? for knowledgeable people on MET's

amycal

I have been using the Body Media for about 10 days now and one of the things it measures is MET - which I looked up and know it is metabolic equivalent. I could not really understand the entire article - science was never my favorite subject.

I was pretty disappointed to notice that even on the Elliptical working pretty hard with a fairly elevated heart rate (I usually average between 130 - 140 in 30 minutes) it is not "vigorous" or over 6 METS. If I run (which I can only do for about 2 minutes at a time) or for a little bit in Zumba or Step I will get over 6 METS. My other exercises which I consider fairly intense ie: Body Flow which is a choreographed yoga class and Body Pump which is choreographed weight lifting don't usually get me over 6 METS.

On bot the elliptical and treadmill I tend to do intervals - short spurts of more intense exercise alternating with moderate (thus the 1-2 minutes running with more walking)

My speculation is that I have to lift my body off the floor - which doesn't happen on the elliptical or weight lifting. When I am running one foot is down but I am lifting more vertical than I do while on elliptical.

I am wondering how important it really is to get over 6 Mets and if I am on track in believing that getting off the floor is what makes the difference. So if anyone has any experience or education on this issue, please share!

velix

I sent you a message, but not sure it went through.

You should increase your resistance - at a 10 incline / 10 resistance on the elliptical, at a steady pace you should be able to maintain between 9 and 10mets. Raising the intensity level will increase your mets ...