What does yours say??

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CINDYRN33
CINDYRN33 Posts: 148 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Got my new heart rate monitor today, polar7. I went for my regular bike ride and wore it. I was shocked that most of my ride was showing HR in the 160-180 with avg HR of 155. According to my monitor MY fat burning zone is <134 so my question... Do you notice that your HR is higher than what you think it should be for your fitness level? Secondly, Do you try to keep your HR in the fat burning zone or do you just go with what it says as long as you dont feel any symptoms of too high heart rate?

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  • CINDYRN33
    CINDYRN33 Posts: 148 Member
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    Anybody??
  • Camille0502
    Camille0502 Posts: 311 Member
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    No, I find my heart rate to be right where it should be most of the time. I use "cardio coach" workouts when using my elliptical and whe he says "you should be in the orange zone," that's about exactly where I am. As you work out more and get in better shape, you should find the same thing. If you are finding your heart rate so high, you may want to dial it back a notch to get it in a more effective aerobic or fat burning zone.
  • ScatteredThoughts
    ScatteredThoughts Posts: 3,562 Member
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    Sometimes I have doubts about the HRM numbers, and think they are an overestimate. I don't worry about "fat burning" or any other zones. I just want a reasonable indication of how I am doing, so that I can track my progress.
  • ejha77
    ejha77 Posts: 63
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    I don't worry about so-called fat-burning zones. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.
  • SirZee
    SirZee Posts: 381
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    I play hockey every week, and every shift I consistently hit 100% max heart rate (220-your age) I wore a heart monitor to games for years.

    If you are out of shape (not suggesting you are) your heart will have to work extra hard. Over a few months you'll find that it will drop for the same activity (and you'll find yourself doing the activity harder).

    Wouldn't worry much about zones and stuff. That is all fluff for weak minded people., pure psychology to get your motivated/sticking with it. Lower zones == "hey this is not that hard" and not "omg, five min only, I am dying".

    Once you get your basic fitness going (about 2-4 weeks after starting an activity, doing it regularly at least 2-3 times a week), just do whatever cardio you like, get yourself to a state where its hard, but not impossible to talk to someone while performing it.

    Also various medical issues can contribute to higher heart rate. Each person is different.
  • wolfgate
    wolfgate Posts: 321 Member
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    Unless you have accurately measured your maximum heart rate and resting heart rate (and calculated zones specific to you), any zones you read about are just estimates. I no longer use my HRM because I plan my workouts based on effort. (I tend to run primarily). If it's an easy day, I run at a conversational effort pace. If it's a tempo day, I run at a pace I could maintain for an hour. If it's race pace day, I run at 5k effort. Same effect, less stress.

    If yours has the capability to calculate calories, that would be nice. downside of my method is I'm using estimates for exercise calories. But if my HRM did calorie calculations, I still wouldn't concern myself with zones. I'd concern myself with effort and track the resulting calories.
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,080 Member
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    Fat burning zone? When I used a HRM it was for a specific fitness programme, not for burning fat but to be in the most comfortable zone for peak performance. You train above and below this zone to push harder or rest...but I think the fat burning zone is a myth of sorts...
  • divinenanny
    divinenanny Posts: 90 Member
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    Mine has about the same number (fat burning ends around 115 and I am constantly up in the 150s during exercise). But like others have said, a calorie is a calorie, and I use it for information, not for specific training (yet). I know I am terribly out of shape, so I figured it isn't a bad thing to get fit too.
    Also, I walk a lot, and guess that my heart rate is a lot nearer to 115 when I walk, so I figure that'll take care of some fat burning too ;)
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    The whole fat-burning zone thing is a bit misleading. You are burning fat at all those elevated heart rates - work at the rate that allows you to complete your workout.
  • CINDYRN33
    CINDYRN33 Posts: 148 Member
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    Thanks so much for the responses, you are all great. I will just continue doing what I have been doing, pushing myself and still enjoying my rid with out worrying about zones. thanks again for the responses.

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