The most efficient way to calculate how many calories you actually burn is by wearing a heart rate monitor. The law of calorie balance is a simple law of physics…Energy in versus energy out dictates whether you will gain, lose or maintain your weight. All physical activity will burn calories. By definition, a calorie (more accurately, a kilocalorie) is the amount of heat required to raise 1 kg of water 1 degree Celsius. Phil Kaplan, one of the world’s most in demand fitness professionals says, “Every time you blink, swallow, type, or roll over in bed, additional calories have to be burned to provide the fuel for movement. When the body is at rest, bodily functions continue. You breathe. Your heart beats. Your brain sends out chemical signals and impulses.” All of the activities you do account for the calories that make up your basal metabolic rate. Planned activities such as walking, aerobics, swimming, bicycling, weight training, etc. are what you need to engage in, in order to burn the calories that you need to manage your weight. Heart rate monitors are the perfect tool to monitor heart rate and calories burned while doing these sports and activities.
You have to work hard to expect to get the desired results you want. You need to maximize calorie burning for the duration of that activity. If you just go through the motions and sit on a cardio machines…you most likely will not get the results you are looking for. This is where heart rate plays a crucial role. The most effective heart rate zone for fat burning is, generally speaking, between 65% – 75% of your maximum heart rate (see table) Although you will burn calories above that range and participating in activities for brief periods of time (assuming you are physically capable) in the higher heart rate zones has significant benefit, your duration will generally be much shorter. The longer you are able to keep up your intensity in your workout, the more calories you will burn.
Polar Electro, Inc., the manufacturer of Polar heart rate monitors, realized the potential for being able to continuously monitor heart rate, first for competitive sports and then for the general public to use in fitness and weight management activities. The OwnZone feature on many Polar heart rate monitors is a great example of how technology has replaced the far less effective traditional methods of determining heart rate. Since your physical well-being can be compromised by stress, lack of sleep, being poorly hydrated and so forth, the OwnZone feature found on Polar heart rate monitors determines on any given day an individual’s correct exercise zone. It guides you through an appropriate warm-up routine and automatically determines a safe and effective exercise heart rate zone by taking into account your current physical condition and thereby assuring you that you will be maximizing your body’s ability to burn fat.
Your heart right monitor can be a motivating coach telling you to push harder. If your heart rate is higher than normal on a certain day, it may mean you are catching a cold or the flu and need to rest. It also can be a way to determine if you are over training and needing a day to recover. Recovery is a key to weight loss; it makes sure your body isn’t in stress mode. Your body can hold on to weight if it’s under stress. The heart rate monitor can make you more aware of where your body is today.
Finally, there is the obvious relationship between heart rate and effort. Someone who is experienced with working out may know their perceived effort. The more you work out the better your heart becomes at with standing exercise. The better your heart gets the more effort you will have to put in to your workouts to see results. People that do the same thing over and over again will eventually plateau and in order to see results again you must change your workouts in order to challenge your body again. Your body will not change unless you challenge it.
In a time conscious society where work, family, and friends tax our ability to find the time for physical activity, you must maximize the benefit of your effort each and every time that you engage in fitness activities. This can be accomplished simply and effectively by using a heart rate monitor.
Chart From: Iron90.com
By Shannon Flanagan – CPT