Train more in zone 2

Cal28

I've had my HRM about a week now (Polar FT60) and set it for weight loss. I've been doing classes so just kind of ignored its beeping and did my best. Now its come to the end of my week its saying I need to burn less in zone 3 and more in zone 2.

Two things - why? (I'm new to all this) and how?

I would have thought it was best to give my maximum effort?! :huh:

LesliePierceRN

It depends on what it's defining the zones as.. but typically zone 2 is fat burning and zone 3 is cardiovascular.. Zone 3 actually has more benefits.. all the fat burning benefits of 2 plus the increased cardiovascular health and fitness of endurance athletes.

Cal28

So I should just ignore it?

LesliePierceRN

So I should just ignore it?

If what you want is cardiovascular fitness, then yes, ignore it or change the setting. I train almost exclusively in the cv zone, but I'm a long distance runner and need the cv stamina. As long as you don't become symptomatic (chest pain, severe shortness of breath, etc) then it's not harmful to train to your cv potential. I'm assuming normal health here, you don't have any underlying heart issues, right?

Cal28

No issues, just overweight (5ft 186lb)
I want to get fitter & slimmer...?
Thanks

LesliePierceRN

You're pretty much where I was when I started.. and in 9 months I'd dropped 45#. I was 189# and 5'2". Now I'm hovering around 145#. Good luck!

Cal28

I want to be about 60lb lighter but I'm less bothered about scales and more how I feel & look.
So did you loose your weight by training in zone 3? My scales haven't moved in 2 weeks so I wondered if this was one of the reasons? x