HRM question

How can I use my new HRM to improve my workouts and monitor my progress?

I spend an hour on the elliptical 3x a week, during which I keep my heart rate above 160, and I usually burn about 700 calories.

I do strength training 3x a week for an hour.

Thanks!

Well, I wear mine during cardio/circuit training and I enjoy and feel comfort seeing my HR improve as my fitness level increases. When I started working out in January, I would hit the 180s very easily and would take longer to drop. Now I hang in the 160s and drop to 110-120 much much much more quickly during cool downs. That's a lot of progress, so I'd just track those changes.

It really isn't accurate for strength training because. Just to quote Sparkpeople: "A HRM won't give you an accurate idea of how many calories you burn during strength training, because the relationship between heart rate and calorie expenditure is not the same during strength training as during cardio exercise, which is what the HRM's estimate is based on. Unless your weight training is very vigorous circuit training, the heart rate monitor will be overestimating your calorie burn by a fair amount.

The problem is a technical one. Calorie burning isn't determined by heart rate, it's determined by the number of muscle cells that are activated to perform a given activity. It's the working cells that actually use the energy (calories) and consume oxygen. When working muscle cells need more energy and oxygen, your heart rate goes up to deliver these things to the cells via the blood stream.

Any muscle that performs a high intensity or maximum effort (strength training) will trigger an increase in heart rate and blood flow. But if only a single muscle group is on the receiving end to utilize that extra oxygen (doing a strength exercise that isolates your biceps, for example), only a relatively small amount of oxygen (and calories) will actually be consumed. "

http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=75

You can however Google some calorie burn calculators and get a rough estimate for strength training, but I'd track your progress there by your strength improvements.

I mainly use it to accurately track calories, as I find MFP estimates calories quite a bit higher than what I actually burn.

Thanks for that info. So, as I get fitter, I have to work harder to get my heart rate up?

Yes