Heart Rate Monitors: QUESTION

rockabyesarojane
rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
edited September 22 in Fitness and Exercise
What exactly does the heart rate monitor do? I mean I understand that it will calculate your BPM as you are exercising, but what will that tell me? How does it help me to understand calories burned? I know that there is supposed to be a correlation there, but if someone could explain it me that would be most helpful.

Thanks everyone!!
~Sara-Jane :happy:

Replies

  • ahbach2005
    ahbach2005 Posts: 119
    your heart rate is a measure of the work you do

    the faster your heart pumps the more calories that are burned

    If yo buy a hrm that can be calibrated to your age/ weight & sex it will be more accurate and help you gage what you are doing.

    Also there is a sweet spot for beats per minute and wieght loss. It is based on your age weigth etc

    So if you excercise in thesweet spot your efforts will yeild better results.

    I think mine is 136...it is set in mine and it alorms when I get out of my BPM zone.

    hope this helps
  • MichelleFirestone
    MichelleFirestone Posts: 212 Member
    I have a heart rate watch, and it has an option to see calories burned. they only thing I don't like about it, is I constantly have to be checking my heart rate while exercising, to get accurate calories burned. and its kinda hard to do that, while jumping around.
    though I think the chest ones, you don't have to.

    Its nice though, because like the wii just dance, it was saying I was burning 1000 calories, and I figured I wasn't. well sure enough it was way off. I only burn about 90-120 cal in 15 min. but then when I'm on the ellipitcal, it general reads 50 extra cal burned than what my elliptical was telling me.
  • ahbach2005
    ahbach2005 Posts: 119
    If yo invest in one get the chest strap with the wrist display

    to to get one that will store a few workouts and let you set your beats per minute so you know when you are under or over your goal. It does help a great deal.
  • nikkimoon1382
    nikkimoon1382 Posts: 72 Member
    Heya, somebody wrote that the higher your heart rate the more calories you burn but thats not exactly right (plus you dont want to stroke out, lol) . everyone has a certain rate that is optimal for burning fat. The best way it to burn fat is to do a steady heart rate climb and then stay at that level. if you go too high then you start burning carbs instead of fat. Im sure you can google how to determine what is the optimal heart rate you should have for burning fat based on your weight.
  • rockabyesarojane
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
    So does anyone know what to look for when picking out a good one?
    The most bang for my buck and the most reliable source?
    Easy to follow operation instruction?

    THANKS!
  • jaybaileys
    jaybaileys Posts: 317
    Get a polar. I have the ft 40 it was like $120 at REI. They have cheaper ones though. Very simple and it tells you your HR, calories burned, and at the end it tell how many were fat calories and your avg and max HR during that workout. It also tells you how long your HR was in the fat burning mode or just an aerobic mode.
  • BeachbodyCoachFletcher
    BeachbodyCoachFletcher Posts: 16
    I got a Sportline HRM for @ $40 at D I C Ks Sports and have actually been very happy with it. Not sure how accurate the calorie counter is, but the BPM seems to be close when ever I check it manually. (They censored the sports store LOL.)
  • rockabyesarojane
    rockabyesarojane Posts: 471
    thanks everyone! i will start my online research tonight on those to see about customer satisfaction.

    appreciate the help!
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