Best Heart Rate Monitor – Should You Use a Heart Rate Monitor?
There are many different approaches to exercising. Some people just leap out of bed in the morning, inspired and motivated to his the open road, and race off down the street without a thought as to where they’re going, how far they wish to run, and how this run fits into their long term exercise plan. Other people have figured out their VO2max and designed a workout schedule that figures in progressive overloading of their system along with keeping an exact count of calories eaten and any other measurable statistic. Where should you be, and how does a heart rate monitor fit into this sliding scale between complete spontaneity and planned madness? I think you should, as with most things, place yourself somewhere in the middle, and for that very reason alone a heart rate monitor can be of excellent use.
A heart rate monitor quite simply monitors the rate of your heart and provides you with feedback. Some simply tell you your beats/minute, while others track so much information you could keep a science lab busy for a year with each workout. Although not always 100% exact, they can provide you with an excellent sense of your health over a period of time as you track your gains and compare your progress to where you were when you started.
So what are the benefits of tracking your heart rate? The first is being able to gauge whether or not you are exerting yourself too much or too little. Say you’re out jogging: if your heart rate starts to spiral up, you will know that you need to slow down, whereas if it is consistently low you will know you’ve got more to give. It sounds deceptively simple, but given how many people injure themselves, burn out or get frustrated with workouts, that’s a huge deal.
Secondly, it can help you gauge if you are working out aerobically or anaerobically. If you are working out at over 85% of your maximum heart rate you are in the anaerobic zone, and your body will be unable to get enough oxygen to derive energy from fat and instead breaks down carbs. This is also where you generate lactic acid, and as a result many people seek to avoid entering this zone. However! The anaerobic has great fat burning potential in that your body will proceed after your exercise to break down fat for hours upon hours, and often exceeding the benefits of traditional aerobic exercise for a shorter duration of workout.
According to the American Medical Association you can figure out your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) by deducting your age from 220. Of course you never want to get your heart rate up that high unless you’re a professional Olympic athlete, but from that figure you can generate a good idea of what is happening to your body when you hit certain thresholds. Traditionally, those different zones are:
Healthy Heart Zone (Warm Up) – 50-60% of MHR. Easiest zone for most people, and where you should be most comfortable.
Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) – 60-70% MHR. Provides the same benefits as the Healthy Heart Zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories.
Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) – 70-80% MHR. This is the zone most people get into when working out for long periods of time like running or swimming. In this zone you will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system and increase the size of your heart.
Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) – 80-90% MHR. Here is where you improve your VO2 max, and thus rocket up your cardio respiratory system, as well as develop a higher threshold for lactate acid.
Red Line (Max Effort) 90-100% MHR: Burns the most calories, but is the most intense. Most people can only stay here for very short periods of time.
Having a heart rate monitor can help you decide where you wish to be, and how you can acquire the gains you want given your goals. Is it a good move to get one, then? Sure! Especially if you are looking to maximize results and exercise at maximum efficiency.
Philip Tucker is a Fitness Product Review specialist for Miami based Extreme Fitness Results LLC. He enjoys keeping track of his heart rate while doing the INSANITY workout and the PX90 Workout with Tony Horton.
Aerobic Exercise Routines: How To Burn Fat With Aerobic Exercise
More and more people finally understand that the only way to lose fat quickly and permanently is with regular exercise and proper diet. There are no magic pills or supplements that melt away body fat. Health does not come in a pill.
But anyway, in this article I will tell you more about aerobic exercise and what type of aerobic exercises are the most effective. People are all different and what works for some does not work for others, so that is why everyone has to know the basics, so they can create an workout program that suits them the best.
How to choose the correct Aerobic exercise routine
Low intensity workouts are very popular and most personal trainers and fitness experts are pushing it. The reason why low intensity workouts are so effective is that the body uses your fat for fuel not carbohydrates. That the so called fat burning zone is between 60-65% of your max heart rate. Your max heart rate is 220 minus your age. So choose a machine where you can observe your heart rate. But your workout has to last some 30 minutes or more to have any serious effect.
How to lose fat quickly and permanently with high intensity aerobic workout
This is a less popular approach because you really have to push yourself and the intensity of the workout is very high. The great thing about this approach is that you burn a lot more calories than with low intensity workouts. But not all the calories are from fat, some of them are from carbohydrates, so it is not a very effective way to burn fat. It is also very hard to maintain a very intensive workout, that is also why it is not very effective
Combine the two approaches for the best aerobic exercise routine
The best option is to take the best parts of both workouts and combine them to make a workout that suits you best. In the end of the day what matters is how many calories you burn. Calories in versus calories. It is not that important for beginner, if the calories you burn come from fat or carbohydrates. This becomes more important after you get into better shape and so on.
A low intensity workout works very well on paper but if you do not burn enough calories then you will not lose fat fast. And if your hi
1000
gh intensity workout is not long enough, then you also do not burn enough calories. You can test many options and find out which one works better for you.
By: Rando Meresmaa
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How do I improve heart rate for half marathon training?
I am beginning training for my first half marathon. The longest I've ever run before is 6.2 miles and I've never run longer than an hour at a clip.
I borrowed a friend's heart rate monitor and find that while running 3 miles, my heart rate averages about 165 and peaks at around 172-175 on hills, etc.
I am 37 years old and have a resting heart rate (when I wake up) of 55 or so. All the generic heart rate zones say I should be training between 138 – 154 for my aerobic zone and 154 – 170 for anaerobic zone.
What can I do to improve my conditioning so I'm able to run at a decent pace but stay in my aerobic zone during long runs? Obviously I can't run 2+ hours in my anaerobic zone.
Thanks for your feedback!
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