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WHY HEART RATE MONITORS FOR WALKING
Welcome to the Polar Walking Community. If you identify yourself
as a fitness walker looking to lose weight, improve your health, or just get in better shape. Walking is great
exercise and a Polar HRM can help you get even more out of your walking program.
To understand how an HRM can help you, we established the Polar 3 Point Message:
- In order to reach your fitness goals, you need to walk at the
right intensity.
- Heart rate is the only accurate measurement of your intensity
or your exertion level.
- A Polar HRM is the easiest and most accurate way to continuously
measure your heart rate.
It's a tool that will help pace you. If you walk too fast, you
will most likely quit before you get the real benefit from your walk. We have all seen the person who gets on the
treadmill, cranks it up to 8% grade and 8 mph, walks for 2 minutes, and gets off. ALL THEY DID WAS WASTE TWO MINUTES
OF THEIR TIME!
Your goal should be 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, you will start getting more benefit from your walk. It's like
lifting weights. The first 10 reps you do are like a warm-up, and the last 2 are the ones that really give you
the benefit. How do you get to 30 minutes? By pacing yourself.
On the other hand, there are people that walk very leisurely
around their block, and wonder why they can't lose any weight. If you walk too slowly, you don't get the exercise
benefit.
If you're very new to the concept of an HRM, you might be wondering
WHAT'S AN HRM.
It consists of a watch worn on your wrist, and a transmitter that you comfortably wear against your skin, around
your chest. The transmitter picks up the signals of your heart, and sends them wirelessly to the watch you wear
on your wrist. It's that simple. No wires, no taking your pulse and doing a multiplication equation. Just look
at your wrist and it's there. AND THE KEY, IT'S DISPLAYED
CONTINUOUSLY. The continuous display is what makes it
effective. It's there to guide you during your entire walk.
Here's how it works
There are specific Target Zones (TZ) that help to guide you
to the right intensity. A TZ is a high and low heart rate range that is based on a percentage of your maximum heart
rate. Using a formula based on your age, you can figure out your maximum heart rate (max). You then take percentages
of your max to get your Target Zones.
Key Target Zones for Walkers
| 60-70% of max HR |
Good for weight loss and building endurance |
| 70-80% " " " |
Good for improving cardiovascular fitness |
| 80%+ " " " |
Race Walking or training |
Example:
Sabrina is 45 years old and she wants to lose weight. She walks for exercise three days a week, sometimes for 10
minutes, sometimes for 20 minutes and she's not sure how fast to walk.
*Her estimated max heart rate is 220-(age) 45=175
The recommended target zone is 60-70 %
60% of 175=105
70% of 175=123
Sabrina should walk three days a week for at least 30 minutes and keep her heart rate between 105 and 123 for effective
weight loss. IT'S THAT SIMPLE!
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