heart rate monitor

carpyclarky
carpyclarky Posts: 13
in Fitness and Exercise
hi guys i ve recently bought a heart rate monitor,i have worked out my fat burning zone and went out this morning for a run....or what i thought was going to be a run as to keep my heart rate within the fat burning zone i was barely running...even having to slow down on the hills to a fast walk just to keep within the fat burning zone.....now i am new to this hrm and fat burning zone training so cant for the life of me work out if what i was doing was right or wrong.
i ran for 4.13 miles and it took 50 minutes keeping my heart rate within the zone...when i got back i was sweaty but didnt feel like i had done a proper workout.
any advice from you guys and girls will be greatly appreciated

andy

Replies

  • KarateMadMum
    KarateMadMum Posts: 32
    I am no expert so someone may well correct me but from the research I have done it appears the fat burning zone is a myth.. it appears that its something lean athletes can use to cut that extra bit of fat but not really for weight loss

    http://www.builtlean.com/2013/04/01/fat-burning-zone-myth/
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    The fat burning zone isn't a myth it's just that more intensive exercise will burn more calories.
  • JeffGDDG
    JeffGDDG Posts: 252 Member
    Did mine for the first time today with the same results. I think the theory is to keep doing it and you'll get faster and in the 'zone' for longer periods of time.
  • carpyclarky
    carpyclarky Posts: 13
    so should i just go out and run my best effort every time??
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
    Ignore the numbers. Just run.
  • carpyclarky
    carpyclarky Posts: 13
    so why the need for a heart rate monitor???forgive me being stupid but the only reason i bought the hrm was to monitor my hr to keep within the "zone"...if its not needed should i take it back and just run like we did before hrm were around??

    thx for the replies
  • HardyGirl4Ever
    HardyGirl4Ever Posts: 1,017 Member
    I thought that everyone said that it can cause damage to go over your heart rate max.

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  • kchang77
    kchang77 Posts: 76 Member
    If you are getting started, you should run according to your RPE (you can Google that). As you get more fit / run more, your zones will begin to adjust to your fitness level, but it will take time. I have always used a HRM so I can track my calorie burn, but when I first started running I went by the RPE and now running a 9 minute mile is a "easy" run whereas when I first started it was an all-out effort.
  • ayalowich
    ayalowich Posts: 242 Member
    What did you do to establish your heart rate zones? There are a variety of methods of determining your max and it is pretty easy to figure out your minimum.

    http://www.topendsports.com/fitness/karvonen-formula.htm

    I've always associated the fat burning zone as between 60-70% of your max so I'm a bit perplexed at why you had to go that slowly. I spend a fair amount of time in this zone during most of my runs.
  • spectralmoon
    spectralmoon Posts: 1,179 Member
    I have an Ft40 by Polar. The way mine works is that it shows a "fat burning zone" at a lower heart rate and a "fitness zone" at medium-to-higher heart rate. From what I understand, the fat burning zone and fitness zone are just labeled to show you what is burning calories versus what burns them and is improving your fitness/endurance at the same time.

    As for the "why the heart rate monitor then?" question: You're still getting a digitally estimated calorie burn count on recorded time. Why trade that in? It's helpful as H-E-double hockey sticks.

    Don't be afraid to run just because your watch is beeping at you or the numbers are "out of the zone" for the lower set, especially since anything over 125-ish gets out of the fat burning zone. Fitness burns more calories as it is and improves future duration. Just go for it!
  • Lili0817
    Lili0817 Posts: 109 Member
    Hello!
    The way to burn fat , like really burn fat is to do HIGH INTENSITY - short duration cardio. So I think that instead of jogging or walking fast you should sprint. Run your hardest and you will be in the fat burning zone. Not only that but nothing is better then sprints. :) Doing like 5 sprints is going to give you a better workout then jogging for an hour. Try it! :)
  • ayalowich
    ayalowich Posts: 242 Member
    Hello!
    The way to burn fat , like really burn fat is to do HIGH INTENSITY - short duration cardio. So I think that instead of jogging or walking fast you should sprint. Run your hardest and you will be in the fat burning zone. Not only that but nothing is better then sprints. :) Doing like 5 sprints is going to give you a better workout then jogging for an hour. Try it! :)

    that last part isn't true, but nice try. It sounded good.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
    Ignore the numbers. Just run.

    This^^^
  • xX_Samantha_Xx
    xX_Samantha_Xx Posts: 166 Member
    I have the FT40, too. I love it. Regardless of my heart rate, I'm still burning calories. I don't really pay attention to the "fat burn" zone. I just work out. I'm ALWAYS over the fat burn zone at my crossfit classes. Any exercise is better than none. I'm not worried about the zone I'm in.
  • asreyes8022
    asreyes8022 Posts: 23
    I noticed the same thing with my FT7. I ended up calculating my own fat zone burn to be higher than what the monitor was telling me. The monitor wants me to stay below 128. There is no way. So I went to a website (can't remember exact site) that showed me how to manually calculate based on some additional factors and now my fatburn zone I shoot for is between 145-154 for 60-70% of my max heart rate. Also, the monitor is still very useful, in that I can track my heart rate and calories burned. The machines overestimate how many calories have been burned during a workout. (ie, elliptical says something like 800 calories burned in an hour workout, whereas the monitor says more like 550.)
    As for running. Just run. Don't concentrate so much on the zone you are in, just concentrate on running correctly as to not injure your knees. I ignore the zones often just knowing that hey, at least I am exercising.
  • asreyes8022
    asreyes8022 Posts: 23
    My thoughts exactly. :)
  • carpyclarky
    carpyclarky Posts: 13
    Thx for the replies...I worked out my fat burning zone by subtracting my age from 220 and then working out the percentage of that for fat burning. I think im just going to run and let the rest take care of its self

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