Question about being "in zone" on my HRM

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katieeweiss
katieeweiss Posts: 185 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does a HRM tell you you're not burning as many calories when you're higher than your target zone? It tells me I burn more when I'm walking (staying in zone) rather then when I'm alternating walking and jogging (going back and forth between in zone and above the zone.)

Does your calorie burn really drop off if your HR gets too high?

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  • katieeweiss
    katieeweiss Posts: 185 Member
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    Bump?
  • Kandygirl
    Kandygirl Posts: 249 Member
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    im wondering the same thing. hopefully someone will have an answer.
  • hnsmith89
    hnsmith89 Posts: 14 Member
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    your heart rate shouldn't really get TOO high, but you don't want to stay in your max heart rate zone for more than a minute, but you don't want your heart rate to be too low either because it won't improve your endurance. My trainers always say intervals are the best to build endurance and heart strength.
  • kiminikimkim
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
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    My heart rate monitor has 3 zones:

    60% of my Target Heart rate (Weight control, zone 1)
    70% of my Target Heart rate (Aerobic Cardio, Zone 2)
    80% of my Target heart rate (Anaerobic, Zone 3)
    90% of my Target Heart Rate (V02 Max, above zone 3)

    We burn the most calories when our heart rate reaches the 80% to 90%. To maintain weight, then the 60% and 70% is fine.
    I make sure my heart rate is between 150 beats per minute and up during my workouts.

    My highest recorded heart beat was 199.
    I have a resting heart beat of 46.

    Find your target heart rate zones on this chart for your age group: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Exercise_zones.png
  • hnsmith89
    hnsmith89 Posts: 14 Member
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    I just realized I didnt really answer your question HA...but I can explain through example...sometimes when I want to burn more calories with least amount of impact, I walk 4.8mph on the treadmill at an incline of 15%. I can walk 1mi and burn nearly 70 calories more than running at a 6.8mph pace for a mile. So basically, if I want to burn calories quick I up my resistance where my HR increases quite a bit, I go hard, but it is a lot of impact. If you're wanting lower impact but still a high amount of calories you can still succeed at that with a lower HR and lower amount of impact, it will just take a longer amount of time....If that makes any sense??... Over all, intervals are best bc one, it doesnt keep your heart working really hard for too long(less stress), and 2 when your heart gets a little time to rest in between exersions it burns more calories getting back up to a higher HR. depending on what machine you're doing and how much difference there is between the speed and resistance of your incriments should determine the amount of calories you're burning. So maybe try 30 sec sprints. So maybe 2 min of jogging 5.4mph then increace to 7mph for 30 secs and try like 10 sets of each...I hope that wasn't too all over the place!
  • Roni_M
    Roni_M Posts: 717 Member
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    That's odd... mine is the opposite. The higher my heart rate the more calories i burn. Generally it's above 150 for the bulk of my workout. I never stay in "the zone" because i hardly burn anything there!
  • MrsLVF
    MrsLVF Posts: 787 Member
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    You are burning calories, but some hrm only calculate burn when you're in the zone. YOu can always up your zone, that is if it's an option on tour monitor.


    Mine has my zone(polar FT4, but i burn more at the high end of the zone and even more above the zone.

    It also counts calorie burn below the zone too which is like next to nothing..
  • erby2283
    erby2283 Posts: 13
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    I just got my Polar F4 on Fri and I worked out on Sat, only 19 or my 47 minutes was "in the zone". For me, it says my zone is 119-156. I am CONSISTENTLY at 160 or higher. So I am with you, don't know whether to slow it down or just keep going at my current pace.
  • katieeweiss
    katieeweiss Posts: 185 Member
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    Thank you all. :) I think I'll see if my HRM will let me up the zone a bit. The problem is that when I'm doing intervals - and they're *not* too difficult for me because I'm only alternating 30 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking - I'm usually above my "zone" and therefore I don't think it's telling me how many calories I am *really* burning BECAUSE when I walk and only walk (no intervals) and stay in the "zone" the entire time it's saying I burned waaaay more calories.

    I hope I'm not being confusing haha. Thanks again...
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
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    I have a Polar FT4 and shut off the heart rate zone beeper. My max heart rate is 175 and I try to work out between 155-169 for the most calories burned in the shortest period of time. Occasionally I will hit 175 but not too often. The fat burning zone, from what i've read, is a myth and you should just go all out. I definitely burn more calories at a higher heart rate zone. You will also see that over time your heart becomes more efficient and it takes more effort to get your heart rate high. If that's the case, increase the incline on the treadmill and don't hold onto the machine. Holding on drops my heart rate rapidly or in my case I increase the intensity on the stairmaster.

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