Walking with Heart Rate Monitor

ltfrombc

I walk 3 miles a day. I wear a Heart Rate Monitor. The route I take has many hills and flat areas. So depending which way I walk I will have steep or gradual inclines, followed by flat street and then some steep or gradual declines. I try to stay within the zone (60%-70%) as much as possible but depending on whether or not I am climbing up or down a hill my heart rate can go above or below the target zone. My question is:

Is it better to adjust my steps (speed up/slow down) to try and stay within the zone or is it better to walk at a constant pace (up and down the hills) and not worrying about the zone or does it even matter?

I find it very difficult to speed up my steps going down a hill and then have to slow down on the flat portion of the walk and then possibly speed up again as I go down another hill. I find it better to set my pace within the zone and continue walking at that pace regardless of whether or not I am on a flat street, climbin or decending a hill.

Hope this makes sense what I am asking. What do others do?

Many thanks in advance.

Lori

blindrn

I would say stay in your zone or higher, I wouldn't slow down to keep your HR in the zone. I, too, use a HR monitor. I have used it when walking my dogs briskly and I can rarely even get my HR into the zone even at a fast walk. I have to start jogging before I can get into my zone. If you are trying to burn calories, I'd stay on the higher side and just speed up any time you start to fall below your zone.