Heart Rate

[slenamond]

Hi Cathe,

I recently bought a heart rate monitor. I see on the chart what mine should be to burn fat.
I am 31 years old and it says between 133 and 162.
Here's the questions:
Are these monitors reliable?

If I stay in this zone for 30-45 minutes 4-5 times per week should that be enough cardio to help (I know clean eating too) lose weight?

How long in this zone to help maintain a current weight?

Thanks in advance,
Sharon

 

[pnx1]

Mine is a Polar A5 HRM. It just shows the total calories burned. Since I got this "toy", I always record all the info. But I wonder why sometimes I got a higher TOTAL CALORIES BURNED on non-stop mid intensity step workout.


IMax/Step Heaven/Circuit Max

kcal 528/593/581

ave hr 128/121/129

in zone
(75%-85%) 11.34/0/6.51 minutes

exe time 60/60/65.2 minutes


Why is it that I got the highest calories burned in Step Heaven though I didn't even reach my ZONE? Can somebody please explain?

 

[Aquajock]

Hi, Sharon! Obviously I'm not Cathe, but . . .

I don't own a heart rate monitor myself, but I believe the charts they supply with these monitors do not account for individual cardiovascular fitness differences among consumers; I'll guess that all these charts are based strictly on age-adjusted training zones. That might not be accurate for you, because you might be more fit than other consumers; thus you might need to shoot for a higher rate (presuming it's a strong pulse with plenty of circulatory blood going into each pump) in order to maintain or improve cardiovascular fitness.

My suggestion is to calculate your target heart rate yourself, based on the following Karvonen formula, and then use your heart rate monitor to tell you where you're at. To do this you will need to determine your strict resting heart rate, by taking a full one-minute pulse check immediately after waking up in the morning and before getting out of bed; for the most accurate reading, take three separate one-minute resting heart rates on three consecutive mornings, and average that number.

KARVONEN FORMULA:

Take the number 220
Subtract your age (31)

Take that difference: 189
Subtract your resting heart rate (for example, 55)

Take that difference: 134
Multiply by 70%: 93.80
ADD your resting heart rate (55) (again, example only)

EQUALS: 148.80 (beats per minute)
This is the lower end of your training zone

Now:

Take the difference 134
Multiply by 85%: 113.90
ADD your resting heart rate (55) (again, example only)

EQUALS: 168.90
This is the higher end of your training zone

Hope this helps . . .

Annette


Subtract your age (31

 

[trevor]

Aquajock is right on the money here.....the Karvonen is the best I have seen for the reasons she explained.
It calculates the targets by taking away any contribution from your resting heart rate to the desired target.
Trevor

 

[slenamond]

Thanks for the responses, I will calculate it from that. Now what about if I am doing enough to help lose or maintain?