Just got my new heart rate monitor... OH NO!

Under settings make sure you go into "User" to put your stats...height...current weight and date of birth. Otherwise...you are not getting the most out of it.

Does your HRM calculate your VO2

Just got a Polar FT 40 hrm... tried using it tonight. Still trying to figure out how to work it. I ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill. My hrm says I burned only 410 calories! (Normally it's doubled that amount using my other hr monitor without the chest strap) What a bummer! Fat calories 14%. I was in the fitness mode most of the time. Average hr was 147... max was 174. I was running an average of 6.2 mph (but also increased to 7.1 mph off and on) What should my heart rate be to burn more calorie? Also, I haven't done the fitness test for this monitor. I think this is to see what my resting heart rate is. Will this make a difference to make sure my calories burned are accurate? If anyone has any tips on using the Polar monitor... let me know! Thanks!

Your average HR seems to be well within the burning "zone" here's a guideline from the AHA

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4736

I don't know your weight offhand, but I can give my experiences. I've been running now since the end of January and have been tracking a whole lot of data on a spreadsheet. I only just got my own HRM a few days ago since I've been wanting to use a HRM to aid in training. I'm going for the racing aspect of running and have been slimming down and am almost at my goal weight. Currently I am 137 lb.

First thing you need to do is figure out mathematically what your max heart rate (Max HR) is. One method is to take 220 and subtract your age from 220.

I'm 27, so 220-27 is 193.

Next up with a HRM you need to figure out your zones. There are several.

Healthy Heart Zone (50-60% Max HR) - burns 10% carbs, 5% protein ,and 85% fat out of your total calories burned. This is for most people starting out with an exercise program. If you like to just do some walking, this is for you.

Fitness Zone (60-70% of Max HR) - burns 10% carbs, 5% protein, and 85% fat). This is conditioning your fat mobilization (getting fat out of your cells and into your blood stream) and you are training your muscles to burn fat.

Aerobic Zone (70-80% of Max HR) - burns 50% carbs, 50% fat, and less than 1% from protein. This is the zone to be in to build endurance You increase blood vessels, vital capacity, respiratory rate, and get increases in pulmonary ventilation as well as arterial venous oxygen. You also boost your heart muscles so that each stroke of your heart can pump more blood. Your resting heart rate will decrease. Lots of fun and exciting things happen in the aerobic zone.

Anaerobic Zone (80-90% Max HR) - burns 85% carbs, 15% fat, and less than 1% protein. Benefits from this zone are improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen you can consume during exercise), and thus an improved cardio respiratory system, and your body becomes better adapted to handling lactic acid so you can fight fatigue better and last longer.


Redline Zone (90-100% Max HR) - burns 90% carbs, 10% fats, and less than 1% protein. This is mainly used for interval training or race paces for 5K runs and such. It's hard to stay in this zone for long (less than 20 minutes).


Onward to data!

Yesterday I did a 5 mile run averaging 6.58 mph. This was my easy slow run where I made myself stay in the fitness zone. So I kept my heart rate between 140-154. I completed it in 45 minutes and 35 seconds. My mile pace time there is 9:07. My heart rate average was 153 and my maximum was 164 (lots of hills around here ;p). This run burned 527 calories.

Sunday I did a quicker run when I got my HRM. 2 miles in 16:19, 8:09 mile pace, at 7.35 miles per hour. This burned 215 calories. Average HR was 166, and my max was 177.


I wish I had more data to share with you with the HRM but since I just got it, I can't really provide that. All the other running data and calories burned that is recorded was using MFP's calculators during the logging cardio exercise activity.

I hope this helps you out a bit.