What am I supposed to do with a HRM?

Casi23

Anyone out there with some useful experience with heart rate monitors? I see them being mentioned here and there and I'm not really sure how they work. I am all about getting the most out of my workout (mainly because I hate doing it so much!) but I'm not all about wasting money on gimmicks and crap.

If anyone can explain how they work, and how they maximize my calroric burn during my workouts, I'd appreciate it. Also, what ones work the best? What kind of results have people had with them?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide! :happy:

Casi23

Anyone out there with some useful experience with heart rate monitors? I see them being mentioned here and there and I'm not really sure how they work. I am all about getting the most out of my workout (mainly because I hate doing it so much!) but I'm not all about wasting money on gimmicks and crap.

If anyone can explain how they work, and how they maximize my calroric burn during my workouts, I'd appreciate it. Also, what ones work the best? What kind of results have people had with them?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide! :happy:

soxygirl

Hi there,

A Heart Rate Monitor is used to measure your heart rate during exercise, which in turn calculates your caloric burn during the activity. It logs your resting heart rate and calculates your target activity heart rate for you, so that you know where to be to get the most out of your work out. It has a chest strap and a wrist unit (like a watch) -- the chest strap measures your heartbeats per minute and sends singles to the wrist unit, which in turn calculates your heart rate percentages, calorie burn, etc.

HRMs do not, in and of themselves, increase or maximize your caloric burn -- that's all up to you and your exercise choices and intensity. The reason so many people, including many of us on this site - use HRMs is that it provides the most accurate calculate of calories burned so we can log our exercise as precisely as possible.

Since using mine, I've found it extremely helpful. The numbers in the MFP exercise database and on other websites that guesstimate the calories burned for certain exercises are estimates only, and I have found I burn far more than I was logging when using those estimates.

hiddensecant

I use it to be sure I'm eating all my calories. Keeping the muscles fueled is very important for a healthy metabolism, which keeps the weight and fat off once you reach your weight goals and bump up to maintenance.

Some use it to be sure they keep their heart rate in a certain zone during strength training. Others use it to reach a certain calorie burn during cardio.

You can find some great deals on eBay. I'm sure some people who got the woot.com deal will be selling there soon enough.

adopt4

I have a Timex. It's useful in 2 ways. #1, I see what cals I am actually burning which was TWICE what the machines at the gym said. That was very important.

#2 is when you get to the point where you want to be in a particular "zone" for aerobic or anaerobic workouts. aerobic meaning fat burning and anaerobic being cardio stamina. I'm not there yet, so I can't delve into it too far.

The strapless kinds are not accurate. The strap ones seem to be fine, there's the polar series, timex, reebock, i've heard all those are good. My Timex is great and for ME knowing how many cals I'm actually burning kicked up my weight loss because I wasn't eating nearly enough and had put my body into starvation mode.

If you are a small person or an extremely overweight person, the machines at the gym are totally inaccurate, by like 50%. So if you are a smaller person - you are using a lot less than the machines say. If you are not in a place where the cals matter (sorry, didn't check your profile before writing this) and it's all about the zone you are in, and you are doing machines that can constantly check your heart rate, then you don't need one at this time, you just need to do research on what your heart rates should be based on age, height, weight, health ,etc. and then stay within those ranges. But you'll need to know beyond the machines what those numbers should be for your ranges, as the machines take in few variables and so can be way off, but the actual heart rate on the machines seems to be very accurate.

HTH

artschoolgirl

What she said Well put!!

I have a Polar F4 & it gives me an accurate reading, keeps me motivated! I'm finding i'm staying at the gym now for an hour and a half & trying to break my calroies burned records! It's a great tool! I've noticed a huge difference in the past two weeks since getting it!

jtintx

Just keep in mind that not all HRMs will calculate the number of calories you burn...so be sure to read the packaging.