Target heart rate/ HR tracker

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frogfan88
frogfan88 Posts: 26 Member
edited October 2015 in Fitness and Exercise
I am new to working out and since I am not able to run a long distance I started doing the interval settings on the treadmill and eliptical. For example 4min running and 2 min. Walking. I just read an article that basically said in order to burn off stores fat you need to keep you heart rate working the target zone for a minimum of 20 minutes. Is this true? And if so what advice do you have to help me get to the point that I am able to maintain my heart rate for this amount of time.

Also, I hate to keep my hands on the heart rate monitor on the machines. I was considering buying a fit bit HR charge to try to help me monitor it. Is this a good device for this. Or do you have any better reccomensations?

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  • vjjohnson3
    vjjohnson3 Posts: 21 Member
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    I have been using Apple Watch and it has a fantastic heart rate monitor.

    However I am more of a fan of working really hard when I do HIIT cardio. In other words get the intensity super fired up, especially during the sprinting intervals. Be out of breath, sweating,and huffing and puffing.
    Your body will develop fast and you will lose more weight faster.

    Also when I wore the watch my heart rate got highest and the workouts were most intense cardio wise in this order:
    1. Running for time around a track trying to beat my record at the 1.5 mile run
    2. Stair climber HIIT The never ending staircase. Really gets my heart pumping and serious sweat.
    3. Treadmill with incline running,sprinting, or jogging/walking
    4. Running elliptical machine
    5. Biking
    6. Regular elliptical
    7. Rowing
    8. Kayak
    Not sure if that helps but there u go!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    frogfan88 wrote: »
    I just read an article that basically said in order to burn off stores fat you need to keep you heart rate working the target zone for a minimum of 20 minutes. Is this true?

    Not in a useful way.

    The main thing is to keep your effort going for 20-30 minutes, raher than artificially constraining yourself.

    In terms of improving your endurance, I'd suggest using Couch to 5K which gives some structure to improving your endurance capacity. Otherwise it's just a question of pushing yourself longer in your run intervals and reducing the length of your walk intervals over time.
    Also, I hate to keep my hands on the heart rate monitor on the machines. I was considering buying a fit bit HR charge to try to help me monitor it. Is this a good device for this. Or do you have any better reccomensations?

    Personally I'd say not to bother, your main interest is in moving for the period of time, then calorie expenditure is driven by the distance you've gone in the time.

    If you do really want to display HR then a cheap Polar would be a relatively straightforward answer.

  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 609 Member
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    frogfan88 wrote: »
    I am new to working out and since I am not able to run a long distance I started doing the interval settings on the treadmill and eliptical. For example 4min running and 2 min. Walking. I just read an article that basically said in order to burn off stores fat you need to keep you heart rate working the target zone for a minimum of 20 minutes. Is this true? And if so what advice do you have to help me get to the point that I am able to maintain my heart rate for this amount of time.

    Also, I hate to keep my hands on the heart rate monitor on the machines. I was considering buying a fit bit HR charge to try to help me monitor it. Is this a good device for this. Or do you have any better reccomensations?

    You have to work you way up to it, don't strain yourself trying to get there. When I started 2.5 years ago, if I could go beyond 2.5 mins intervals at a time I was doing good, now I'm doing 60 mins with no problem.

    With a polar H7 Sensor, you can see your heart rate on the machine and also it will control the incline/level to help keep your hear rate steady with out you changing your pace. Also it has blue tooth that you can use with the polar beat and polar flow app on your smart phone or other device to keep up with your progress.

    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Sensor-BLE-BLK-M-XXL/dp/B007S088F4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443703198&sr=8-1&keywords=h7+heart+rate+sensor
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    vjjohnson3 wrote: »
    I have been using Apple Watch and it has a fantastic heart rate monitor.

    However I am more of a fan of working really hard when I do HIIT cardio. In other words get the intensity super fired up, especially during the sprinting intervals. Be out of breath, sweating,and huffing and puffing.
    Your body will develop fast and you will lose more weight faster.

    Just ignore this advice, given where you are...
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    ^ this

    The primary benefit of training with a HRM is to help keep you within a targeted intensity range (see http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2010/05/quick-guide-to-training-with-heart-rate-power-and-pace.html as a start). And for small subset of the population, HRM when properly calibrated and operated within a narrow band intensity-wise can give a reasonable estimate of calories expenditures; however, don't count on it as HRM only measures your heart rate - PERIOD.

    Get a chest strap model. Wrist based are not good at tracking when exercising; give it a few years for them to catch up and improve the error correction algorithm (plenty of reviews, for example http://www.wareable.com/fitness-trackers/heart-rate-monitor-accurate-comparison-wrist has a good introductory explanation why they are not ideal). YMMV depending on needs and compromise.

    FYI - HRM are useless for HIIT (workouts following guidelines as it how the regimens were originally coined not the crap that is selling today thanks in large part to the Timmons regimen) as the interval will be long over before the heart rate response catches up to the effort. I'm curious if HIIT was in vogue before 2012's broadcast of Michael Mosley presents "Horizon: The Truth About Exercise" on the BBC? HIIT was something that only the serious competitor would employ as a finishing prep for a priority event back in my days of collegiate bicycle racing in the early 90's. I think of Timmons regimen as how much one can dumb down while still get some benefit of HIIT; it is still tougher and more structured than what was inferred by Michael Mosley's presentation and as bastardized by the so called fitness industry.
  • Upstate_Dunadan
    Upstate_Dunadan Posts: 435 Member
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    frogfan88 wrote: »
    . I was considering buying a fit bit HR charge to try to help me monitor it. Is this a good device for this. Or do you have any better recommendations?

    No. If you want to do targeted HR training, it's not accurate enough. I had been using a Microsoft Band for over a year (built in HR sensor) but once I moved to add more cardio work to my routine, I found it was way to inaccurate for what I wanted to do. Longer steady state cardio (Zone 2 HR Zone) is said to burn more fat than exercising at higher intensity levels. That's true from a % stand-point but somewhat fails in real life situations since if you exercise at a higher intensity for the same amount of time, you'll burn more calories, which may be just as beneficial. However, if you do want to train in that HR Zone (there are other benefits) or any of the other zones then the optical HR sensors are not accurate enough. The final straw for me came when my Band kept telling me my HR was up around 160 (my max HR is about 180) when I knew it was really around 120. For me, Zone 2 ends at about 126 bpm, so a HR monitor telling me I'm 40 BPM higher than I really am is useless. I wound up getting a Polar M400 with HR7 chest strap. First day I wore it and my Band to compare, the Band was a good 30-50 bpm higher than what the HR7 showed. That's the last time I used the Band. Nice thing about the HR7 is it can sync to a Polar watch if you have it, and at the same time (even if you don't have a watch) will sync to many pieces of equipment at the gym. So now when I jump on the treadmill at the Gym, it sees my HR monitor and will display my HR on the treadmill's HR display so I don't have to look at my watch all the time.
  • tcaley4
    tcaley4 Posts: 416 Member
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    Here is my personal experience. I got a HRM for my birthday from the MapMyRide website. I to read about the zone 2 using fat cells as fuel. I have been riding my bike for the last 30 days, trying to keep my heart rate within or as close to zone 2 as I can, and I have lost 10 pounds in that 30 days. My monitor is a strap type and I connect it with Bluetooth to the MapMyRide app on my smartphone. My rides usually range from 60 to 75 minutes. I haven't worried any at all with what speed I am riding. It can be anywhere from 9 miles and hour to as high as 17 or 18 depending on terrain. I just try to ride what ever speed I need to keep heart rate within the zone. So it has worked for me. Your mileage may vary.....
  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    edited October 2015
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    frogfan88 wrote: »
    I am new to working out and since I am not able to run a long distance I started doing the interval settings on the treadmill and eliptical. For example 4min running and 2 min. Walking. I just read an article that basically said in order to burn off stores fat you need to keep you heart rate working the target zone for a minimum of 20 minutes. Is this true?

    Short answer? No.

    Longer answer: No, not usefully, as MM said. At this stage in your health and fitness program you should not be worried about micro-optimizing calorie burn. So what if you burn 4 or 14 calories more "fat" per work out? The difference is truly meaningless.

    What will cause you to burn *far* more calories than fat-burning-zone micro optimization is carrying on the activity *longer* and in order to do that you need to keep doing what you are doing and gradually increase the length of time you are running through a) longer distances and b) as you are able to, shortening the walking breaks.

    Here's a better tip than dwelling on fat burning heart rate zones: when you run, do not try to run too fast. You should be running (or equivalent on the elliptical) at a pace that still allows you to hold something of a conversation out loud without having to gasp for breath between words.

    If you are today running too fast by that description, slow down. In doing so you'll be able to run *longer* and that will pay off in greater calorie burn per workout. No heart rate monitor required, just a simple talk-test.
    Also, I hate to keep my hands on the heart rate monitor on the machines. I was considering buying a fit bit HR charge to try to help me monitor it. Is this a good device for this. Or do you have any better reccomensations?

    HR monitors in most wrist-based devices are not that reliable. Rather than point you towards another device that will work well, I'd suggest taking your hands off the machines and just run comfortably. Perhaps doing that will allow you to run / run-walk longer and *that* will deliver real benefit and cost you: $0.

    Good luck!

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