HRM chafing during Insanity

emilyrigh

I've been experiencing chafing for the past week. I've tried repositioning higher and lower, I've adjusted the strap looser. I've googled solutions and tried them. Vaseline doesn't work, the band-aid trick worked but my HRM had trouble reading my heart rate while using them. The only thing I haven't tried is medical tape, but if band-aids interfered with it's data what's to say that won't too. Anyone else have any other solutions?

carolinaem

Body glide. I had issues with my hrm rubbing my torso raw on my long runs (sweat and movement worked it loose). Body glide works great and hasn't interfered with the sensor.

emilyrigh

Thanks I'll give it a try

MeanderingMammal

First thought would be why you're bothering with an HRM during insanity, bbut notwithstanding that what I do for my long runs is either surgical tape or vaseline/ bodyglide. Both seem to be good for about 90 minutes, but after that either the tape comes ff or the vaseline is worn off.

AnnicaJohansson

I prefer Sportslick, it's better than Vaseline. I use it on all the places that might chafe, even between my toes.

emilyrigh

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

First thought would be why you're bothering with an HRM during insanity

Because I get panic attacks from doing intense cardio. My body becomes very anxious when my heart is beating very fast which would spiral me into anxiety attacks. If I know my heart rate is in the safe zone my mind is at ease. Yes I know how to breathe during and after my workout. Plus you're suppose to wear a HRM when doing interval training. And last but not least I like to know how much I burn because MFP is not accurate.

MeanderingMammal

emilyrigh wrote: »

Because I get panic attacks from doing intense cardio. My body becomes very anxious when my heart is beating very fast which would spiral me into anxiety attacks. If I know my heart rate is in the safe zone my mind is at ease. Yes I know how to breathe during and after my workout. Plus you're suppose to wear a HRM when doing interval training. And last but not least I like to know how much I burn because MFP is not accurate.

OK, that's useful insight, and it probably opens up a couple of lines of thought. As if your HRM is chafing badly then you might benefit from not using it for a period to let the skin heal. I know after a series of long runs I can end up with a bit of a bleeding mess across my sternum.

Taking your latter point first, in something like insanity an HRM is likely to be pretty inaccurate as a calorie estimator. The software is designed for steady state aerobic activity, not intermittent activity that drives the HR into the anaerobic zone. I wouldn't have any more confidence in a calorie approximation by an HRM than MFP when you're talking about insanity.

So that moves you on to whether wearing an HRM gives you more meaningful information than going by rate of percieved exertion whilst you're training.

Assuming that you haven't been lab tested for VO2Max and Lactate Threshold a consumer grade device any judgement of safe zone is a bit moot. The safe zone is still working. To put that in parspective, my MHR based on 220-age (the most common use) is 176 bpm. I was out on Monday for a Lactate Threshold run and my HR hit 175 and, intentionally, stayed above there for 15 minutes. On maximum effort interval sessions it's been above 200bpm.

As you've already been training, and using Insanity, you should have an appreciation of how your effort feels in various stages of the DVD, your RPE. You could work on RPE and get solid results from it, without having to bother about the HRM pod.

I recognise that anxiety can be a real challenge to deal with, and having anchor points like that can be a useful tool in mitigating the effects of a stressful situation. It's also worth recognising the weaknesses of the tools that we use, to help us move beyond a reliance on them.

Your HRM isn't providing you with useful information. It's rather up to you whether it's better to put up with the chafing for the psychological support, accepting that the data aren't meaningful.

Notwithstanding all of that, I re-read your initial question and was reflecting on the surgical tape point. I'll generally put the tape around the underside of the pod, rather than completely cover it. I'd also note that a band aid is quite thick in comparison to surgical tape, hence more liekely to absorb the signal on the way through.