Heart rate question

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christianteach
christianteach Posts: 599 Member
edited January 17 in Fitness and Exercise
I got my Polar FT40 today and used it tonight when I worked out on our elliptical. According to it, I have been getting my heart rate way too high. Tonight I kept slowing down more and more and still couldn't get it down to the fat burn zone. I have been exercising in the 160-180 range and tonight it I was in the 140-150 range, even though (if I read the online manual correctly) it said I should get down to 118. That seems really low. My goal at this point is to burn fat! Should I go by that or how I feel? I was sweating like crazy but I didn't feel like I was working very hard. I should add this: Even when I was in relatively good shape, working out 6 days a week and was at a good weight, my heart rate was always higher than the charts on the wall at our gym said it should be. I remember one of my trainers once told me that it was because I swam competitively for several years, so I had conditioned my heart...could that be true all these years later? It's been 20 some years now.

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Forget the "zones". There's no truth to them. Go for it and work out as hard as you can. It makes no sense that you would burn less by working harder. Your body doesn't have a switch that turns off and on at certain heart rates.
  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    What you're describing seems to be a common complaint. I recall reading this review (http://exercise.about.com/od/productreviews/fr/polarft40.htm) and then finding similar type assessments from people in various forums messageboards. You may want to email Polar and see if they have any suggestions, and maybe ask them if they can return it for a different model (if it comes to that). The Polar FT4 seems to be pretty good at keeping you within the appropriate ranges.
  • christianteach
    christianteach Posts: 599 Member
    What you're describing seems to be a common complaint. I recall reading this review (http://exercise.about.com/od/productreviews/fr/polarft40.htm) and then finding similar type assessments from people in various forums messageboards. You may want to email Polar and see if they have any suggestions, and maybe ask them if they can return it for a different model (if it comes to that). The Polar FT4 seems to be pretty good at keeping you within the appropriate ranges.

    I checked my heart rate myself a couple of times, the monitor was accurate. It just seemed like my target heart rate was low.
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