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A5 GBR 7.3.2001 17:30 Page 1 

179336 GBR A

Heart Rate Monitor

User’s Manual

GBR

1.

How to Put Your Heart Rate Monitor On

The elastic strap

holds the transmitter in
the correct position.

The Polar A5™
wrist receiver

displays your heart rate
during exercise.

The T31™ transmitter

detects your heart rate
continuously and transmits
it to the wrist receiver.

How to Put Your Heart Rate Monitor On

1.

How to Start and Stop

3.

After Exercising

4.

8.

Target Heart Rate Zone

Settings

7.

5.

Functions During Exercise

6.

How to Recall File Stored in Memory

10.

Resetting

9.

Self Walk Test by Polar and UKK Institute

12.

Technical Specifications

13.

Limited Polar Warranty

14.

Disclaimer

11.

Minimising Possible Risks in Exercising
with Heart Rate Monitor

2.

Functions and Modes of Polar A5

Contents

How to Recall File Stored in Memory

6.

Reset

If reset,

settings will

return to the

default values.

Walk Test mode

• Based on 2 km/1,24 miles brisk walk
• Measures cardiorespiratory fitness

How to Start and Stop

How to Set up Your New Polar A5 Receiver

1.

Press any of the four buttons twice to activate
the receiver. Unit is displayed. LBS/INCH is 
flashing.

2.

Once awakened, the receiver will guide you
through the necessary settings.

Scroll up or down to set the right values.
Press OK to lock your selection.

Set the following:
Measuring units – kg/cm or lbs/inch
24h or 12h time mode
Time of day
Date
Weight
Height
Sex
Birthday

After setting your birthday, your target heart
rate zone based on your age is automatically
calculated.

After the settings are complete, the receiver
automatically goes to the Time of day display.

You can cancel the setting by pressing and
holding OK, but you can not start measuring
the heart rate before you have completed
the settings.

How to Start

1.

In the Time of day display press OK.
Your heart rate appears
in a few seconds.

2.

Press OK again. The stopwatch 
starts running and you can 
start exercising. The exercise 
data will only be stored if you
have turned the stopwatch on.

3.

How to Stop

1.

Press OK to stop the stopwatch.
QUIT and paused stopwatch 
appear. Measurement is paused.
Exercise is no longer recorded.

2.

Press Up or Down button to 
exit the Exercise mode.

The receiver shows the Time of 
day display within 5 minutes if 
you forget to quit the heart rate
measurement mode when you 
stopped the stopwatch and 
removed the transmitter from 
your chest.

Press
twice

Press
once

BMI

Interpretation

< 18.5

Underweight

18.5 - 24.9

Normal weight 

25.0 - 29.9

Overweight 

 30.0

Obesity

Reference: World Health Organization. Obesity: preventing and managing the
global epidemic. Report of a WHO Consultation on Obesity. Geneva: World
Health Organization, 1998.

The BMI value does not distinguish between muscular
and fat tissue. Thus, a weight-lifter may have a BMI
value which indicates obesity although the person only
has large muscles and little fat tissue.

Time of day
display

Press Up

Press OK

FILE

Press Up

KCAL

Press Up

BMI

Press Up

W INDEX

Press Up

IN ZONE

Press Up

AVERAGE HR

1.

Press Signal/Light to turn the light on.       

2.

Press and hold Signal/Light to turn the zone 
alarm sound on or off.

3.

Check the time of day by bringing the wrist 
receiver up to the Polar logo on the transmitter.

4.

Scroll up to select what values you want to 
view in the 

upper row

 of the display during 

exercise.

Functions During Exercise

4.

5.

Scroll down to select what you want to view 
in the 

lower row

 of the display.

3. Exercise time

6.

  You can pause the stopwatch by pressing OK. 

Repressing OK will restart the stopwatch.

After restart you will see heart rate in the
lower row.

2. Heart rate as a % of your 

maximum heart rate.

4.  Time of day

1.

While in the Time of day display
mode press Up or Down until FILE
is displayed.

2.

Press OK.

3.

Scroll up or down to recall the exercise 
information:

EXE. TIME

 Total exercise time

AVERAGE HR

 Average heart rate of the exercise

IN ZONE

 Time spent in target zone

KCAL

 Calories expended during the exercise

BMI

 Body mass index

W INDEX

 WalkIndex, the result of the walking test

The training information is saved if the stopwatch
has been on for more than one minute.

The most convenient way to determine whether a
person is overweight is to use the Body Mass Index,
BMI. The body mass index does not describe the
amount of fat tissue but merely serves as a means for
comparing adult persons in terms of overweight of
underweight.

EXE. TIME

Functions and Modes of Polar A5

2.

1.  Heart rate in beats

per minute.

How to operate the set buttons

To move forward or back, use Up or
Down button.

To choose the value to begin adjusting,
press OK. It will begin blinking.

Press Up or Down button to adjust the 
value (The digits run faster if you press
and hold the button).

Wherever you are in the settings, you can 
return to the Time of day display by pressing
and holding OK.

File mode

• Shows the data recorded during the exercise

Setting mode

• Set different values
 

- unit measurement; weight, height, time

 

- user data

 

- target heart rate limits

 

- watch functions; alarm, time, date

1.

Carefully wash the transmitter with a mild soap
and water solution.

2.

Rinse it with pure water.

3.

Dry the transmitter carefully with a soft towel.

4.

Keep the wrist receiver clean and wipe off
any moisture.

5. 

Store the heart rate monitor in a clean and dry
place. Dirt impairs the elasticity and functioning
of the transmitter. Sweat and moisture can keep
the electrodes wet and the transmitter activated,
which shortens battery life.

After Exercising

5.

1.  Heart rate in the target zone

is displayed

 a) as absolute heart rate

or

 b) as a % of maximum heart rate

according to your
lower row selection.

Up

Moves to the
following
mode or
increases the
selected value.

Signal/Light

Alarm on or off.

Backlight on.

OK

Starts measuring

heart rate. Starts and

stops the stopwatch.

Enters the displayed

mode. Locks in your

selection.

Down

Returns to the
previous mode
or decreases
the selected
value.

Heart Touch function

Bring the wrist receiver
up to the Polar logo
on the transmitter
during exercise and
you can check the time
of day.

Time of day display mode

• Starting point for all functions
• Shows date and time

Press and hold OK to return to the Time of day
display, wherever you are in the Settings or File
recalling cycle.

When the alarm is turned on, the symbol
appears on the Time of day display. When the alarm
comes on it will sound for one minute or you can
turn it off by pressing any of the four buttons.

Exercise recording mode

• In the Exercise mode you measure your heart 

rate and record your exercise information
in a file

• You can view different information while

the heart rate monitor is measuring heart rate

Exercise recording

Time of day display

FILE

Press OK

Press OK

Press Up

SETTING

Press Up

WALK TEST

Press Up

Heart rate measuring

2. Fitness bullets

For every 10 minutes in TZ,
a     appears.

3. Calorie expenditure

Keep the wrist receiver within 1 metre/3 feet of your
transmitter. Check that you are not near other people
with heart rate monitors or any source of electromagnetic
disturbance.

Lift the transmitter off your chest and

moisten the two grooved electrode areas

on the back.

3.

Check that the wet electrode areas are firmly
against your skin and the Polar logo is
in a central, upright position.

4.

Attach the transmitter to the elastic strap.

1.

Adjust the strap length to fit snugly and
comfortably. Secure the strap around your
chest, just below the chest muscles, and
buckle it.

2.

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