HRM questions

amerrill1 · December 2011

I got a Polar HT60 HRM for Christmas and had a couple questions for anyone that might have the answers.

First, the manual says to periodically machine wash the strap (no longer than every 5 uses). Use a wash bag and do not spin dry. This seems like a big hassle since we don't go any laundry without using the spin cycle. I was wondering how most people actually cared for their HRM.

Second, I have used it a couple of time and both time it has said that only 16-17% of my calories burned came from fat. Mine breaks down into 3 zones and I would say 30% of my exercise was is zone1, 60% in zone 2, and 10% in zone 3. This seems low. Is this standard. If 85% of calories aren't coming from fat, where are they coming from?

Thanks in advance! I hope every one had a wonderful holiday!

CyberEd312 · December 2011

Just got an FT60 myself and by what I hear quite a few wash it in the dishwasher. Which is probably what i will do. I Wash my baseball hats that way. Only 10% of my calories burned was from fat at last nights workout. but I spent 85% in zone 3, 12% in zone 2, and 3% in zone 1........

I found this break down of Training Zones.....

TRAINING ZONES

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

TrainingWithTonya · December 2011

I just finished my coursework for my bachelors in exercise physiology and we used heart rate monitors on our athletes. We have about a dozen of them in the lab. We sanitize them after every use because of the fact that multiple athletes use them. But it is a hand wash in the sanitizer, no machine.

As for the zones, it's estimating the percent of calories burned from fat stores based on the intensity of the exercise as shown by your heart rate. You are always burning both fat and carbs, but the % depends on the intensity of the exercise. At higher intensity, your burn mostly carbs and at lower intensity you burn mostly fat. When you work at a moderate intensity, you use about 50% each. That is all subject to having adequate carbs on board to burn. If you don't consume enough carbs, then the body will break down muscle for the protein to make the precursors to fat burning. But that's going more in detail then I'm sure you wanted. Anyway, when you work at a lower intensity, you burn a higher percentage of the total calories burned from fat but you burn fewer calories then when you workout at a higher intensity. When you workout at a higher intensity, you burn a smaller % from fat, but because you burn so many more overall calories it is possible to actually burn more fat calories (not %) overall because a smaller percent of a larger number can be larger then a big percent of a small number. For example, if you walk for 30 minutes and burn 200 calories and 70% of them are fat, then you've burned 140 calories from fat. But if you run for that 30 minutes and burn 600 calories and 30% of them are fat, then you've burned 180 calories from fat. So, my point is that you shouldn't worry about the fact that is says only a small % from fat. You're doing fine as long as you are doing as much as you can comfortably do from exercise.

amerrill1 · December 2011

I just finished my coursework for my bachelors in exercise physiology and we used heart rate monitors on our athletes. We have about a dozen of them in the lab. We sanitize them after every use because of the fact that multiple athletes use them. But it is a hand wash in the sanitizer, no machine.

As for the zones, it's estimating the percent of calories burned from fat stores based on the intensity of the exercise as shown by your heart rate. You are always burning both fat and carbs, but the % depends on the intensity of the exercise. At higher intensity, your burn mostly carbs and at lower intensity you burn mostly fat. When you work at a moderate intensity, you use about 50% each. That is all subject to having adequate carbs on board to burn. If you don't consume enough carbs, then the body will break down muscle for the protein to make the precursors to fat burning. But that's going more in detail then I'm sure you wanted. Anyway, when you work at a lower intensity, you burn a higher percentage of the total calories burned from fat but you burn fewer calories then when you workout at a higher intensity. When you workout at a higher intensity, you burn a smaller % from fat, but because you burn so many more overall calories it is possible to actually burn more fat calories (not %) overall because a smaller percent of a larger number can be larger then a big percent of a small number. For example, if you walk for 30 minutes and burn 200 calories and 70% of them are fat, then you've burned 140 calories from fat. But if you run for that 30 minutes and burn 600 calories and 30% of them are fat, then you've burned 180 calories from fat. So, my point is that you shouldn't worry about the fact that is says only a small % from fat. You're doing fine as long as you are doing as much as you can comfortably do from exercise.

Thanks for the reply. I have heard these things before. I clearly don't want to tear down muscle, but where are the carbs stored that would be utilized at higher intensity activity. Also, is it safe to assume that throughout the day after exercise, that more fat would be burned as consumed carbs are being replenished for future use. I'm just curious how it all works so that I can do the most productive and beneficial exercise possible.

Thanks!

amerrill1 · December 2011

Just got an FT60 myself and by what I hear quite a few wash it in the dishwasher. Which is probably what i will do. I Wash my baseball hats that way. Only 10% of my calories burned was from fat at last nights workout. but I spent 85% in zone 3, 12% in zone 2, and 3% in zone 1........

I found this break down of Training Zones.....

TRAINING ZONES

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

Thanks for responding. Do you know which of these fall into the 3 zones used in the FT60?

mariabee · December 2011

Bump!

This is very educational...

Azdak · December 2011

I got a Polar HT60 HRM for Christmas and had a couple questions for anyone that might have the answers.

First, the manual says to periodically machine wash the strap (no longer than every 5 uses). Use a wash bag and do not spin dry. This seems like a big hassle since we don't go any laundry without using the spin cycle. I was wondering how most people actually cared for their HRM.

Second, I have used it a couple of time and both time it has said that only 16-17% of my calories burned came from fat. Mine breaks down into 3 zones and I would say 30% of my exercise was is zone1, 60% in zone 2, and 10% in zone 3. This seems low. Is this standard. If 85% of calories aren't coming from fat, where are they coming from?

Thanks in advance! I hope every one had a wonderful holiday!

Ignore the "Fat %" part. It means absolutely nothing.

Azdak · December 2011

Just got an FT60 myself and by what I hear quite a few wash it in the dishwasher. Which is probably what i will do. I Wash my baseball hats that way. Only 10% of my calories burned was from fat at last nights workout. but I spent 85% in zone 3, 12% in zone 2, and 3% in zone 1........

I found this break down of Training Zones.....

TRAINING ZONES

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

Thanks for responding. Do you know which of these fall into the 3 zones used in the FT60?

You can set those zones to be anything you want.

IMO, while there is nothing wrong with the first post describing "5 Zones", that's really more detail than is necessary. Three is more than sufficient for the average exerciser--easy, medium, hard.

Rather than trying to get the "zones" perfect, right out of the box, I would just wear it a few days while you do some different workouts and see what happens. Learn to associate certain HR numbers with feelings of perceived exertion. Then when you have an idea of what constitutes "easy", "medium", and "hard", you can set up those zones so that they work better for you.

Ignore anything you read about "fat burning" -- the fuel substrate you use during exercise --fat, carbs, or even protein -- has NO effect on changes in body fat. Polar is still pushing the 'fat burning" idea because they have a substantial financial stake in perpetuating that myth, but you don't have to play their game. Enjoy the other features of your FT60 (I have one myself).

Quite frankly, it's more important right now that you get a sense of your TRUE max heart rate (not the one assumed by the HRM), and figure out your HR responses as described above than it is to worry about where your exercise fuel is coming from.

dad106 · December 2011

By spin dry, they mean in a dryer.. not the washing. Obviously the washing machine is going to spin.. otherwise how does it get clean?

Just machine wash(with detergent only! NO fabric softener) and line dry

TrainingWithTonya · December 2011

I just finished my coursework for my bachelors in exercise physiology and we used heart rate monitors on our athletes. We have about a dozen of them in the lab. We sanitize them after every use because of the fact that multiple athletes use them. But it is a hand wash in the sanitizer, no machine.

As for the zones, it's estimating the percent of calories burned from fat stores based on the intensity of the exercise as shown by your heart rate. You are always burning both fat and carbs, but the % depends on the intensity of the exercise. At higher intensity, your burn mostly carbs and at lower intensity you burn mostly fat. When you work at a moderate intensity, you use about 50% each. That is all subject to having adequate carbs on board to burn. If you don't consume enough carbs, then the body will break down muscle for the protein to make the precursors to fat burning. But that's going more in detail then I'm sure you wanted. Anyway, when you work at a lower intensity, you burn a higher percentage of the total calories burned from fat but you burn fewer calories then when you workout at a higher intensity. When you workout at a higher intensity, you burn a smaller % from fat, but because you burn so many more overall calories it is possible to actually burn more fat calories (not %) overall because a smaller percent of a larger number can be larger then a big percent of a small number. For example, if you walk for 30 minutes and burn 200 calories and 70% of them are fat, then you've burned 140 calories from fat. But if you run for that 30 minutes and burn 600 calories and 30% of them are fat, then you've burned 180 calories from fat. So, my point is that you shouldn't worry about the fact that is says only a small % from fat. You're doing fine as long as you are doing as much as you can comfortably do from exercise.

Thanks for the reply. I have heard these things before. I clearly don't want to tear down muscle, but where are the carbs stored that would be utilized at higher intensity activity. Also, is it safe to assume that throughout the day after exercise, that more fat would be burned as consumed carbs are being replenished for future use. I'm just curious how it all works so that I can do the most productive and beneficial exercise possible.

Thanks!

The carbs are stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. But when glycogen is stored, it is stored in 3x as much water, so if you store 1 gram of glycogen, then you also store 3 grams of water. Most people have a standard set point of how much glycogen they store and doing resistance training (specifically hypertrophy training in the 8-12 reps range) will cause an increase in the ability of the muscles to store glycogen so that you have that glycogen available for use during activity later.

And yes, at rest, you burn primarily fat. You may hear people talking about EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption), which is the afterburn if you will of the exercise you've done. Some studies have shown that resistance training increases the overall metabolic rate from this EPOC effect for up to 36 hours. So, while you burn primarily carbs while doing the training, the afterburn is primarily fat. That's how the people who do so much weight training and very little cardio are losing body fat. And if you do resistance training daily, you're hardly ever out of that EPOC time so you increase your overall metabolic rate. You haven't really increased the BMR, but you have increased calorie burn because of the body using more oxygen after the exercise to replenish the glycogen stores and do the chemical processes to repair the cellular damage to the muscle tissue, etc. If you stop all that exercise you don't slow your metabolic rate either. You just don't have the extra oxygen usage from the activity.

amerrill1 · December 2011

Just got an FT60 myself and by what I hear quite a few wash it in the dishwasher. Which is probably what i will do. I Wash my baseball hats that way. Only 10% of my calories burned was from fat at last nights workout. but I spent 85% in zone 3, 12% in zone 2, and 3% in zone 1........

I found this break down of Training Zones.....

TRAINING ZONES

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

Thanks for responding. Do you know which of these fall into the 3 zones used in the FT60?

You can set those zones to be anything you want.

IMO, while there is nothing wrong with the first post describing "5 Zones", that's really more detail than is necessary. Three is more than sufficient for the average exerciser--easy, medium, hard.

Rather than trying to get the "zones" perfect, right out of the box, I would just wear it a few days while you do some different workouts and see what happens. Learn to associate certain HR numbers with feelings of perceived exertion. Then when you have an idea of what constitutes "easy", "medium", and "hard", you can set up those zones so that they work better for you.

Ignore anything you read about "fat burning" -- the fuel substrate you use during exercise --fat, carbs, or even protein -- has NO effect on changes in body fat. Polar is still pushing the 'fat burning" idea because they have a substantial financial stake in perpetuating that myth, but you don't have to play their game. Enjoy the other features of your FT60 (I have one myself).

Quite frankly, it's more important right now that you get a sense of your TRUE max heart rate (not the one assumed by the HRM), and figure out your HR responses as described above than it is to worry about where your exercise fuel is coming from.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I read your blog a month or so ago and found it very useful and it set the direction for my search. In fact, it is the reason I selected the FT60. What you say about max heart rate makes logical sense. Over the days and weeks to come I will focus on this area and see how close I think it is. From recollection...I have been on a few mountainbike rides with my boys where I was probably at my max after reaching the top and it was in the same ballpark as what the FT60 shows...but that was with a different HRM which could have been wrong.

Thanks again

HRM questions

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