HRM - how tight should I wear it?

RGPargy

First of all, sorry that this is another hrm question lol.

I wore my ft4 for the first time yesterday during body pump. However when I laid down to do the chest press track, despite having heavy weights on, it said I was below my training zone. Does this mean it should be tighter around my chest??

Thanx in advance!

:-)

Swilson87

No, that just means your HR went below your target training zone. Resistance training does very little for cardiovascular health. Another thing to consider is your bodies position. Just like in swimming, when you're lying down the blood flows through your body more easily, therefore the heart does not have to work as hard. So as long as, or whenever you lay down the HR will drop.

HeidiMightyRawr

Strength training doesn't seem to burn as many calories as cardio, I doubt you need it tighter. I wear it so it is snug and feels comfortable that I can barely feel it, but not loose enough to fall down with plenty of jumping around and raising my arms up.
You can adjust your training zone as well, I think it automatically sets it to 130-170.

RGPargy

Ah ok thanx. So it's not a bad thing then, despite the effort I put in! :-)

maurierose

It doesn't need to be "tight" to register; sometimes it's a matter of it being in the right place, or losing it's connection (just add water between your skin and your chest belt, if needed); as long as it's registering your *correct* heart rate, that's not a problem. Sounds to me like "below your training zone" just means your heart rate was LOWER, and that's normal for weight lifting, or odd movements where your chest strap doesn't register your heart rate. Hope this helps..... you'll get used to it!

RGPargy

Heidi - it's set mine to 115-150. I went up to at least 179 during some of the tracks!

amycal

My HR always goes down during the chest track - we are laying on our backs after all! I try to get 20 - 30 minutes of cardio in before pump which helps keep my HR up i class. Today my HR averaged 130 for 45 minutes (I forgot to set right away and stopped before shoulder track and abs).

RGPargy

My HR always goes down during the chest track - we are laying on our backs after all! I try to get 20 - 30 minutes of cardio in before pump which helps keep my HR up i class. Today my HR averaged 130 for 45 minutes (I forgot to set right away and stopped before shoulder track and abs).

Glad i'm not the onoy one this happens to! I thought my heart rate would stay up because of the effort that i put in, but obviously now i can understand this is not the case so i wont dwell on it. :bigsmile: