I am shopping for a heart rate monitor that I can wear during exercise (I am ok with wearing a chest strap), and I'm very confused about compatibility of monitors with gym equipment (treadmills, elliptical machines, stair-masters, etc). I would like the monitor to transmit information directly to the exercise machine.
The gym in my apartment building has Nautilus treadmills (probably fairly old ones). I know for a fact that they support external HRMs (there's a "fitness test" mode that displays the message "chest strap required"), but there's no information on compatibility, wireless standards, etc. anywhere. Also, I'm thinking of joining a local gym, so ideally I'd like to get a monitor that's compatible with as many machines as possible.
So:
- Is there pretty much one wireless standard that all manufacturers follow? Or are there different standards for each manufacturer? What are these standards called?
- Where can I find information on compatibility of gym equipment and HRMs? I tried the Nautilus website but it was of no help.