question about heart rates

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cuddlegrl
cuddlegrl Posts: 101 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just got a heart rate monitor. I love it. I wore it at the gym today when I worked out with my personal trainer. I was at the gym for 2 hours and burned 1002 calories. At the end of my workout the HRM told me my max heart rate was 183 and my average was 146. My trainer knew my hr was up because when we were doing step ups with weights my hr was at 177 and I showed him. He told me "Good! You need to get your heart rate up to be in the fat burning zone. Keep going!"

When I was telling this to my sister thinking I had done a good job she told me I should never have my hr up that high. She tells me there is a range and I shouldnt go out of it. Can anyone help clear this up? Where should my heart rate be? Should I keep it under a certain number? Or over a certain number?

25 year old female
163 Lbs.
4'11''
No health problems that would prevent me from doing cardio

Replies

  • ambercole
    ambercole Posts: 426
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    my heartrate is always in the 170's when I run. i'm 26. my zone is 160-180.
  • Ayla89
    Ayla89 Posts: 11
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    Hi,

    Great post! I recently had some time with the personal trainer at my gym, he believes that you must stay at about 70% - 80% heart rate to lose weight.
    Once you go higher than 70-80% you are using your heart & lung muscles and not burning fat.
    The way he showed me to work out what your heart rate should be is

    220 (highest possible heart rate) minus your age then times by 0.70 (for 70%)
    220 (highest possible heart rate) minus your age then times by 0.80 (for 80%)

    For example mine is
    220 - 21 x 0.70 = 139 hr (minimum hr to burn fat)
    220 - 21 x 0.80 = 159 hr (maximum hr / should not go over this)

    Hope this helps! Ayla
  • roadtoaddmj
    roadtoaddmj Posts: 9
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    It depends on what you're trying to do. Look up Anaerobic exercise vs. aerobic exercise. If your looking to lose weight aerobic.
  • roadtoaddmj
    roadtoaddmj Posts: 9
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    My bad Anaerobic exercise is less than 70% of your max heart rate for fat burning.

    Guys: (220-age) * .70
    Girls: (225-age) * .70
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    OMG, there has been an outbreak of teh stoopidz.....:angry:

    (Not referring to any of the posters who are just repeating stuff they have been told by people who should know better).

    Virtually NOTHING posted so far on this topic is true.

    1. There is no such thing as a "fat burning zone". We always are burning fat, 24 hrs a day. Fuel substrate used during exercise has absolutely no effect on fat loss.

    2. The term "anaerobiic threshold" is an outdated one and not relevant to this discussion.

    3. Inasmuch as exercise can contribute to fat loss, ALL types of exercise, at any intensity, will contribute to the process, mostly by helping maintain a calorie deficit.

    4. "using your heart and lung muscles"??? WTF??? That "personal trainer" should have his/her "certification" revoked and he/she should have to return the box of cereal that they got the "certification" from. That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever read on MFP--and that's saying a lot (again, no offense intended to the person who posted it and doesn't know any better).

    5. HRMs are best used as aids to make sure you are staying at a targeted intensity level for that workout and to compare workouts. Depending on your program, your target intensity for a particular workout might be anything from 50% to 100% of max. Each intensity level has its place--and ALL will contribute to weight loss.

    Finally, for the original poster: your heart rates are fine -- unfortunately your trainer seems to have invented a new definition for "fat burning zone". It's kind of scary--not only is he using a concept that has been disproved for at least 15 years, but he has it backwards. (unless he is on the HIIT bandwagon, which is almost as bad).
  • itzamos
    itzamos Posts: 24
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    That (220-age) formula doesn't work for everyone. I have a slower heart rate than most and even when I'm about to keel over my numbers won't get much over 130.
  • Ayla89
    Ayla89 Posts: 11
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    OMG, there has been an outbreak of teh stoopidz.....:angry:

    (Not referring to any of the posters who are just repeating stuff they have been told by people who should know better).

    Virtually NOTHING posted so far on this topic is true.

    1. There is no such thing as a "fat burning zone". We always are burning fat, 24 hrs a day. Fuel substrate used during exercise has absolutely no effect on fat loss.

    2. The term "anaerobiic threshold" is an outdated one and not relevant to this discussion.

    3. Inasmuch as exercise can contribute to fat loss, ALL types of exercise, at any intensity, will contribute to the process, mostly by helping maintain a calorie deficit.

    4. "using your heart and lung muscles"??? WTF??? That "personal trainer" should have his/her "certification" revoked and he/she should have to return the box of cereal that they got the "certification" from. That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever read on MFP--and that's saying a lot (again, no offense intended to the person who posted it and doesn't know any better).

    5. HRMs are best used as aids to make sure you are staying at a targeted intensity level for that workout and to compare workouts. Depending on your program, your target intensity for a particular workout might be anything from 50% to 100% of max. Each intensity level has its place--and ALL will contribute to weight loss.

    Finally, for the original poster: your heart rates are fine -- unfortunately your trainer seems to have invented a new definition for "fat burning zone". It's kind of scary--not only is he using a concept that has been disproved for at least 15 years, but he has it backwards. (unless he is on the HIIT bandwagon, which is almost as bad).

    I will make sure I show my personal trainer your notes and sorry for the bad information... guess we all cant be right and it sucks to be told so on a weight loss website... Azdak thanks for your opinion and good luck in your weight loss goals...
  • roadtoaddmj
    roadtoaddmj Posts: 9
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    Like I had said it depends on what you are trying to do. Of course energy output equals calories burned but your body will pull energy from more than one source. (Azdak) I think you may want to state the part you’re leaving out.

    Fat burning takes time and the anaerobic (out dated name or not) threshold represent the point where fat conversion can no longer supply the required energy to maintain the level of exercise.

    Again, a little reading will payoff well if you want to utilize a HRM effectively.
  • DJH510
    DJH510 Posts: 114 Member
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    OMG, there has been an outbreak of teh stoopidz.....:angry:

    (Not referring to any of the posters who are just repeating stuff they have been told by people who should know better).

    Virtually NOTHING posted so far on this topic is true.

    1. There is no such thing as a "fat burning zone". We always are burning fat, 24 hrs a day. Fuel substrate used during exercise has absolutely no effect on fat loss.

    2. The term "anaerobiic threshold" is an outdated one and not relevant to this discussion.

    3. Inasmuch as exercise can contribute to fat loss, ALL types of exercise, at any intensity, will contribute to the process, mostly by helping maintain a calorie deficit.

    4. "using your heart and lung muscles"??? WTF??? That "personal trainer" should have his/her "certification" revoked and he/she should have to return the box of cereal that they got the "certification" from. That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever read on MFP--and that's saying a lot (again, no offense intended to the person who posted it and doesn't know any better).

    5. HRMs are best used as aids to make sure you are staying at a targeted intensity level for that workout and to compare workouts. Depending on your program, your target intensity for a particular workout might be anything from 50% to 100% of max. Each intensity level has its place--and ALL will contribute to weight loss.

    Finally, for the original poster: your heart rates are fine -- unfortunately your trainer seems to have invented a new definition for "fat burning zone". It's kind of scary--not only is he using a concept that has been disproved for at least 15 years, but he has it backwards. (unless he is on the HIIT bandwagon, which is almost as bad).

    +1
  • Fliegenschwein
    Fliegenschwein Posts: 232 Member
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    I've just been reading an article on this so I thought I`d post it here in case anyone is interested.

    http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/The-Myth-of-the-Fat-burning-Zone.htm
  • paul100
    paul100 Posts: 29
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    That (220-age) formula doesn't work for everyone. I have a slower heart rate than most and even when I'm about to keel over my numbers won't get much over 130.

    Quite - it's an estimate, but individuals vary a lot, and your max and rest heart rate will change with exercise (and with age).

    You can accurately assess your max heart rate - but it's quite hard work and shouldn't been done by anyone who may have any kind of heart problem. Google for "max heart rate stress test"...

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