switch to Free mode, you can restart the original exercise by pausing the exercise again, and choosing Restart P1.
For background information on Polar OwnZone®, see OwnZone Training.
Select Settings > Exercise > OwnZone.
Find your OwnZone in 1-5 minutes during a warm-up period by cycling or walking/jogging. You should start exercising gently at a light intensity and gradually increase intensity to raise your heart rate.
Redefine your OwnZone:
When changing exercise environment or exercise mode.
When taking up exercise after more than a week’s break.
If you are not completely sure of your physical or mental state – for example, if you are not recovered from previous training, not feeling well, or are stressed.
After changing user settings.
Before you start determining your OwnZone, make sure that:
Your user settings are correct.
The OwnZone function is activated. The cycling computer will automatically determine OwnZone every time you start exercising if the OwnZone function is on.
Wear the transmitter as instructed. Start measurement by pressing twice.
When your exercise starts, OZ is displayed and OwnZone determination begins.
Determination of your OwnZone occurs in five stages. If the sound setting is activated, a beep will indicate the end of each stage.
OZ > Cycle at a slow pace for 1 min. Keep your heart rate below 100 bpm/ 50% HRmax during this first stage.
OZ >> Cycle at a normal pace for 1 min. Slowly increase your heart rate by 10 bpm/ 5% HRmax.
OZ >>> Cycle at a brisk pace for 1 min. Increase your heart rate by 10 bpm/ 5% HRmax.
OZ >>>> Cycle at a brisk pace for 1 min. Increase your heart rate by 10bpm/ 5% HRmax.
OZ >>>>> Cycle brisk pace for 1 min. Increase your heart rate by approximately 10 bpm/ 5 % HRmax.
Once you hear two consecutive beeps this means your OwnZone has been determined.
OwnZone Updated and the heart rate zone are then displayed. The zone is displayed in beats per minute (bpm) or as a percentage of maximum heart rate (HR%) or as a percentage of your heart rate reserve (HRR%), depending on your settings.
If OwnZone determination was not successful, your previously determined OwnZone will be used and OwnZone Limits is displayed. If OwnZone has not previously been recorded, age-based limits are automatically applied.
You can now continue with your exercise. Try to keep inside the given heart rate zone to maximize exercise benefits.
Alternatively, to skip OwnZone determination and use the previously determined OwnZone, press OK at any phase of the process.
The elapsed time used for OwnZone determination is included in your recorded exercise time.