Someone please explain

No one, Ame. I just thought it was about the right level for me, because I don't consider myself to be an athlete and I'm not training for anything, and, frankly, my exercising is pretty much just catch-as-catch-can. If you tell me otherwise, I'll go with whatever you say.
-Nancy
 
Nance, I don't have a specific number for you. 80% is a great maintenance number, but keep in mind that there is no such thing as 100% of your maximum heart rate... if you're at that number, and your heart lets you go above it... then you've set a new maximum! I would just go with what feels good for you, as you are doing. Spending some time at 85 or even 95% can get you something, too. If you were to do an interval workout like Imax, a range of 85% for the blasts and 75% for the recoveries would work out well, too.

The more fit you become, the lower your RHR will be. The older you get, the lower your max will be. It sounds like you keep an eye on both! I was simply curious because it seemed from your earlier posts in this thread that 80, and only 80, was where you wanted to be. I simply wanted to let you know that little variety is just fine!
 
Thanks Ame! Much appreciated. I think I am hitting 85-90% from time to time, and it actually feels pretty good. Glad to know that an expert like you thinks it's okay! ;) :7
-Nancy
 
Nancy,

I know I've done a really good job, when I can take my headband off and wring it out. Now that's a workout!

Janie

"If you can't say anything nice about someone, then don't say anything at all."
-My mother, Mary Cooper-
 
Not with cutting pie, lol, but it does help me figure out how many calories I have to eat to keep my body fueled :) I tend to eat too few, so I have to know to eat more so I don't throw my body into starvation mode. I take my calories burned over a week and average it out. I don't eat more the days I do cardio and less the days I lift weights. I'm also a numbers geek, so I track calories burned and other stats. Just my two cents :)

Carol
 
Thanks for the explanation, Nancy. I knew I needed my resting heart rate but I keep forgetting to take it first thing in the morning. I keep thinking it would be easier if I slept with my HRM on and just checked it before I get out of bed. :p



"Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Satchel Paige
 
I do Weight Watchers and for every 100 calories burned I can add another point for food, so that's why I watch the calorie count on my heart rate monitor. Sometimes I need as many food points as I can get!

Amy
 
I look at it much the same as Deana. The calorie count is more of a summary of the intensity of the workout, and not at all an indication of what I'm going to eat that day! I'm usually too busy trying to keep up with Cathe to keep tabs on where I am in my heart rate range. Besides I can't read the darn thing without my reading glasses on LOL. So because of my lack of eyesight during the workout, using calorie burn is my lazy way of determining how hard I worked. Luckily when I use it outside for running I can read it better.

Since I record my calorie burn each cardio session (and yes I'm a numbers geek too), I can also see when my body starts adapting to a particular workout. IMAX2 is a good example. It was my only interval tape for a long while so I overused it. After doing it once or twice a week for a period of time the calorie burn eventually whittled down to about 280 per session. I had to put it away for a while. I overloved Cardio Hits much the same way so they got retired from my regular rotation for a while too.
 
I don't trust any mechanical gadget that is supposed to give a calories burned read out. I just go by the sweat factor and time worked out. I like to do minimum of 45 minutes, and most of the time 60 minutes. Everyone is so different, I don't see how the calories burned gadgets can be accurate. K.I.S.S. - my theme.

"You can't win them all - but you can try." - Babe Zaharias http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/musik/music-smiley-004.gif[/img]
 
Nancy,
I don't own an HRM, but I'm interested in how many calories I burn vs. how many I take in. I imagine that's why most people keep track.

Cathy :)
 
I am just looking for the best, most efficient workouts in the 45 minutes or so I have each morning. Anyone else out there who is struggling as they get older just to maintain may be able to sympathize. I see the scale moving up and I think about how hard I work in relation to everyone else I know and I get discouraged. Forgive me but I am just trying to get some information to try to keep things going in the right direction. I didn't think it was a cause for such deep discussion.
http://www.picturetrail.com/luckeelaydee

Paula
 
Nancy--nope, never used one. Like Janie, I gauge my workout by how large the puddle on the floor is. :p

I'm kind of a minimalist when it comes to exercise. The more I can do with the least amount of equipment the happier I am. :)
 
I would assume that calorie estimates on heart monitors would be far from accurate, though they would be alright for judging the relative intensity of workouts compared to each other.

I don' t use a HR monitor (they don' t work for me, anyway, because I have something called" Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome" that causes extra heart beas once in a while.
 
Paula,
Please don't think this thread was directed at you. Your post just reminded me of a question I had been wanting to ask for some time. I think that many of us sympathize with your situation, and we all struggle with the same issues.
-Nancy
 
Hi Nancy,

It is really interesting to observe how many different ways there are for monitoring one's exercise.

I am entering as one who goes only by feeling. If I feel good, I push harder, seeking higher intensity moves, but if I am feeling not so great I tend to wus out and seek the lower intensity moves. If I went by how much I sweat--I would consider myself an NBA basketball player, which clearly I am not, but I sweat like one. I've tried a heart rate monitor, and it's okay for awhile, but I think it increases my workout awareness too much and soon I am slowing down when maybe I could have gone longer or harder (hope that makes sense). As for calories, I wish I was more disciplined to keep a log at least it would provide a good estimate of input vs. output, but I would rather read the message boards than keep track.

Kelly
 
It was interesting, and surprising, to me to hear about the various ways that people exercise. I don't have a lot of time for cardio, so I strive to maximize the benefits to my heart and lungs during my sessions. I guess I'm a control freak, because I can't imagine not being "sure" that every minute "counts" and that my heart rate is not too low or too high. I guess if I were doing cardio more often, like so many of you here, I would be more flexible, and have some lower intensity days.

Thanks for the responses!
-Nancy
 
"How does looking at the calorie count on your HRM motivate you? I just don't get it. Can someone explain? Thanks!"

**Motivation** is an interesting thing and definately varies from person to person. When it comes to **motivation** to exercise, that statement still hold true but is not as common, we know this because most of our society does not workout on a regular enough basis for it to have a positive affect on their health and fitness. If they did maintain a program then our society would not be so over weight and obese. For those who do maintain a healthy program, **something** is motivating them...usually it's more than one thing and that list is different for all of us. For me, what gets me going may change from day to day. I think the only thing that matters is that there is something out there that excites a person enough to want to get moving! If a person gets a tickle from looking down at his/her HRM to see that KickMax fried off 400 calories...GREAT!! Most likely he/she will come back for more. I don't think it matters so much "why" that excites the person...just so something does.

I think it is fantastic that Paula is making every effort to put everything she's got into her 45 minutes! Who wouldn't want to make the most of their time.(((Paula, YOU ROCK)))

I do use a HRM and I do keep track of all the numbers and compare them to workouts earlier in the year, especially max HR and average HR. I do this for entertainment purposes and view the calories burned as a fancy feature, can't really say that number motivates me. However, I firmly believe that just because someone does something different than the way I do it, doesn't mean it's wrong.
 
A neighbor actually offered to lend me one of his extra HRM when he saw me out jogging a couple of weeks ago.
I think that I will take him up on it just out of curiosity more than anything. I was thinking that it would have been interesting last night when I was doing Imax2 (I have only been able to intervals 1-5 so far) then moved on to Step Blast (combos 1-3).

Like Nancy, the whole keeping track of maximum HR and calories burned, etc. doesn't make sense to me, but then I have never 'gotten' that stuff to begin with. I am just very proud of myself for getting my fat arse out there and sweating!!!
 
I love my HRM and I love the fact that it calculates my calorie burn. I keep track of my calories burned every day. It actually does help keep me motivated. I might say that I want to burn 800 calories for that particular day and if one workout hasn't done that then I will work out longer to reach it. I find that since I've had my HRM I work harder and longer to give myself the mental satisfaction that I've burned a certain number of calories for that day. I'm not obsessive about it or anything, but I enjoy the challenge of seeing how many calories I can burn from one workout to the next.

Katie
 
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