I'm thinking my custom heart rate zones are inaccurate?

whitebalance
whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So... if I find that I can stay at the tippy-top of "Zone 5" for 30 minutes straight without falling over dead... am I correct in thinking it's not really Zone 5? :noway:

I used Digifit's 10-minute advanced assessment on a treadmill to come up with the zones, and TBH I'm not much of a runner yet. The activity I was logging today was low-impact. Is that where I've gone wrong? Maybe one needs to conduct a separate assessment for each kind of activity? Now I'm kinda wondering whether the calorie burns I record with HRM are even close to reality. :huh:

Would greatly appreciate any advice, experience, sarcastic humor, cat gifs... whatever... but especially advice on cheaply finding custom zones that yield more accurate results. :smile:

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    At the top of zone 5 you're going anaerobic...if you're not gasping for breath you're not in zone 5.

    Many HRMs etc use 220 - your age to estimate maxHR, if you do a little research you'll find that this number is actually pretty meaningless and, as you've discovered HRMs are not necessarily useful for calculating calories expended.

    Here's an excellent post by Azdak on the topic (I think he also has a more detailed blog on the same subject)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1044313-this-is-why-hrms-have-limited-use-for-tracking-calories

    You're right in your observation about different zones for different activities. My HR in zone 5 on a bike is much lower than running.
  • saschka7
    saschka7 Posts: 577 Member
    Would greatly appreciate any advice, experience, sarcastic humor, cat gifs... whatever... but especially advice on cheaply finding custom zones that yield more accurate results. :smile:

    Okey-dokey! :laugh:
    184_zps8f59a6ea.gif
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    Would greatly appreciate any advice, experience, sarcastic humor, cat gifs... whatever... but especially advice on cheaply finding custom zones that yield more accurate results. :smile:

    Okey-dokey! :laugh:
    184_zps8f59a6ea.gif

    Awesome gif...
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
    If you actually read the documentation along with the heart rate training zones, you'd know that each activity has different heart rate zones. Swimming for example doesn't need as high a heart rate, since you're horizontal and the blood doesn't need to be pushed all the way up to your brain...
    Anyhow, do the test for every sport separately, go full out, and then rest a few days before you do the next.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    Thanks Brian! Appreciate the response and Azdak's post is all kinds of useful.
    @saschka and pkw, :bigsmile:
    @Karin, all the documentation (and the first chapter of the HRT book, though probably not later chapters) said to use a treadmill or a track for the assessments. But yeah, the results just don't make sense; what you're saying makes more sense and matches the conclusion I was coming to: bpm != energy expenditure. Thanks for the tip on waiting a few days between tests; I wouldn't have thought to do that.

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