Heart Rate Monitor Data: What the crap?

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vegwrangler
vegwrangler Posts: 143 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Help?

I have all of this heart rate data from workouts I've managed to survive through all year. I have no idea what the tarnations I'm looking at.

Apparently I spend most of my time hangin' in Zone 3. I have no idea what that really means other than it's "aerobic." Judging by the description, I think my HRM is calling me fat and slow. At least I know my fitness tracker is working and not completely fooled by the slimming effect of these yoga pants.

The internet is full of information, but I'm stuck between reading sources that are either too general or too overly scientific to truly be useful.

I tried talking to the fitness coach girl at the gym, but the sound of her voice is so irritating she puts me into Zone 4. Dial down the Dallas, honey. You're taking me out of some kind of "fat burning zone." I'm not sure what that means, but I've been to Dallas before. I'm pretty sure that's not a fat burning zone (I am mostly kidding, some of the fittest people I know live in Dallas).

My current fitness goals include: Running a fall 1/2 marathon at a pace that doesn't completely scream "SHE SURVIVED ON TEXAS CRAFT BEER AND TORTILLA CHIPS ALL YEAR" and/or dropping body fat.

If I had it my way, I would hang out on an elliptical 90 minutes per day and just call it good. I love the elliptical, I could spend all day on it watching trashy TV listening to death metal. I have finally embraced weight training and would like to start using my HRM to tune in my cardio to be more useful instead of just beating the crap out of myself.

So, if any of y'all have any hints on how to use all of this heart rate crap to my advantage without having to talk to contessa de nasal at the gym, I would super appreciate it.

Replies

  • CynthiaT60
    CynthiaT60 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    I think you're hilarious. :laugh: Other than that I don't have much useful information to add. Maybe you can post your HRM's brand etc.? "Zone 3" may not be enough information.
    Elliptical is good (90 minutes may be overkill though....) and weight training is also good. Are you seeing results?
  • vegwrangler
    vegwrangler Posts: 143 Member
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    I'm rockin' the Polar Loop with Polar H7 chest strap. All of the heart rate stuff seems to break things down into Zones 1-5:

    Zone 5: Holy crap I'm going to die
    Zone 4: You're not going to die, you're just going to feel it tomorrow
    Zone 3: PUPPIES AND RAINBOWS AND HAPPINESS!
    Zone 2: It's gettin' hawt in heeerrrree
    Zone 1: Meh, why do I bother

    Obviously, given this interpretation, I need help.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    "Not sure if serious"ly wanting information.

    The 'fat burning zone' is where a bigger proportion of calories come from burning fat.
    If you work in a higher zone, the same fat will be burnt, but some carbs will be too. Because your body then has less carbs later, you'll burn more fat sitting around.

    One way to monitor some improvement is to see if for the same pace your heart rate gets lower - your body is adapting to the exercise and generally getting fitter so isn't as stressed.

    While a half marathon is 'steady state' - keeping at a constant pace and keeping going - there are some good benefits from doing work which elevates your heart rates.
    Interval programs where you put a lot of effort for a short period, have a short rest then repeat not only help you doing just that, but can actually help your longer endurance too.
  • mlfrailing
    mlfrailing Posts: 79
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    gebb has the best answer. I kinda get all that, it's just determining where each zone is for me. I have a Garmin bike computer that screams (in all caps) "YOUR HEART RATE IS TOO HIGH!" at 150 bpm. I know I can change it, but to what? I go over that frequently. I get the "Holy crap, I'm going to die" feeling at about 170. I see other riders rides posted where 170 seems to be the norm.
  • vegwrangler
    vegwrangler Posts: 143 Member
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    "Not sure if serious"ly wanting information.

    I am actually quite serious. I am quite tired and really slap-happy.
    The 'fat burning zone' is where a bigger proportion of calories come from burning fat.
    If you work in a higher zone, the same fat will be burnt, but some carbs will be too. Because your body then has less carbs later, you'll burn more fat sitting around.

    When you speak of carbs, are you referring to glycogen stores and going into ketosis? I would like to read more up about this, please clarify.
    One way to monitor some improvement is to see if for the same pace your heart rate gets lower - your body is adapting to the exercise and generally getting fitter so isn't as stressed.

    AWESOME! Ok, I'm really glad that I kept a log of baseline 1-mile running, 30 minutes continuous elliptical at resistance 5, and cycling 5 miles. I am definitely seeing an improvement and reduction of HR with same effort. Hopefully that means I'm doing it right. It seemed too simple to be real, hence, my call for help.


    Thank you for taking the time to respond with helpful information geebusuk!
  • vegwrangler
    vegwrangler Posts: 143 Member
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    gebb has the best answer. I kinda get all that, it's just determining where each zone is for me. I have a Garmin bike computer that screams (in all caps) "YOUR HEART RATE IS TOO HIGH!" at 150 bpm. I know I can change it, but to what? I go over that frequently. I get the "Holy crap, I'm going to die" feeling at about 170. I see other riders rides posted where 170 seems to be the norm.

    I had a Garmin forerunner that was a complete sissy too. It would tell me to slow down when I was barely in the 150s. I found out mine thought I was a 145 pound girl. You're way too handsome to be a 145 pound girl. You might want to get that looked at :-)
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
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    I've never needed a machine to tell me I'm about die from my heart exploding - it's mostly been pretty obvious to me at the time :).

    I'm not massively up on it all either, I'm afraid - have looked into it a bit for a few things, but from what I know, you describe it about as I understand it.

    As you up the pace, your muscles will start to draw more from it's muscle Glycogen storage. This will then be "topped up" from your liver

    From the ultramarathon I did recently I read up on carb loading etc; one of the issues is that if you're training a lot on a deficit, your glycogen levels may never be fully topped up. However, at some point if you have a few rest days or so on, more calories are going to go into this than be stored as far.
    In the end, it's calories in vs calories out - if you burn more calories than you eat, your body will have to get them from somewhere.

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