Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with heartrate

Heart Rate Monitor

hepta — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:01:47 -0800

What is the best heart rate monitor for my needs? I've seen this AskMe and others but am in slightly different circumstances and have come looking for recommendations.

I'm a somewhat fit 20-year old female and I want to get a heartrate monitor to help me figure out better workouts. For what it's worth, my main workouts are running, biking, and erging (indoor rowing machine) so a heart rate monitor that doesn't interfere with those movements is key (I know I likely won't have trouble with the running/biking aspect but erging is a somewhat different motion than those two). I also do some weights but I don't know the benefits of monitoring heart rate while doing those, but if there are some feel free to enlighten me!

Budget is not a huge deal but I am a student and if at all possible would like to keep it cheaper than more expensive. I don't want a chest strap part, if that can be at all avoided. I am really pretty clueless here - they come on wristbands, I think? Will the lack of chest strap make it less effective? I looked at Amazon but they came up with ~1000 results so I figured AskMe was a better starting place :)

Also, I think I have a handle on what heart rate zones to be working out in for specific endurance/cardio/etc results but if anyone has some great online resources about that, I would be really happy to check them out!

Help me introduce some variety into my at-home cardio

t0astie — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:45:41 -0800

I’m looking for some more simple cardio exercises, like burpees and stepping, that will raise my heart rate but can be done in a small space, with minimal impact on my knees. Limitations: knees messed up, so can't do jumping jacks, skipping or anything high impact. Very little space and no DVD player or games console means no exercise videos or fitness games. Limited cash means no fancy equipment.

Currently: Have a staircase and I've been i) walking up and down as many times as I can, as fast as I can ii) doing step-ups a-la Step Aerobics. So say, 10 steps on left leg, swap to right leg, ten steps, swap back. With lots of 80s-style arm pumping, natch. In the teeny space I've cleared for exercise in my wee room, I can just pull off a burpee. I've started doing those too. Tonight!

Some background: I do also go outside to exercise, and have lots of variety in things I can do outdoors, so that's not a problem. As well, I do bodyweight exercises and some simple yoga indoors. Again, there's loads of of different bodyweight stuff to do, and I add new yoga poses after weekly classes, so that's fine. But I'm stumped and kind of bored with my at-home cardio given the limitations I have.

My fitness level is: unfit. I can't run for the bus without getting out of breath. I've had a checkup and I'm fine to exercise though, there's no underlying issue. Just lack of exercise.

AskMe, what else can I do inside, with little space and dodgy knees, to up my heart rate?*

Aside from the obvious, most fun answer, that is.

My heart muscle is worrying me!

sio42 — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:25:24 -0800

ExerciseFilter: I've been doing the gym thing at least 3x per week for about 3 or 4 months now. Strength training and cardio mix. About 6 weeks ago, I started Trileptal as a mood stabilizer (I am not epilectic). I am on no other meds. It's the type of drug where you ramp up your dosage over a period of time. In the last two weeks, my low THR feels like my heart is pounding as if I'd just been in car accident. If I swim a length of a pool, I have to stop for about 30 sec to a min until my heart goes back to feeling normal. I've had to leave the gym the last several times I went because I just couldn't do the cardio machines at the same settings I had been using. My heart feels like it's just racing and pounding.

But when I take my pulse, It's just at the 60% range of my THR. I've noticed my morning pulse is a bit fast, but I've just started taking note of it at the advice of my SO so I could get a better metric.

In the mean time, I'm a little freaked out. I don't have a GP to go to right now (I'm on a waiting list to get a new patient appt!??!!). And I have a few more weeks till I see the psychiatrist again. This hadn't been happening long enough to warrant alarm the last time I saw him.

It's not like I get out of breath, but my heart beating like that scares the bejessus out of me! I have never had any health problems.

Oh right...30 yo, female, 5'6", 170.

Is it the meds? Is this some weird exercise thing? I've tried google searching and mefi but just come up with how to calculate and stuff about "my heart rate is too low". Please direct me if I have overlooked something. Meanwhile, I'll be walking very slowly on the treadmill at 0 incline.

Heartrate monitor for computer?

cccorlew — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:54:59 -0800

I'm looking USB heartrate monitor I'm doing a multimedia project and want to feed heart rate data (actually just the beat, not even the numerical rate) into my computer and read it in MAX/MSP.
I'd prefer a finger clip or ear clip model.
I can find all sorts of monitors, buy none that will let me grab the signal from it. They're all stand alone units.
Suggestions?

Is this what it feels like to be unfit?

BAKERSFIELD! — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:23:31 -0800

My recovery time for my pulse rate is unusually long, but I haven't exercise since mid last year. Am I just unfit or what? I've been bad. I haven't been to the gym or done any significant exercise for over a year. I've gained heaps of weight and become a general all-round slob.

So I got fed up with myself a couple of weeks ago and got back into my old routine. Problem is my spin classes are now quite tiring, which is a new experience. It takes ages for my pulse rate to return to normal, like an hour or more. I've always been a fairly fit person and had a really quick recovery time for my heart rate so this is rather unusual.

Is this just a case of "duh, this is what it feels like to be unfit" or should I be worried?

Lose weight now! Ask me hOH MY GOD

Shepherd — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 06:18:14 -0800

How does heart rate correlate to calories burned, and can I lose weight by just being incredibly nervous? I understand that heart rate and calorie burning during exercise are related, but I'm a bit fuzzy on how this works when you get into various kinds of exercise and specifics. Running with a Polar watch, I can get my HR up into the 160s at a good jog, 170s with moderate effort, and 180s when I'm going full-bore or running uphill. On a rowing machine, however -- and I've used the ergometer a LOT over the years, mostly in winter, so this isn't a "never done it before" effect -- I get to the 150s at moderate effort, 160s when I push it, and full-out-crazy puts me at the mid-170s.

So the rowing machine feels like more of a workout -- I get winded faster when I go hard, I can't go hard for as long and I'm a lot more physically exhausted after. But by the HR numbers, running is a "harder" workout.

Is the higher HR necessarily the better workout from a straight calories-burned perspective?

And if I hired a bunch of creepy clowns to follow me around and jump out at inopportune moments, would I lose weight passively thanks to having my heart constantly going like a triphammer?

Why does my heart race and my blood pound when I wake up from a nap?

tatiana wishbone — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:25:29 -0800

Why does my heart race and my blood pound when I wake up from a nap? This doesn't happen when I wake up from a regular sleep session, but if I nap during the day, I almost always wake up with the really unpleasant sensation of my blood racing through my veins and my pulse elevated. I'm 24 and female, not overweight and not unhealthy.

How accurate are gym equipment calorie burn measures?

twine42 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:52:28 -0800

How does my excersise bike calculate calories based on weight, and how accurate is it? If I tell my exercise bike my weight, it tells me how many calories I've burnt. Mrs t42 does the same, with a lower weight, and gets a lower calorie count for the same time.

All good... except I'm not moving any more weight than she is. Sure, my legs may weigh a little more, but my bulk is stationary and the amount of effort required comes from the magnetic resistance of the machine.

So, is the calorie count in any way accurate? How do I test it without spending lots of money?

As, I guess, a secondary question - how accurate as the calorie counting heart rate watches? I understand that your calorie requirements can be estimated from your heart rate, but surely blood pressure, density and heart *size* must make a massive difference to the answers...?

Looking for a device to trigger software off my pulse

pombe — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:05:38 -0800

Following up on my previous question, I'm looking for a good way to have someone's heartbeat trigger software on a PC. Previously, I asked about building a digital stethoscope for use in triggering an interactive sculpture. I've gotten that working pretty well, but it turns out it's pretty sensitive to noise. In a quiet room it works great; our software can pick up every heartbeat and trigger on it very reliably. But we set up in a noisy gallery today and the noise picked up by the stethoscope definitely degrades performance.

So we'd like to try some non-acoustic methods to measure heartbeat. We like the idea of using a pulse oximeter, but none of the ones I saw googling seem to output an actual pulse signal - they just give you heart rate. Ideally we'd like a device that outputs the actual waveform from the sensor or just a digital signal every heartbeat.

I'm open to building something if that's what is necessary so ideas like moonmilk's previous comment or this are useful too.

Exercise, heart rate, & calories burned

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 14:31:44 -0800

Questions about exercise, heart rate, and estimating calories burned. Forgive the length, but I'm trying to be as detailed as possible.
Background:
I've lost over 100 lbs in the past couple of years by counting calories and exercising. I stopped doing both of those things for a few months after hitting a plateau and then going through a particularly stressful period, leading me to gain back a few pounds. I've been back on track for the last month and seem to be dropping a couple of pounds a week.
Current Routine:
I eat about 1,200 calories a day, which has been my calorie goal since I started losing weight. I eat small meals throughout the day and am not hungry -- I think I could limit myself to 1,000 calories a day fairly easily, but I'm not sure if that's wise. I do 45 minutes of cardio a day on the elliptical and lift weights 3 times a week. Every other day, I do intervals to go between 60% and 85% of my estimated max heart rate based on calculators that factor in age and resting heart rate. I try to keep my heart rate in the 80-85% range on non-interval days. I have a heart rate monitor that uses my age, gender, height, weight and resting heart rate to estimate the number of calories burned. I know it's just an estimate.
Question:
I find that I'm much more likely to work out if I do so in the mornings, as soon as I get up. There's a gym in my condo, so I probably am on the machine within 15 minutes of getting out of bed. I'm not hungry then, and usually don't eat breakfast until around 2 hours after my workout. I fill a bottle of water before I work out, but usually don't drink any until a few minutes into my workout. My heart rate in the morning goes up much faster working at a much lower intensity than it does when I work out in the evenings. When I do work out in the evenings, I have to increase the resistance and really push myself to keep my heart rate above 80% of my max. In the mornings, I wonder if it's getting too high -- it seems like I have to hold myself back to keep it around 85%. Either way, my average heart rate is almost the same, so am I burning the same number of calories? How long before my workout would I have to eat or drink to see it make any difference?

What is my heart up to?

talitha — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 04:37:14 -0800

Can anyone explain what happens to my heart rate when I visit the facilities? Having been given a heart rate monitor for my birthday, I've started wearing it for most of the day out of interest. But I've noticed a strange pattern when using the facilities. When engaged in producing a 'number 2', particularly if it is unusually large or solid, my normal heart rate of 70-80bpm drops by 10-20 bpm until the splash, at which point it shoots up to >100bpm for a few seconds, and then back to the normal resting rate. This was noticed during a highly unscientific process of glancing at the watch part every few seconds or so with no recording at all. But it seems to be a reproducible pattern. What's going on?

Low heart rate - uses and origin?

spiff101 — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:46:06 -0800

A recent medical exam showed that I have bradycardia - an abnormally low resting heart rate (32-34bpm). Does this mean I'm physiologically suited to endurance sports? My ECG reading at a recent medical exam was 32 and 34bpm. The doctor said he'd never seen anything like it, and that rates in the 30s were usually only seen in olympic-level endurance athletes. Three questions:

1) Should I quit my job and start training for the Tour de France? or, more seriously, should I start competing in running etc? I've always just trained alone rather than raced. I don't fancy a career as a sniper, in case anyone was about to suggest it..

2) Is this condition likely to be the result of genetics or sport training or both? (none of the rest of my family have similar results, though on my mother's side all the women live to late 90s - could be good 'heart genes'..). For the past 4-5 years I've exercised for at least 1 to 1-and-a-half hours every day, either running, weights or cycling, plus cycle commutes. I push myself pretty hard. But some people (http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/37695) seem to be able to slow their heartrate deliberately - maybe I'm doing this?

3) Are there likely to be links between this and my inability to stop myself from falling asleep within minutes in any sort of boring meeting or lecture; or my general lack of ability at sprinting and other 'fast-twitch' sporty stuff; or my poor circulation (my hands become numb and extremely weak in cold weather)?

Lets slow everything down...

devilsbrigade — Sat, 06 May 2006 18:49:12 -0800

Legend has it Navy SEALs (among others, certainly) can slow their heart rate and breathing down to almost nil. So could Michael Valentine Smith, for what its worth. Practically, to what degree is this possible, and how does one go about beginning to control ones breathing/heart/body in general more precisely?

How do heart rate monitors estimate calories burned?

betterton — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 18:44:06 -0800

How do heart rate monitors estimate how many calories you burn while exercising? I ask partly out of intellectual curiosity, and partly because I wonder if I should believe the number the monitor spits out.

I would like to know how the algorithm works and how accurate the estimate is. Are there differences in accuracy between heart rate monitors from different companies?

Heart-rate monitor attached to treadmill

Saucy Intruder — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 08:15:31 -0800

Yesterday on "CBS Sunday Morning," a correspondent chronicled his attempt to lose weight. I'm trying to identify one of the machines that his personal trainer used to evaluate his progress. The device was attached to an ordinary treadmill. The subject would exercise for a few minutes, and the device would check his vital signs (presumably his heart rate, but perhaps also other indicia.) When he first came to the trainer, the machine said that his health was "poor." Ten weeks later, although he hadn't lost any weight, he was reevaluated as "excellent." The trainer said that this was because he had exchanged fat for muscle.

What kind of machine is this? Is it a simple heart rate analysis or is something more complex going on?

Should I sit or should I bend?

forallmankind — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 10:04:24 -0800

I have a mountain bike on a resistance roller that I use to workout, and I also use a heart rate monitor to keep my heart rate at 145. If I workout in a cycling position with my hands on the handlebars, it takes much more effort to maintain 145 than if I sit upright with my hands by my side. Why is this, and does this mean my upright workout is less effective than my bent over one, even though I'm maintaining the same heart rate?

Recommendations on a heart rate monitor?

Alex Handcoding — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 20:25:25 -0800

Recommendations on a heart rate monitor? I'm 27 and I go to the gym four to five days a week with a ratio of about 80% weight training (3-4 days) and 20% cardio (1-2 days). I'd like to do more interval training to lower my percentage body fat and many of the online resources describe this in terms of heart rate. Not knowing a thing about heart rate monitors, I thought I'd ask here. I don't need many features, I suppose. I would like one which can "talk" with the (Precor) elliptical machines at the gym so that I can see my numbers on the machine's large display. I noticed that all of the elliptical machines at my gym are labeled "Polar compatible" but that's not to say that I wouldn't buy a different brand as along as it spoke the Polar protocol.

It would also be handy, I suppose, if it could tell me how many minutes I spent exercising in total and how many of those minutes were in my target heart rate zone. I think I'd like to spend less than $100 on this, though I might consider something slightly more if it's significantly better than models under that limit. Lastly, I'm open to any links on interval training if you have some handy.

Target Heart Rates

Lola_G — Thu, 20 Jan 2005 08:19:03 -0800

Target Heart Rate. What damage are you doing, if any, by working out above your so-called Target Heart Rate? [mi] I have just returned to the gym after a 3+ years hiatus and whenever I track my heart rate, I am above the suggested zone. I feel fine when I am working out and have tried to increase resistence and/or slow down but nothing seems to help. I am a 29 year old female 25-30 lbs overweight.