Explain "steady state cardio" please

Calliope610

I see many threads regarding HRM's and understand that HRM's are designed for steady state cardio, such as running, walking, cycling, etc. Not so much for housework and and say, push mowing the lawn.

But how is walking, albeit slow, while pushing a lawn mower across my large 3 acre lot any difference from walking up and down the block?

What defines "stead state cardio"?

professionalHobbyist

Like jogging at a steady speed

Not interval training or weight lifting is often implied

That is regarding figuring calorie burns accurately.

I use mine to hit a range and not calories. A bit of calorie error does not matter that much to me. I don't log weight lifting ever in my food log.

MFP overestimates walking calories IMO so it seems to balance out and I keep burning body fat slowly

Mowing the yard with a push mower seems like exactly steady state cardio if you push lots of ground for a while!

Good workout!

Dominicj569

It just means not changing, so jogging is steady state.
Alternating sprints and walks is not steady state.

Mowing the lawn is a pretty steady, unless you run parts and walk others, or have to climb a mountain for parts

MeanderingMammal

Calliope610 wrote: »

I see many threads regarding HRM's and understand that HRM's are designed for steady state cardio, such as running, walking, cycling, etc. Not so much for housework and and say, push mowing the lawn.

So this relates specifically to the applicability of an HRM for estimating calories, and fwiw the steady state cardio line is, whilst meaningful, very incomplete.

The research that calorie estimation based on HR is based on was carried out on treadmills, cycle and rowing ergometers, and the meaningful data is dervied when those were used in steady state, so moving at a constant pace for a period and in the aerobic zone. The relationship between HR and calorie expenditure breaks down when the pace fluctuates, or when one moves out of the aerobic zone, either HR is below or above the zone. The reason for the latter is different for low HR cf high HR.

But how is walking, albeit slow, while pushing a lawn mower across my large 3 acre lot any difference from walking up and down the block?

With respect to the example you're using, there are two aspects. The first is that your HR is likely to be in the lower range when you're pushing a mower. It's not all that strenuous, so you shouldn't be in the heart rate range where the comparison works.

The other aspect is that it's not continuous pace, every time you stop and turn your HR will drop, which injects some more error in the estimate. Pretty minor in the example as any errors from this will be lost in the noise of the greater error as a result of the slow pace.

In that sense there is no significant difference between walking around the block, and pushing the mower. An HRM will give an inflated figure for both.

For me, my maximum heart rate is in the realms of 200bpm, the last time I tested it was 201, against a theoretical MHR of 175. When I run I'll generally be around 140-150 bpm, so an hour of 6min/km will give me a reasonably robust calorie estimation, assuming that's on flat ground. If I do a sprint interval session the calorie estimation will be somewhat higher than I really expended.

DavPul

What makes the OP think we're including mowing a 3 acre lot as part of a normal list a common yard work?

ScubaSteve1962

DavPul wrote: »

What makes the OP think we're including mowing a 3 acre lot as part of a normal list a common yard work?

Because so many have said it is

Lawns are different, but everyone seems to generalize. If you have a HRM wear it and look at the trend, I wore mine yesterday while mowing my lawn and my heart rate hit the 90 to 100% range twice for 20 mins each. only went down because I had to stop to re-hydrate and cool off. In total, it takes 1:30 to 2 hrs to cut my lawn.

Steady state cardio is simply a cardio workout that is a continuous, steady effort, as opposed to an interval cardio workout where you vary your energy output. Any cardiovascular/aerobic activity that is sustained for an extended time (usually starting at about 10 to 15 minutes for beginners and 20 to 90 minutes for more fit athletes) at a fixed intensity qualifies as steady state training.

http://life.gaiam.com/article/what-steady-state-cardio

galgenstrick

I think of it as any exercise session that keeps your heart rates elevated to the same degree over the whole duration of the exercise session.