Anxiety and Fitness

raven56706
raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
edited November 18 in Fitness and Exercise
Before i didnt know i had anxiety issues, i was able to wear a heart rate monitor and all with no issues. My heart rate was normal and counting the burning calories was easy.

Now that i have anxiety and all, i cant utilize my heart rate monitor because my heart rate is so not in sync and is elevated. Im on meds and well on my way to getting better but this sucks because i really want to count my calories burned.

Any tips for this

Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Use the MFP estimate for calories burned, but only eat back half of them as most calorie counters over estimate calories burned.

  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    does MFP use weight lifting exercises in the calories burned? i thought they never did it before.
  • RRB2000
    RRB2000 Posts: 77 Member
    Your meds should begin to help with calming you down which in turn will help lower your heart rate. Once they get your anxiety under control you should be able to use your HR monitor like before. Trust me, I've dealt with anxiety for years, and its no fun. My anxiety was worse when I first diagnosed with thyroid issues, but I have a generally low heart rate. I hope they get your back to feeling better ASAP. I know how much anxiety can affect every aspect of your life.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    does MFP use weight lifting exercises in the calories burned? i thought they never did it before.

    no they do not ..

    but an HRM is not going to be accurate for weight lifting/strength training. Unless you are doing more of a circuit based weight training/cardio type program???? Even then I don't think an HRM is going to be accurate...as my understanding is that HRM's are only accurate for running/walking/etc...
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    does MFP use weight lifting exercises in the calories burned? i thought they never did it before.

    First of all, don't use your HRM for a calorie burn estimate. They are notoriously inaccurate.*

    Heart rate monitors are only good for heart rate zone training - completely useless for weight lifting.

    In the MFP database, there's an entry under cardio called 'strength training.' You can use that.




    *Disclaimer: They have some level of accuracy if you are doing steady-state cardio in the aerobic threshold. If you are going anaerobic (i.e. strength training) then the calorie burn will be WAY off. If you are doing interval training, it will be way off. If you wear it all day and aren't doing cardio for 24 hours, it will be way off.
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    ok so then should i not count my calories when im weight lifting because before i used to burn 800 calories just doing strength training exercises.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    ok so then should i not count my calories when im weight lifting because before i used to burn 800 calories just doing strength training exercises.

    that sounds way too high for strength training. Most use a rule of thumb of about 150 to 250 burned per session.

    what does your strength training consist of?
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    sorry i mean 600 and its alot of reps.. its measured by polar... unless i actually have a problem with my heart
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    raven56706 wrote: »
    sorry i mean 600 and its alot of reps.. its measured by polar... unless i actually have a problem with my heart

    Is this a structured program like strong lifts, starting strength, etc, or did you design it on your own?

    can you give me an example of what type of exercise, how many sets, how many reps, rest between each set??
  • raven56706
    raven56706 Posts: 918 Member
    start with measuring when i do my cardio. Bike for 5 minutes. Then every weight training day starts with pull ups. 4 sets of 8. Same weight. Then its target muscle training. So on a day for chest, i do close bar chest press, incline dumbbell press, incline dumbbell fly, cable fly , dumbbell over head, cable pulldown, one arm try pull down... all 4 sets of 10 with 60sec intervals...
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