Wear the heart rate sensor to measure heart rate.
Detach the connector from the strap after every use, to maximize the battery lifetime. Sweat and moisture may keep the electrodes wet and the heart rate sensor activated. This will reduce the battery life. For more detailed washing instructions, see 13. Important Information. |
See detailed washing instructions in Important Information.
For video tutorials, go to http://www.polar.fi/en/polar_community/videos.
↑ Back to topWear the heart rate sensor and make sure you have set up an optional sensor* as instructed in the sensor's user manual. If you are using a speed, cadence, GPS or stride sensor for the first time, see 11. Using a New Accessory. For sport profile settings see Sport Profile Settings. To use Polar ZoneOptimizer feature for your training session, see Train with Polar ZoneOptimizer.
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*Optional sensors include Polar s3+ stride sensor, Polar G5 GPS sensor / Polar G3 GPS sensor W.I.N.D., Polar CS speed sensor W.I.N.D. or Polar CS cadence sensor W.I.N.D.
↑ Back to topPolar ZoneOptimizer is a smart training feature that provides personal, optimized sport zones for your every aerobic training session. It reads your heart rate variability at the start of each training session to determine how much your body is ready to train. It then adjusts heart rate limits accordingly so that you get the maximum benefit from your training, whatever the day.
ZoneOptimizer function is developed for the use of healthy people. Some health conditions may cause ZoneOptimizer to give lower intensity targets, or revert to default heart rate zones. These conditions include high blood pressure, and cardiac arrhythmia. Certain medications may also influence the determination.
How does Polar ZoneOptimizer work?
You know how sometimes you can train hard and you feel you can keep on at it for a long time. Then there are days when the same intensity absolutely exhausts you. This is because your body’s physiological state can vary from day to day. When your body is not recovered, you cannot train as intensively as on another day when your body is more rested.
Your body’s physiological state is reflected in your heart rate variability. And since ZoneOptimizer is based on heart rate variability, it can tell what your body is ready for just by listening to your heart. At the start of an exercise, once the ZoneOptimizer determination is done, you get a recommendation of heart rate limits for each sport zone. For more information on sport zones, see Polar Sport Zones.
ZoneOptimizer adjusts the limits for your heart rate zones to reflect your body’s state. When your heart rate variation is high it means your body’s physiological state is good and you can work at higher intensity. ZoneOptimizer knows this and suggests that you exercise with higher heart rate limits. When your body is not recovered, your heart rate variation is low and the heart rate zone limits are lowered. So, one day ZoneOptimizer would say that light training for you is done between 114-133 beats per minute (bpm). On another day, when you are not that recovered, light training limits might be lowered to 111-129bpm. ZoneOptimer helps you to always train at the appropriate intensity for the maximal benefit.
ZoneOptimizer also gives you feedback on your daily physiological status (good/normal/low). It knows it by comparing the amount of heart rate variability you have now with earlier measurements. Without ZoneOptimizer you can estimate your daily physiological status by paying attention to how fast and how easily you can do training at the recommended heart rates.
Start Training Session with Polar ZoneOptimizer
To use the ZoneOptimizer function in your training, set in on by selecting MENU > Settings > Heart rate settings > ZoneOptimizer > On .
Before ZoneOptimizer determination, make sure that you have the Polar default Sport Zone limits in use i.e. you have not modified the Sport Zone limits manually. If you want to modify the Sport Zone manually, set the ZoneOptimizer function off.
To start the training session with ZoneOptimizer press .When you see the ECG-curve on the top right hand corner on the display, you will know that the heart rate measurement and ZoneOptimizer are on. Select the sport profile you want to use for your training session with and press to start training. | |
Phase 1. Preparing for training session: Lots of heart rate variability. | |
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Phase 2. Warming up: heart rate rises slowly and heart rate variability decreases. | |
During this phase heart rate variability starts decreasing, and the body prepares for higher intensities. The alarm will sound when the second part of the ZoneOptimizer determination is finished. The ZoneOptimizer determination may already finish here, if the heart rate variation limit is reached . | |
Phase 3. Heart rate variability levels off. | |
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Remember that you need to spend at least 2 minutes doing both phase 1 and phase 2. The duration of the last phase is 6 minutes at maximum, and you need to be above 130 bpm for a minimum of 30 seconds, or until your heart rate variation can no longer be detected.
If you use ZoneOptimizer within an hour since your last use, please note that the recommended sport zones can be slightly off. This is because your body is likely to still be recovering from previous training, and heart rate variability, which ZoneOptimizer uses, returns to normal state slower than heart rate.
You can view different training views by pressing
or . The number of the training view appears for a few seconds.The information displayed varies depending on the sensors you have installed, which features are set on and what kind of sport you are performing.
The below tables present available training views for some different sensor combinations. In these examples, the training information is shown on three rows. You can set the training information to be shown on two or three rows in MENU > Settings > Sport profiles > Sport > Training view.
Heart rate sensor | Heart rate sensor s3+ stride sensor | Heart rate sensor G5/G3 GPS sensor | |||
HEART RATE | HEART RATE | HEART RATE | |||
ZONEPOINTER | PACE/SPEED | PACE/SPEED | |||
CALORIES | ZONEPOINTER | ZONEPOINTER | |||
SPORT ZONES Time on each zone | LAP 01 TIME Lap time | LAP 01 TIME Lap time | |||
AVERAGE PACE/SPEED Average pace/speed | AVERAGE PACE/SPEED Average pace/speed | ||||
SPORT ZONES Time on each zone | SPORT ZONES Time on each zone |
Heart rate sensor CS speed sensor W.I.N.D. | Heart rate sensor CS cadence sensor W.I.N.D. | Heart rate sensor CS cadence sensor W.I.N.D. CS speed sensor W.I.N.D. OR G5/G3 GPS sensor | |||
HEART RATE | HEART RATE | HEART RATE | |||
SPEED/PACE | CADENCE | SPEED/PACE | |||
ZONEPOINTER | ZONEPOINTER | ZONEPOINTER | |||
LAP 01 TIME Lap time | CADENCE | LAP 01 TIME Lap time | |||
AVERAGE SPEED/PACE Average speed/pace | SPORT ZONES Time on each zone | AVERAGE SPEED/PACE Average speed/pace | |||
SPORT ZONES Time on each zone | CADENCE | ||||
SPORT ZONES Time on each zone |
Symbols on the display | Explanation | |
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Speed at which you turn the cranks of your bicycle | |
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The expended calories so far. The cumulation of calories starts when your heart rate is displayed. | |
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Cumulative distance | |
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Total duration of the training session so far | |
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Your current heart rate | |
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Manual lap distance | |
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Manual lap number and lap time | |
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Current pace (min/km or min/mi)
Current speed (km/h or mph) You can select the speed view in sport profile settings. See Sport Profile Settings for instructions. | |
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Target zone indicator with a heart symbol that moves left or right on the sport zone scale according to your heart rate. | |
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Time spent in the target zone | |
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Press to record a lap. The display will show:Lap number Average heart rate of the lap Lap time | |
If a speed sensor is activated, the following will also appear: Lap number Average speed/pace of the lap Lap distance |
You can lock/unlock your heart rate to the current sport zone.
To lock/unlock the sport zone, press and hold
.If, for example, you are running 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 Sport zone3 Lockedis displayed. | to lock your heart rate into this zone.|
An alarm sounds if you are below or above the sport zone. Unlock the sport zone by pressing and holding Sport zone3 Unlocked is displayed. again: |
There is a night mode function in the RCX3 training computer. Press the
button once during pre-training mode, training recording mode or pause mode. The backlight will be activated every time you press any of the buttons.The display will also light up if a message, for example, Check heart rate sensor, is displayed.
Night mode will be switched off when you finish the training recording.
Press and hold QUICK MENU is displayed. You can change certain settings without pausing the training recording. For further information, see Quick menu.
.To pause training recording, press
once. To continue training recording press .To stop recording completely, press
twice. The following summary of your training information is displayedTextual feedback, for example Steady state training+, is displayed if you trained at least a total of 10 minutes in the sport zones. See the feedback in more detail in Training Files. For more information, see 6. After Training
Duration and Calories
Average heart rate and Maximum heart rate
Sport zones (Time in each zone)
Average pace and Maximum pace or Average speed and Maximum speed (G5/G3 GPS sensor or s3+ stride sensor or CS speed sensor required)
Distance (G5/G3 GPS sensor or s3+ stride sensor or CS speed sensor required) and Running Index (s3+ stride sensor or G5/G3 GPS sensor required)
Care for your heart rate sensor after training. Detach the connector from the strap and rinse the strap under running water after every use.Wash the strap regularly in a washing machine at 40ºC/104ºF at least after every fifth use. For complete care and maintenance instructions, see Caring for Your Product.