Why workout with a heart rate monitor? (2024)

Do you tell friends about MYZONE only to hear replies like, “Why workout with a heart rate monitor?” or “Why does measuring heart rate matter?”. Do you have a good answer for them when they question the validity of heart rate tracking with an accurate chest strap? If you want to be prepared with a good answer, or need more convincing yourself that heart rate monitoring during exercise is a way for your to take your fitness to the next level, this blog post is for you!

Why workout with a heart rate monitor? (1)

Why heart rate?

Your heart is a muscle that gets stronger as your exercise it. When you’re doing cardio, weight training, zumba, or however you choose to exercise, your muscles need more oxygen than when you’re at rest. To get that extra oxygen to your muscles, your heart has to work harder to circulate your blood to help pump your lungs. As you work to build your body, you are simultaneously strengthening your heart. This means that your heart rate measurement will show you the true effectiveness of your workout.

Why workout with a heart rate monitor? (2)

Best tracking method

Many wearables are built to help you get the most out of your workout by tracking and recording your heart rate levels during all forms of exercise. A heart rate chest strap is able to stay snugly in place, directly over your heart which heightens the likelihood of consistent and accurate heart rate readings during your workouts. Many think that MYZONE has one of the most accurate, effective, and versatile chest straps around, just check out this article, and this one, and this review(if you don't want to take our word for it)! If you’re still not convinced that achest strap is better equipped to give you the consistently accurate heart rate readings you need, in place of a wrist worn tracker,check this blog out.

Why workout with a heart rate monitor? (3)

The problem of undertraining

When you consistently engage in forms of exercise that are not pushing your heart at all, you are missing the mark on a quality workout. If you aren’t working to your body’s specific potential, you will not be burning the calories required to experience weight loss and you’ll miss out on the cardiovascular endurance required to build and maintain physical strength.

Why workout with a heart rate monitor? (4)

The problem of overtraining

Overtraining can be dangerous. Exercisers who are often pushing themselves too hard put themselves at risk for dehydration, injury, dizziness and possible fainting. Prolonged overtraining can even lead to more serious problems like infection or chronic pain in overworked areas of the body. Overtraining has even been linked to problems like depression, fatigue, insomnia, and decreased appetite.

So what do you think about heart rate tracking during your workouts? How have you seen your fitness progress since using heart rate as a fitness metric? How has instant access to your exercise intensity as well as real-time effort readings taken your workouts to the next level? Have you found that a heart rate chest strapis the most accurate way to track all of your exercise efforts? We’d love to hear how MYZONE’s heart rate-based system has elevated your fitness and helped put you on track toward achieving your goals. Share your stories with us using #myzone or #effortrewarded

Why workout with a heart rate monitor? (2024)

FAQs

Why workout with a heart rate monitor? ›

To get that extra oxygen to your muscles, your heart has to work harder to circulate your blood to help pump your lungs. As you work to build your body, you are simultaneously strengthening your heart. This means that your heart rate measurement will show you the true effectiveness of your workout.

Why use a heart rate monitor when working out? ›

“Monitoring your intensity will allow you to get the optimal caloric expenditure and burning of fats and carbohydrates. A good heart rate monitor can help you monitor the intensity of your workouts.” Heart rate monitors work by measuring electrical signals from your heart.

What is the primary benefit of wearing a heart rate monitor? ›

Wearing a heart-rate monitor means you can get detailed feedback on how hard you're working. This enables you to train smarter, allowing you to get the desired training effect out of each workout. The first thing to work out is your maximum heart rate (MHR).

Why do you need to train with your heart rate? ›

What are the benefits of heart rate training? Heart rate training prevents you from running too hard on your easy or recovery runs. This means that it reduces your risk of fatigue and overtraining, helping you to recover more quickly and efficiently.

Why is it important to consider heart rate with exercise? ›

Your heart rate offers a more fact-based look at exercise intensity. In general, the higher the heart rate during physical activity, the higher the exercise intensity.

Is 170 bpm bad when exercising? ›

Target heart rate is generally expressed as a percentage (usually between 50 percent and 85 percent) of your maximum safe heart rate. The maximum rate is based on your age, as subtracted from 220. So for a 50-year-old, maximum heart rate is 220 minus 50, or 170 beats per minute.

What are the disadvantages of using a heart rate monitor? ›

Heart Rate Monitors Can Be Unreliable

While the technology used in heart rate monitors continues to improve, there are still situations where monitors can display inaccurate readings and batteries can die. This becomes less of a problem the more you run with a heart rate monitor and the more you understand your body.

What does wearing a heart monitor for 2 weeks show? ›

A cardiac event monitor, unlike a holter monitor can be worn for up to 2 weeks to give us a much more complete picture of one's heart rhythm that helps us determine if there is something to treat or not and whether symptoms are likely to recur.

Is a 190 heart rate bad while running? ›

Normal Heart Rate

During exercise, your heart rate will rise substantially, sometimes up to 180–200 bpm. For most beginner runners, a "high heart rate while running," will be somewhere around 150–190 bpm, or 80–90% of their maximum heart rate.

Is it better to train by heart rate or pace? ›

Heart rate training is more beneficial for those easy recovery runs to keep your efforts at a steady state and make sure you are using the run for what it is for—recovery. If your goal is to run at a certain pace come race day, then it is a good idea to focus on pace for target runs such as tempo and interval workouts.

Is it better to Train with heart rate or power? ›

Instantaneous Indicator of Effort. One of the greatest advantages power has over heart rate is that your efforts (or lack thereof) are immediately and accurately represented. Measuring cycling efforts using heart rate is a lagging indicator of how an effort is straining the body.

Is 180 bpm bad when exercising? ›

A heart rate of 180 bpm when running is considered high. Slow your pace down until you reach your ideal target heart rate.

What heart rate is considered cardio? ›

Aerobic (cardio) zone.

You're using about 70% to 80% of your maximum heart rate. At this heart rate, only 45% of your burning calories are fat. However, you're burning more calories than you are in the other two zones. While you're not burning the maximum amount of fat calories, you're improving your overall health.

What happens if your heart rate is too high during exercise? ›

If their heart rate gets too high, it can affect blood flow through the heart. This can lead to symptoms like chest pain and even cause injury to the heart muscle. All hearts benefit from exercise, but the intensity should be adjusted for each individual.

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