Why Do I Love My HR Monitor

OK - So this part of my blog is going to be all about the HR monitor, i love so dearly, a special little dedication if you will - I have noticed a lot of people are interested in these you beaut little gadgets, but if your like me find all the talk about zones and thresh holds and whatnot all very confusing - well never fear! I was lucky enough to have access to a wonderful personal trainer via email who has shed a whole heap of light on things and help me understand a lot more about my body, calories, zones, heart rate targets - you name it, he answered it. His name is Daniel and he has kindly given me permission to use the information i received in this little blog - So with his words and mine , This is why I love my Polar HR Monitor!

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(Oh right, yeah these are all mine - more to his later... )I love doing a workout and then pressing little buttons and having all the information right there, It tells me how long i worked out for, how many calories i burnt, my max Heart rate, my average heart rate, how long i was in the " Zone" ( More about that later)

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I love that it holds onto these little stats and if your have access to the Internet can then send them via sonic link to your PC and see a spreadsheet style of your training - Very good for those losing weight as you can look back at weeks you had good results to see the exercise you put in that week.. and for the bad ones, see what you didn't do this week, that maybe you did last week.

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I love that's its super easy to use! I'm not the smartest tool in the shed when it comes to gadgets and things that beep and you have to set them etc , but this little one - Is just too easy----------

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I love that it can help improve your fitness and more importantly let you see that you are.. You can track your fitness and how much your improving, improved fitness results in a lower resting heart rate ( nice to know your not pushing your heart just doing the dishes!)

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I love that it cant lie - and wont lie - and that means I cant lie to myself - Ya know when your out walking and you slow down, admire some tree's , check out that guy that just ran past, laa de daa BEEP - Oh i have slowed down, time to step it up! It keeps you accountable to yourself, no more slack half hearted workouts - cause the HR Monitor, pays no sympathy - You don't get out what you wont put in - Want good stats, want to burn fat, want to improve fitness - Step it up girlie.

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I love that its helping me lose weight!

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Now, that's a few of the reasons why i love it... But these are some other things about my HR monitor ... Yes, there's more...

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I have the Polar F6 - A pretty pink one, they come in all sorts of colors! ( Bonus)Some HR monitors have tacky chest straps that are uncomfortable and hard to wear, the polar ones are made from a soft fabric, that sits nicely doesn't rub and wont hurt you - I have left mine on for long periods and completely forgotten about it!

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Polar also has a little tricky thing called the OwnZone, This feature guides you through an appropriate warm-up routine and automatically determines a safe and effective exercise heart rate zone--your OwnZone--while taking into account your current physical condition.

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The Polar heart rate Monitors are compatible with a wide range of brands of cardio equipment. So as long as you have your chest strap transmitter on, you’ll get a readout on the screen of the treadmill/bike, whatever machine your on! Good if your running fast and cant stop swingin them arms to read your watch!

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The F6 also has these little bullets - For every ten Min's your spend in " your target zone" - you get a little bullet on your watch - easy to keep track of how long you have been working out.. How cool is this watch??

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I shall add more later about the zones and stuff!

Your Max HR and Training Zones

OK - so now we know all about the monitor, time to learn all about the zones!!
( as supplied to me from Daniel - fully qualified and registered personal trainer! )

First of all - You need to know your MAXIMUM HEART RATE , a common method of estimating this is by subtracting your age from 220 - I am 28, so my MHR is 192... Now that we know this we can move onto the Zones.....

Training Zones

Training zones are an essential part of any training program . Training without a target heart rate zone is like a guessing game. Yes you will still receive benefit from the session but will you know if you have achieved what you set out to do ? The majority of people who train using a HRM are doing so with an end goal in mind - be it, to improve aerobic fitness, train for a marathon or to shed that extra weight. If we know how hard to work to achieve maximum results within each session , our goals will be realised much sooner than by just going through the motions . There are 4 heart rate zones ---

• 1. ENERGY EFFICIENT/RECOVERY ZONE (60 - 70% MHR)

Training in this zone develops basic endurance and aerobic capacity . It improves the ability of your heart to pump blood and improve the muscles ability to utilize oxygen . The body becomes more efficient at feeding the working muscles, and learns to metabolise fat as a source of fuel.

• 2. AEROBIC ZONE ( 70-80 % MHR)

Training in this zone will develop your cardiovascular system. The body's ability to transport oxygen to, and carbon dioxide away from, the working muscles can be developed and improved

• 3. ANAEROBIC ZONE ( 80 - 90% MHR)

Training in this zone will develop your lactic acid system. During these heart rates the amount of fat being utilised as the main source of energy is greatly reduced and glycogen stored in the muscles is predominantly used. One of the by-products of burning this glycogen is lactic acid. There is a point in which the body can no longer remove the lactic acid from its working muscles quickly enough. This is your anaerobic threshold . Through correct training, it is possible to delay the anaerobic threshold by being able to increase your ability to deal with the lactic acid for a longer period of time, or by pushing the anaerobic threshold higher.

• 4. RED LINE ZONE ( 90-100 % MHR)

You should only train in this zone if you are very fit, and only for very short periods of time. Lactic acid develops quickly as you are operating in oxygen debt to your muscles. The value of training in this zone is so you can increase your fast twitch muscle fibres which increase speed.

So what does this mean for you?

Now that you know your MHR and have some knowledge of the zones, it is time to work out your personal heart rate zone you will need to be to achieve your goals. Lets say you are 30 years old and would like to increase your aerobic fitness for a triathlon. The Target zone for this goal will be the aerobic zone (2) This zone is defined as 70-80% of your MHR. A 30 yr old will have a MHR of 190bpm ( beats per minute) to work out the aerobic zone for this person, we would calculate 70% and 80% of 190 -

190 x 0.7 = 133bpm ( lower end aerobic zone )

190 x 0.8 = 152bpm ( upper end aerobic zone )

So, this person would need to be working between 133 and 152 bpm.

So are you completely confused yet? I was... I had no idea.. But After a few emails to Daniel i had it all worked out. Will share those in a moment -- But first...

THE MYTH OF THE FAT BURNING ZONE

For a lot of people the primary motivation behind beginning an exercise program is to lose weight, you may have heard the claim that you should work at lower intensities to burn fat. This idea is based on a misunderstanding of the science. It is true that when you exercise at a lower intensity your body is able to draw more of the energy directly from fat. But it is not correct to conclude that exercising at this lower intensity will result in your having lower overall body fat. There are 2 reasons why the claim about a fat burning zone is wrong.

1. First, it does not matter where the fuel comes from while you are exercising, in the end ( ie, later in the day ) your body will replenish and re balance your energy stores. So a calorie surplus will always end up increasing your body fat, and a calorie deficit will always end up reducing your body fat. The source of fuel while you are exercising is irrelevant.
2. Second, what matters is the total amount of calories you burn, not the proportion that come from fat. If you exercise at lower intensity, a higher proportion may come from body fat, but this may be a smaller absolute number of calories.

In other words , the fat burning zone is a myth caused by not understanding the science.

So how does one go about losing weight? The answer is to consume fewer calories than you burn. The extra calories you burn will be taken from body fat. You can reduce your weight either by reducing your calorie intake ( smaller portions etc) or by increasing your calorie requirement ( by exercising more) or both =)

Still confused?? So was I - The following post will be my questions to Daniel and his answers! Thanks so much to him for providing the information supplied above - Thanks Daniel!