Mara!!! and others with Polar Watches ;)

[Mandarine]

Hi there!....I know I''ve been MIA big time, but I just have so much going on with the wedding planning and work that it has just been pretty crazy!.

Anyway, since the whole dog incident in January I had fallen off the wagon with my fitness routine, but started getting back to it a copuple of months ago!!...yay!. This weekend was my birthday (the big 30!!!!!) and my FI gave me a Polar Watch! I''m so excited!!!!!.

I know you have one to so I was hoping you (or anyone else that uses them) could give me some pointers

I got the F11 so I did the Fitness test, Exercise Program, etc. So I have a couple of questions...

The watch autmatically "assigned" me certain number of exercise session with target HR zones. These zones don''t make much sense to me as I feel like they are either too high, or too low. Do you adjust your zones so that it is more representative of what you do, or do you try to change your routine to keep in the recommeded zones?.

For example, Tuesdays and Thursdays I do a long "boot camp" class at the park. It''s a very tough class (push-ups, pull-ups, running like crazy people with balls over our heads up and down hills, etc), we look like we''re getting ready to go to war out there! haha. My watch kept telling me I was working way too hard.

On the other side, I went biking with FI this weekend as we usually do, and had a very tough time getting up to the target zone (which started at 130). I had to pedal like a crazy woman to get up there! and as soon as I stopped at a traffic light or something, it would drop very quickly.

I also was wondering if you use the Polar Fitness website?. I guess you can upload your data...I haven''t tried it yet, but did register and it looked pretty cool. Is anyone using that?

I am hoping to get a lot out of my new little toy, hence all the questions

...

And of course, here is a picture of the gift (with doggie and ring, of course! haha)

M~

 

[Lorelei]

Don''t know about the watches, just wanted to say we missed you!

 

[Mandarine]

awww, you''re so cute!!!!

I''m sorry about your horse, I just read

I will try to start joining you guys again in the workout thread, I need to make time for this because I was doing so well and learning so many things from you guys!!!

M~

 

[Mara]

hi Mandarine, we have so missed you woman!! glad to hear all is going well...congrats on the new watch!!

I just have the F6 (or F4?) so mine is not the heavy duty one, I think my dad has the F11 and he uses all the different functionalities. All I ever use mine for is to show me time and calories and heart rate. I just left ranges alone and work to where I feel okay. When I walk my heart rate SLOWLY gets up to my target range but over about 45 minutes. Whereas on the elliptical or similar it''s within about 5 minutes. Biking to me is not that heart strenuous so I''m not surprised the HR didn''t get up that high. And yes mine drops very quickly when stopping as well, aka when walking and stopping at lights it would go from 145 to 115 within a minute of waiting there.

I was never that diligent about trying to get into a heart rate range or anything, I just wanted to see cals and HR and know what I was doing..and what exercises got me the most burn and highest heart rate etc. I also think some people just can more easily get into higher ranges, aka Greg when he runs gets into the 190 heart rate range which according to his watch is out of his max but he feels good being there, that''s kind of his okay sweet spot when running. So he doesn''t really make a big deal about trying to get it lower because he doesn''t even run that fast to get to 190.

Anyway, enjoy playing around with it...I have no idea how to use the website or anything since I just used the most basic functions.

 

[Mandarine]

Hi!

Thanks!. I can''t even get it to 100 walking!....but I have a very low resting heart rate, which I guess is good...who knows!.

I will play around with it as it does make sense to try to be in the "fat burning" range....now I just have to figure out what that range is for me. Yesterday in the boot camp class my highest was 178 and the average was in the 130s...which is where I think I need to be. I will just leave it without making changes to the "plans" for the next few weeks to see what it sayd when I do different type of exercises.

It''s a pretty cool little toy! This one, the F11, gives you reminders and a diary, etc so you know if and when you reach your weekly goals in terms of number of workouts and caloties burnt.

Thanks for the info!!!!

M~

 

[Mara]

the other thing about that fat burning range is i don''t know how much i really believe it. when i was losing i was all over the place with my range depending on what i was doing for my workouts. and many times i was in the cardio training zone rather than fat burning, actually probably about 75% of the time. and i still lost a ton of fat (last test my body fat was 18%) and the weight i wanted. so i would almost just say do what feels good, don''t worry about being out or in a range (as long as you are at least breaking a sweat?)...i don''t typically have a low resting rate but i have read that is very good if you do!

 

[elsie]

Hey Mandarine,

Glad to hear you're doing better after the dog incident!

I just wanted to comment since I also have a Polar (F6, I think). As far as I know, your ranges shouldn't change according to the exercise, since they're an indication of how hard you're working at that point.

My running instructor gave me this link that will calculate your suggested range:

http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/hr.shtml

All you need to do is measure your resting heart rate (basically, measure it a few days in a row before you get out of bed). I manually plugged this zone into my watch instead of using its calculated ones (seems to be pretty accurate!).

Supposedly the best way to figure out your target heart rates zone is to get a MAP (Maximal Aerobic Power) test (offered at my gym, you can probably get it elsewhere) -- it measures your heart rate (and maybe oxygen used?) at various rates of exertion. This helps you to figure out where your anaerobic threshold is, the best zone to stay within to burn fat, etc... Basically, what heart rate you should be targeting for your workouts.

Wow, a max of 178 is pretty high if your average is 130 -- sometimes the Polars get kinda screwy if they're not wet enough (my max heart rate is ~190 and my Polar showed 240 during a run yesterday -- balanced out once I got good and sweaty, though!).

Congrats on getting back into the routine -- oh, and Happy BDay! I just turned 30 too.

ETA -- I agree with Mara that you shouldn't worry too much about what range you're in, as long as you're feeling good (and pushing yourself a bit!). The main thing I use mine for is running/racing, so that I know that I'm running at a good pace and that I'll have enough energy for the distance I have left.

 

[Mandarine]

I take it back, it was max 170 (89%) and average 134 (71%). I think it got to 170 for a couple of minutes only when we were doing some kind of crazy one hand push up (I''m don''t have very strong arms...specially after the incident because I lost all my mini-muscles I had worked on!!, so all those kind of exercises require a lot of effort for me!!! hehe).

This is all good info, I will definitely check that website! Thanks!

The F11 does an "own index" kind of thing that measures the VO2 max (I think?)...Anyway, my "number" was 52 and I guess based on that and other things (age, weight, resting HR, etc), it calculated my "ranges". I think they are pretty accurate, but I didn''t realize how hard it would be to keep in a range during a workout!. I know that what you''re saying makes sense, and I need to just do what feels right...I think having these ranges does help me push myself more when I''m doing something more "easy" such as biking...

I need to have them to the fat % test and all those other tests at the gym. It''s definitely the best way to measure progress!.

Thank you guys!

M~

 

[scarlet16]

Date: 5/2/2007 1:13:07 PM
Author: elsie
Hey Mandarine,


Glad to hear you''re doing better after the dog incident!


I just wanted to comment since I also have a Polar (F6, I think). As far as I know, your ranges shouldn''t change according to the exercise, since they''re an indication of how hard you''re working at that point.


My running instructor gave me this link that will calculate your suggested range:


http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/hr.shtml


All you need to do is measure your resting heart rate (basically, measure it a few days in a row before you get out of bed). I manually plugged this zone into my watch instead of using its calculated ones (seems to be pretty accurate!).


Supposedly the best way to figure out your target heart rates zone is to get a MAP (Maximal Aerobic Power) test (offered at my gym, you can probably get it elsewhere) -- it measures your heart rate (and maybe oxygen used?) at various rates of exertion. This helps you to figure out where your anaerobic threshold is, the best zone to stay within to burn fat, etc... Basically, what heart rate you should be targeting for your workouts.


Wow, a max of 178 is pretty high if your average is 130 -- sometimes the Polars get kinda screwy if they''re not wet enough (my max heart rate is ~190 and my Polar showed 240 during a run yesterday -- balanced out once I got good and sweaty, though!).


Congrats on getting back into the routine -- oh, and Happy BDay! I just turned 30 too.

ETA -- I agree with Mara that you shouldn''t worry too much about what range you''re in, as long as you''re feeling good (and pushing yourself a bit!). The main thing I use mine for is running/racing, so that I know that I''m running at a good pace and that I''ll have enough energy for the distance I have left.

So weird- I was just about to start a thread on this! Anyways, I just bought the F6 and am TOTALLY clueless. Do I need to wear the chest strap and does it get in the way when running/working out? Elsie I guess that is specifically directed towards you. I usually run like 6 miles, if that helps.

 

[elsie]

Hi Scarlet,

Yep, you''ll need to wear the chest strap (it''s the transmitter that sends the signal measuring your heart rate to the watch). It shouldn''t get in the way too much -- I usually wear it right under my sports bra -- a little tight at first, but then you get used to it. One thing I didn''t notice until I started to lose weight -- the strap is adjustable!

Make sure to wet the contacts (basically, the plastic part where the strap touches your skin), and make sure that it''s tight enough (but not too tight) that the strap doesn''t move around when you''re running or exercising (or else it''ll lose contact with your body and won''t record your heart rate accurately).

Oh, and one other thing about the comfort of the strap -- I think Polar makes a sports bra that has little "belt loops" you can thread the strap through. Might be something to consider if you don''t want to worry about messing with the strap all the time! (Although I haven''t tried it.)

And BTW, 6 miles is impressive! I''ve only gone up to 4-5 miles, and sometimes it''s a struggle even to run 2!

 

[nicolejrx]

Also make sure to clean your chest strap good after each workout. I didn''t realize that you could put mild soap on the strap so I always rinsed it really good with water and I just put soap on the back part of the strap. After a few weeks it would not read my heart rate during a workout (it would just read as 00). Finally read my manual, discovered that I needed soap and then cleaned the whole strap. I have had no problem since! I love my polar monitor!
Nicole

 

[Mandarine]

Thanks for the tip about washing it! I was thinking about that!.

The strap doesn''t really get on the way, I''m putting it inside my bra also.

I love this thing!!!!!, yesterday I burned 367 in my rumba class, which is not bad at all considering it''s a class I do mostly because it''s fun!. Today is the boot camp class. I want to compare my results from today to the ones from Tuesday.

I still can''t use the website, I guess I need a microphone!. I could also just start a little spreadsheet, but it would be much easier just to hit send and have it populate on their site.

Thanks for all the good info fitness ladies!!!

M~