Strength Training and HRM's

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Better_Balance_2011
Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have heard that using a heart rate monitor while strength training can give you unrealistic numbers....something about cardio, heart rate, oxygen something. Anyone have any insight on this?

I did some strength training last night at home. It looked something like this:

2 sets (each leg) Bulgarian split squats with 8lb dumbell alternated with
bicep curls (3 sets) with 8 lbs.

2 sets Single leg deadlift (each leg) with 8lbs alternated
12 lateral and front raises (4 sets total) 8 lbs

3 sets of about 20 reps plie' with 15 lb kettlebell with shoulder raise

3 sets of 20 tricep kickbacks (both arms) with 3 lbs

3 sets of 12 dead lifts with 15 lb kettlebell

I am 5'2", weighing in at about 149 right now b/c I am nearly 6 months pregnant (hence the low weights) and this routine took me about 32 minutes and my HRM said my burn was 176 calories. Any thoughts on how accurate this is? Not that I am so concerend with burning calories at this point, really just more curious about it for the future. Thanks and happy Friday!

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  • Daisy374
    Daisy374 Posts: 539 Member
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    bump
  • deathstarclock
    deathstarclock Posts: 512 Member
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    Did you perform this routine in like a circuit? Meaning did you consistently keep your heart rate elevated or did you have rest periods?
  • dragonflytwt
    dragonflytwt Posts: 49 Member
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    bump!
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    that looks like a great work out!! i like how you are working out one set of muscles, and while that area rests, you are working out another muscle group!! awesome!! between sets like that, you should rest a minute.

    your HRM is probably very accurate, since you are using low weights. it is an excellent work out, just be careful since you are pregnant!!

    check this blog post out, you are doing great so far, and this might give you some more pointers. http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/02/15/how-to-build-your-own-workout-routine/
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
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    Did you perform this routine in like a circuit? Meaning did you consistently keep your heart rate elevated or did you have rest periods?

    Somewhere in between....I probably took about 30 seconds in between most sets, but some of the exercises (like plie's) got my heart rate up.
  • aecmagn
    aecmagn Posts: 30 Member
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    I know quite a bit about this. You should not wear your HRM unless you are doing low weight/high rep cardio training workout. If you are doing strength training, take off the HRM, period. the HRM is meant to measure your CARDIO workout only. If you measure your strength training, you are getting a terribly inaccurate picture of your heart rate. when you push or resist weight, your heart pumps harder and your blood pressure may rise and fall more quickly than at rest. this affects your reading. the HRM is to be used to measure how hard your heart is working for cardio fitness. Now, if you do weight circuit training--like curves, etc that may be somewhat different in that the goal is to attain a cardio workout.
  • zer0fenix
    zer0fenix Posts: 6
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    It would seem the only real calorie burning exercise are the deadlifts with the 15lb kettleball. Part of weight training toward weight loss is pushing your muscles as far as they can go (though not too far!), and using heavier weights for most of those exercises save for the kickbacks. The legs contain some of the largest muscle groups in your whole body and since having to carry your body weight, makes them a little more resilient to slight weight differences. With being pregnant, unfortunately you really can't push yourself to avoid stress on the baby. Most of what you were doing with the weight given would be considered light exercise/ maintenance. Circuit training would be a good way to increase heart rate as deathstarclock mentioned, but since you are not counting calories burned at the moment you are good. Granted with all this said, it would mainly depend on how much weight you can safely handle and complete 8-12 or 10-15 reps (depending on exercise), pregnant or otherwise, to get a better caloric burn.

    Also high reps do not mean better burn or exercise. If you can complete more than 15 reps with any set you are doing, the weights are too light and its time to move up to a heavier set. Low reps with a heavy weight tends to be more beneficial as you are working the muscles more. There is tons of material available online, though my favorite site is bodybuilding.com. It has tons of great information available.
  • Better_Balance_2011
    Better_Balance_2011 Posts: 3,711 Member
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    Aecmagn - thanks for the info. This was along the lines of what I was thinking.

    Zer0fenix - Thanks for your info also. Yes, I typically would be doing lower reps and much heavierer weights as I understand this is a better strenght concept, but while pregnant I can only use lower weights so I figured I would work more on toning with lower weights and more reps rather than strength building with higher weight and lower reps.

    Bottom line is, don't consdier calorie burn during strength training as that is what it is not its intent. For now I'm just trying to keep my muscles somewhat in shape and once the baby comes, I'll pick up the heavier weights again. Thanks ya'll!

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