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Heh this is really going to sound like some high pressure sales pitch but I have been convinced that this is the key to working out. OK so let me start my shpeel with a set of questions that probably sounds like a 1950s vacuum cleaner salesman:
1) Would you like to know that you the exercise you are doing is optimally burning fat from your body?
2) would you like to work out less rigorously and actually get a better workout?
3) Would you like to work out safer?
4) Would you like to work out longer and feel less drained afterwards?
5) Would you like to work out at the pace that is right for your body?
6) Would you like your workout to automatically be set for your weight and age?
7) Would you like your exercise routine to automatically pace itself with your level of fitness and your new weight?
8 ) Would you like to have advance warning of being overworked out or over heated?
OK ... interested ... well buy my super duper blender / vacuum cleaner ...
Heh but really I have found a remarkable device ( don't worry it is relatively cheap ) that can be used with your favorite workout to do all of the above.
This device is called a heart rate monitor. In short it measures your heart rate. There are different devices that have different functions but the base feature is to measure your heart rate.
So the deal is this. Slow down your exercise program. Yep you are reading this right I was sceptical at first also but now I am totally sold on this idea. I was jogging and doing 5k races. I would go all out and be burnt out after the first mile. I would have times like 7:30 , 10, 10:30
for each mile of my 5k race. I bought this heart rate monitor ( polar A3 ) and I started working out with it. At first it was interesting just to see what my heart rate was at. Then I ran a race and used it to pace myself. But then during some conversations with a tri-athlete, I was reading the numbers wrong. I was getting my heart rate up to 160 + and keeping it there for up to 4 miles and even going closer to my max heart rate at the end of my workout( my max is 184 bpm ). He said that was way too high. I needed to work out at 144 bpms. The reason for this is that at 160 bpms I am in a Anaerobic zone. In this zone my body is burning up carbohydrates and using them at fuel. At 144 I would be in an aerobic zone which means that my body uses its own fat as energy. This is the optimal zone for your body to be in to lose weight. In addition working out in this zone will provide a much greater return from your workout than at the higher heart rates. There are many books on this and many of the worlds great altheletes use this method to work out.
So I went out and figured I would try it out. So I set my heart rate monitor to alert me when my heart rate got below 140 or above 144. Geeze I couldn't slow down enough. I wanted to go out and run but I was now at a slow jog. I was convinced that this couldn't work. How could I get a good workout from going this slow. But I was convinced to keep with it. I started jogging at this heart rate and found out many things about my body. Firstly I could jog at this rate forever ( or it seems ). Today for example I went out and jogged 11 miles at 144 bpms.
Secondly my body seemed to enjoy the workout. Usually I was all beat up after even a 4 mile race. I felt like I was ready to quit.
Thirdly I feel safer. Even when I run in heat my heart lets me know the pace that it can run at. I do not unnecessarily stress out my heart.
On top of all this I have shown great gains in speed, distance and weight loss. I am totally sold on using a heart rate monitor for working out.
And this is in just a few weeks of using it. It is the greatest thing ever. I will keep you posted on my advancements. My next goal is to run a marathon.
Now a few more things. Using a heart rate monitor builds in many things. It builds in your weight. So as you lose weight you will automatically change your exercise program to adapt to your new weight. The way this works is that say at 300 lbs you can walk 2 miles in 40 minutes at 140 bpms as you lose weight and get in better shape you keep your heart rate at 140 bpms but you will find that you will be walking or jogging the same 2 miles at a much faster pace and much shorter time. In fact in the same time you may find that you can do three miles. Or that you can jog the 2 miles. Your heart will let you know what it can do and what it feels comfortable doing.
The best part is that you don't need to go out there and kill yourself and over train ... at 80 % of your max heart rate you will barely be out of breath when you work out. Again regardless of your weight or how in-shape / out of shape you are.
The other good thing about this devise is that you can use it with your favorite exercise routine. Do you like to walk? bike? swim ( yes they are waterproof ) ? dance? rock climb? whatever ... just put it on and it does the rest. It will beep when you are either too high or too low and then you just speed up or slow down what you are doing.
Basically the heart rate monitor comes with two pieces. 1 piece you wear around your ribcage under your chest. The other piece is a watch. These two pieces are not connected. The watch shows you your heart rate and beeps and all of that the other stuff the other piece is just what reads the heart rate and sends a signal to the watch.
There are quite a few different models. From what I heard polar is the best. That is what I got. I was also told to at least get a stop watch on the heart rate monitor because you will probably want one anyway.
So I chose the A3. I think if you wanted to save a few $$$ you could go with the F1 which is the base model this just has the heart rate monitor and time I think.
For you tech addicts some of the higher models offer fascinating features like GPM where it will track how far you ran or biked and at what speed and heart rate you did them at and save these stats to your computer.
Here is what I found on amazon. I provided the links. If you buy one it would be appreciated if you could buy it through one of these links since the board would get like 2.5 - 5% of the purchase. I also included books about how to train with a heart rate monitor at the bottom.
I would love to hear of other peoples experiences with the heart rate monitor so please keep me posted of your successes or failures with the hrm and your workout. I do however highly recommend that you all give it a try ( always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise regimen ). It was / is a wonderful experience for me.
Polar F1 Heart Rate Monitor
$47.99 ( at time of this article )
Polar A5 Heart Rate Monitor
$89.95
Polar A3 Heart Rate Monitor
$71.99
Polar S610i Heart Rate Monitor
$233.95
Polar S810i Heart Rate Monitor
$339.99
Acumen Eon Basix HRM ES (Women) {Free Ground Shipping to Continental US}
$53.99
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1) Would you like to know that you the exercise you are doing is optimally burning fat from your body?
2) would you like to work out less rigorously and actually get a better workout?
3) Would you like to work out safer?
4) Would you like to work out longer and feel less drained afterwards?
5) Would you like to work out at the pace that is right for your body?
6) Would you like your workout to automatically be set for your weight and age?
7) Would you like your exercise routine to automatically pace itself with your level of fitness and your new weight?
8 ) Would you like to have advance warning of being overworked out or over heated?
OK ... interested ... well buy my super duper blender / vacuum cleaner ...
Heh but really I have found a remarkable device ( don't worry it is relatively cheap ) that can be used with your favorite workout to do all of the above.
This device is called a heart rate monitor. In short it measures your heart rate. There are different devices that have different functions but the base feature is to measure your heart rate.
So the deal is this. Slow down your exercise program. Yep you are reading this right I was sceptical at first also but now I am totally sold on this idea. I was jogging and doing 5k races. I would go all out and be burnt out after the first mile. I would have times like 7:30 , 10, 10:30
for each mile of my 5k race. I bought this heart rate monitor ( polar A3 ) and I started working out with it. At first it was interesting just to see what my heart rate was at. Then I ran a race and used it to pace myself. But then during some conversations with a tri-athlete, I was reading the numbers wrong. I was getting my heart rate up to 160 + and keeping it there for up to 4 miles and even going closer to my max heart rate at the end of my workout( my max is 184 bpm ). He said that was way too high. I needed to work out at 144 bpms. The reason for this is that at 160 bpms I am in a Anaerobic zone. In this zone my body is burning up carbohydrates and using them at fuel. At 144 I would be in an aerobic zone which means that my body uses its own fat as energy. This is the optimal zone for your body to be in to lose weight. In addition working out in this zone will provide a much greater return from your workout than at the higher heart rates. There are many books on this and many of the worlds great altheletes use this method to work out.
So I went out and figured I would try it out. So I set my heart rate monitor to alert me when my heart rate got below 140 or above 144. Geeze I couldn't slow down enough. I wanted to go out and run but I was now at a slow jog. I was convinced that this couldn't work. How could I get a good workout from going this slow. But I was convinced to keep with it. I started jogging at this heart rate and found out many things about my body. Firstly I could jog at this rate forever ( or it seems ). Today for example I went out and jogged 11 miles at 144 bpms.
Secondly my body seemed to enjoy the workout. Usually I was all beat up after even a 4 mile race. I felt like I was ready to quit.
Thirdly I feel safer. Even when I run in heat my heart lets me know the pace that it can run at. I do not unnecessarily stress out my heart.
On top of all this I have shown great gains in speed, distance and weight loss. I am totally sold on using a heart rate monitor for working out.
And this is in just a few weeks of using it. It is the greatest thing ever. I will keep you posted on my advancements. My next goal is to run a marathon.
Now a few more things. Using a heart rate monitor builds in many things. It builds in your weight. So as you lose weight you will automatically change your exercise program to adapt to your new weight. The way this works is that say at 300 lbs you can walk 2 miles in 40 minutes at 140 bpms as you lose weight and get in better shape you keep your heart rate at 140 bpms but you will find that you will be walking or jogging the same 2 miles at a much faster pace and much shorter time. In fact in the same time you may find that you can do three miles. Or that you can jog the 2 miles. Your heart will let you know what it can do and what it feels comfortable doing.
The best part is that you don't need to go out there and kill yourself and over train ... at 80 % of your max heart rate you will barely be out of breath when you work out. Again regardless of your weight or how in-shape / out of shape you are.
The other good thing about this devise is that you can use it with your favorite exercise routine. Do you like to walk? bike? swim ( yes they are waterproof ) ? dance? rock climb? whatever ... just put it on and it does the rest. It will beep when you are either too high or too low and then you just speed up or slow down what you are doing.
Basically the heart rate monitor comes with two pieces. 1 piece you wear around your ribcage under your chest. The other piece is a watch. These two pieces are not connected. The watch shows you your heart rate and beeps and all of that the other stuff the other piece is just what reads the heart rate and sends a signal to the watch.
There are quite a few different models. From what I heard polar is the best. That is what I got. I was also told to at least get a stop watch on the heart rate monitor because you will probably want one anyway.
So I chose the A3. I think if you wanted to save a few $$$ you could go with the F1 which is the base model this just has the heart rate monitor and time I think.
For you tech addicts some of the higher models offer fascinating features like GPM where it will track how far you ran or biked and at what speed and heart rate you did them at and save these stats to your computer.
Here is what I found on amazon. I provided the links. If you buy one it would be appreciated if you could buy it through one of these links since the board would get like 2.5 - 5% of the purchase. I also included books about how to train with a heart rate monitor at the bottom.
I would love to hear of other peoples experiences with the heart rate monitor so please keep me posted of your successes or failures with the hrm and your workout. I do however highly recommend that you all give it a try ( always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise regimen ). It was / is a wonderful experience for me.
Polar F1 Heart Rate Monitor
$47.99 ( at time of this article ) Polar A5 Heart Rate Monitor
$89.95Polar A3 Heart Rate Monitor
$71.99Polar S610i Heart Rate Monitor
$233.95 Polar S810i Heart Rate Monitor
$339.99 Acumen Eon Basix HRM ES (Women) {Free Ground Shipping to Continental US}
$53.99<iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="468" height="336" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=atkinsdietmailin&l=st1&search=%22heart%20rate %20monitor%22&mode=books&p=16&o=1&f=ifr">
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Wish I'd had these links when I got mine 
I have a bandless one cause when I started my chest was too big for the band to fit comfortably. they have come a long way, infared computer downloading for tracking cool!
Since hes on the ship and is the IT of the family, im left trying to figure it out. Installed the program and having trouble downloading the info from the watch. keeps telling me an error. Anyways.. im Sure ill figure it out eventually. My question is.. If my watch says my Max HR is 185 (will prolly test again later still need to do the Morning Resting Heart Rate (MRHR) still reading that part) my burn zone is 148? I couldnt find the conversion in the book. Im 30y female. Thanks in advance!
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