HRM Please explain?

loubidy

I got a Polar FT7 on Friday for my birthday (Thanks Mum) and I loooooove it! However when I was looking at my data, for example I did a 71 minute workout and my watch splits it into 'fat burn' and 'fitness' so fat burn was 36 minutes and fitness was 35 minutes.

What determines fat burn or fitness? (from my heart rate)

dym123

Do you know what your target heart rate is? I believe anything at or above your target heart rate is fat burning, below that must be fitness. Apparently my Polar HRM isn't as sophisticated, since it only tells me how long I was in my target zone.

cwolfman13

"Fat Burn" zone is roughly 50-60% of MHR...this is also known as the "recovery zone". Basically you use more fat for fuel in this zone than carbohydrates...at higher intensities you burn more carbohydrates. It really doesn't matter though...you burn more calories overall with higher intensity work.

An example would be like going for a walk or something...that is generally in the "fat burn" zone for most people and they will oxidize more fat for energy than carbohydrates...running however requires greater effort and fat isn't the easiest source of immediately available energy for the body to consume under that kind of stress...so you burn more carbohydrates for energy.

Lammerchops

The HRM is operating under the general rule of thumb that energy expended during low intensity exercise (ie your hear rate isn't that high) is pulled primarily from fat stores, and energy burned during high intensity exercise (ie your heart rate is higher) is sourced from carbs and is improving your cardio health.

You can change the settings if you feel that this very broad theory isn't entirely accurate, which it isn't.

loubidy

Okay..