exercise zones

treehugnmama

can someone school me with tje exercise zones for dummies version. I read some stuff online and it is conflicting

my garmin states I'm in zone 2 when I walk 3.5 mph or between 16 to 17 min mile.

when I hike I'm at 25 min mile but my zone is 3 and 4 with a touch of 5.

do zones matter? if so how do I get my walk zone up? I wear a weighted pack. I have an injury that I cant jog with.

rileysowner

What are your goals? If it is weight loss, you can basically ignore the zones.

NorthCascades

For weight loss purposes, heart rate (and power) zones don't matter. If you were following a training plan, many of your workouts would have zone targets telling you how hard to ride or run.

pondee629

I'm going to guess that when you're hiking you are going up and down hills causing you to work harder causing the increase heart rate. Kinda like going upstairs as opposed to walking on level ground.

treehugnmama

fantastic! It is for weightloss. I feel like what used to be difficult is feeling g like a stroll in tje Park now. (down 65 lbs) just want to make sure I'm not wasting my time with the walking. it no longer feels like exercise.
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Thanks for the help.

treehugnmama

yes my hikes are alot of hills it is not a path..it is jumping amd lots of climbing.

I was going up and down indoor stairs instead of sidewalk walking but it bothered my knee the next day for days after. hills don't do that but I can't get out for daily hikes

CharlieBeansmomTracey

treehugnmama wrote: »

fantastic! It is for weightloss. I feel like what used to be difficult is feeling g like a stroll in tje Park now. (down 65 lbs) just want to make sure I'm not wasting my time with the walking. it no longer feels like exercise.
.
Thanks for the help.

you arent wasting your time..any exercise is good for you,including walking. I do a lot of walking.so just keep walking if you like to walk/hike

NorthCascades

treehugnmama wrote: »

fantastic! It is for weightloss. I feel like what used to be difficult is feeling g like a stroll in tje Park now. (down 65 lbs) just want to make sure I'm not wasting my time with the walking. it no longer feels like exercise.
.
Thanks for the help.

You're still burning calories whether it feels challenging or not. If your only goal is weight loss, only the calories you burn matter.

If you were exercising for fitness reasons (because you wanted to run a marathon, etc) then the fact that it stopped feeling like exercise would be important. It would mean you would want to work out more intensely (running maybe) to keep pushing your cardiovascular system. I bet you've already done wonders for your health by losing 65 pounds, though, and your goal is weight, so you're already doing everything you need.

This is a little bit over-simplified, but in athletic circles, it's usually considered that zone 2 workouts are to improve endurance and zone 4/5 workouts are for sprinting faster.

treehugnmama

thanks!! will keep going. goal is weightloss and fitness. I did a half marathon in 2010 would like to do another but jave more weight to get off before that training begins!

thanks for the help!!

jjpptt2

treehugnmama wrote: »

can someone school me with tje exercise zones for dummies version. I read some stuff online and it is conflicting

my garmin states I'm in zone 2 when I walk 3.5 mph or between 16 to 17 min mile.

when I hike I'm at 25 min mile but my zone is 3 and 4 with a touch of 5.

do zones matter? if so how do I get my walk zone up? I wear a weighted pack. I have an injury that I cant jog with.

Not to the vast majority of people. Some endurance athletes train specifically by HR zone, but for most people, there's not much benefit to them.