*BiGBonES** November 22, 2005 Share *BiGBonES** Member November 22, 2005 (edited) Do we have anyone in here using a heart rate monitor when they workout? For those of you who are unfamiliar with what they do: The heart rate monitor will tell you when you are working at a 'training' level between 60% and 80% of your maximum heart rate. To work out your maximum heart rate you subtract your age from 220. (my maximum heart rate is 220-18 = 202 beats per minutes). If your heart rate goes under or over the 60% and 80% limits respectively, then the device will start beeping to let you know. I'm considering getting one to help me whilst doing long distance running. Has anyone else purchased one of these and do they use it? My list of pro's and con's so far: -It obvously tells you when your not working hard enough -It can help you pace yourself -It will let you know what part of your body can't hack the exercise. If the heart rate is low and your tired then the cardio is fine but something else is wrong. -It will help you realise when your previous workout has become too easy, so you can move on and do harder workouts -Its a very accurate way to measure fitness -It makes you look l337 But, -It costs money -It may give you a false sense of how well you are training -Them beeps could get bloody annoying especially at the end of a workout when you pick up the pace and burn out for the last few minutes -If I run say 1000m quickly, how will the heart rate monitor know I don't want to run 5000m at a slower pace? Will the 60%-80% training zone be able to counter the different intensities of training? Feel free to discuss please. Edited November 22, 2005 by *BiGBonES** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatty November 23, 2005 Share Fatty GC Founder November 23, 2005 Personally having one wouldn't make me work any harder. I get on the mill with a specific goal in mind each time. The sweat I wipe out of my eyes tells me if I'm working hard or not. I also can grab the handles on my treadmill and it'll tell me my heartbeat. Slight hijack on a related topic that I was about to post about: what's a good resting heart rate? I walked into Sam's today and sat down on one of those machines and my heartrate (well, not really at rest, I was walking around the store) was at 54. For some reason, the number 60 was in my head as a decent casual heartrate. I'll do a search and probably find the answer, but I thought it was worth the discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatty November 23, 2005 Share Fatty GC Founder November 23, 2005 What is resting heart rate? This is a person's heart rate at rest. The best time to find out your resting heart rate is in the morning, after a good night's sleep, and before you get out of bed. The heart beats about 60 to 80 times a minute when we're at rest. Resting heart rate usually rises with age, and it's generally lower in physically fit people. Resting heart rate is used to determine one's training target heart rate. Athletes sometimes measure their resting heart rate as one way to find out if they're overtrained. The heart rate adapts to changes in the body's need for oxygen, such as during exercise or sleep. I must be getting physically fit. However, aren't whales big and fat and have a heartrate of like 2 or 3 / min? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*BiGBonES** November 23, 2005 Author Share *BiGBonES** Member November 23, 2005 Well, if you compare yourself to a whale then good luck From my ancient sports education 54 is a really good and healthy heart rate. What I would like to know is what it was like before you took up your current workout plan. It would be interesting to see how much it has changed over the last couple of months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatty November 25, 2005 Share Fatty GC Founder November 25, 2005 In the past, I was in the 60's during my giant eagle shopping trips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ich bin ein berliner November 26, 2005 Share ich bin ein berliner Member November 26, 2005 54 is exceptional for resting heart rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatty December 1, 2005 Share Fatty GC Founder December 1, 2005 The heart rate monitor will tell you when you are working at a 'training' level between 60% and 80% of your maximum heart rate. To work out your maximum heart rate you subtract your age from 220. (my maximum heart rate is 220-18 = 202 beats per minutes). If your heart rate goes under or over the 60% and 80% limits respectively, then the device will start beeping to let you know.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> As soon as I finished my first 4 mile run tonight I grabbed the EKG bar on my mill. It told me I was rippin 168 bpm. 220 - 33 = 187 * .80 = 150 Glad my heart didn't explode. I didn't feel like I was overstressing. Now, this is after a 3 mile jog followed by an increasingly heavy last mile (before I crosstrain 2.5 miles to complete my workout) where I hit about 10 miles / hour by the time I'm in my last 1/4 mile......so it makes sense that I'm up close to my maximum heartreat. So if I hit 187...is that bad? Btw, while I was stretching a little before the run my hr was in the upper 60's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*BiGBonES** December 2, 2005 Author Share *BiGBonES** Member December 2, 2005 I don't think its bad that your going over the 80% with the heart rate at the end of exercise. Infact, its good! I know at the end of my workouts I really push up the intensity and probably hit over 90% of the maximum beats per minute. I guess when I'm in the middle of a training session I'm probably between 60%-80% of the maximum bpm, but I can't be too sure as I have never measured. 3 and a half years ago when I got my 1500m personal best, I know I hit my maximum heart rate, and its a feeling where you know you have absolutely nothing left to give. It also feels like your heart is going to burst but I guess thats just a feeling If you want a good measure of your fitness, measure your heart rate straight after exercise and make a mental note of it, then see how long it takes to return to the normal resting heart rate. Keep this up for a month and you should see this time getting quicker and quicker. Try and make a graph or something if you want to be flashy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*BiGBonES** December 7, 2005 Author Share *BiGBonES** Member December 7, 2005 I measured my heart rate when I woke up the other day and it measured at about 56bpm. So well played to super fit fatty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gOOters December 17, 2005 Share gOOters Member December 17, 2005 You can use your fingertips and your watch if you wanna save a buck. I use the grips on the treadmill. If you are trying to train specifically for aerobics vs cardio or vice versa, it is good to know your BPM. Fat, congrats on your low restting HR. All that cardio must have the ol' ticker whipped into shape. Im still working out 3-4 times a week, but I think job stress has my resting HR up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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