Give me your thoughts....

[Paula]

I have a question for those of you who track HR. My DH is taking blood pressure medication and although his HR increases when he is working out it never gets above about 120. He has asked me if he's getting a good cardio workout or not. He can be working very hard - perceived extertion 9 or 10 and still his HR doesn't go up. So are these intense workouts helping at all? Does anyone know?

[Jennifer R]

Originally Posted by Paula

I have a question for those of you who track HR. My DH is taking blood pressure medication and although his HR increases when he is working out it never gets above about 120. He has asked me if he's getting a good cardio workout or not. He can be working very hard - perceived extertion 9 or 10 and still his HR doesn't go up. So are these intense workouts helping at all? Does anyone know?

If the medication your husband is taking is a beta blocker--often used for blood pressure--their effect is to lower the heart rate. If your husband is working hard (there goes the perceived exertion again) he's getting a good workout and the medication is doing its job. Heart rate as a reflection of the effectiveness of a workout is only reliable in the absence of medications that affect the heart rate. So he shouldn't be trying to get his HR up, just rely on his PE.

[bzar]

if you are conditioned, you will have difficulty getting your HR in a 220-age based level because your heart has become efficient. and as you train and increase your endurance, you have to re-calibrate your THRZ's, and an age-based formula does not allow you to re-calibrate.

the 220-age formula, and any amalgamation of that formula has no basis in science. even the person it is attributed to, and i can't remember his name at the moment, is embarrassed at having his name associated with it!

read this great article by Sally Edwards, a triathlete and reknowned coach on heart zone training.

the zone you should use for yourself is unique to you and the sport you're doing. and your THRZ for cycling wouldn't be the same as it would be if you were running. they're both unique.

if you have a HRM or can take your own pulse, the max for you for a given sport would be the highest seen on your HRM (or highest pulse taken if you don't have a HRM). Sally Edwards has several field tests to help you calculate what your THRZ is for a given sport such as running or step aerobics. basically it involves you going "all out" in that activity and noting your HR at that point.

as i mentioned earlier, you'll need to re-tweak those zones as your body and heart become more conditioned. you can google the Maffetone test which gives you directions on how to measure your improvement as you become more conditioned.

if the old The Firm forums is still alive and running, Heidi Tanner had an excellent post on how you can calculate your own sport-specific THRZ's.

[Bebop]

This is such an interesting discussion.

I think it's good to cross train even in cardio.

For example, I do interval workouts all the time. I also have a walk/jog
interval workout I do outside when I walk my dog. I time myself and try to get better and better times. Our personal best is 23 minutes. My perceived exhertion is very high on the short intervals (phone pole to phone pole).

If I compare that to Cathe Bootcamp, one of my favorites, the cardio intervals are longer but I'm not as winded as the shorter intervals with my dog.

IMHO - if you are an athlete, training for an event, maybe monitoring with a HRM is good. if you are like me, just trying to stay in shape for health and so you don't have to constantly buy new wardrobes, Perceived exhertion and just having fun working out and getting of the couch and doing something is fine. Just my uneducated opinion. Some people like "fitness toys". HRM can be fun and if they help you achieve your goals, use them.

[Sara1000]

Step workouts get my HR up, even if I keep it low impact. With a Club Step you can make the workout as hard as you like by adding risers. Too bad step workouts have lost popularity, but some good ones are still being made.

I think it's important to get your HR up towards your maximum for short periods several times a week to keep your heart and lungs strong. It may not make that much different when you're young, but as you age the capacity of your heart and lungs diminishes unless they are challenged. IMO Leslie is great for some aspects of fitness, but not enough to keep you in optimum condition.

[Bebop]

Sara, I agree with you. I find step workouts get my heart rate up and I cross train with them.

Leslie Sansone workouts are so good because for the beginner they provide easy choreography and non-intimidating workouts.

Intermedate/advanced can still use them by kicking them up a bit on the rebonder or jogging or holding weights. Today Hiit is really big and I like to have easier workouts to balance all the intensity.

For what it's worth, I don't think every exercise session has to be intense. I believe in rest days and cross training. That's just me. I find when I rest my intense cardio workouts are more effective and I can get into that 7-9 perceived exhertion rate.

[summer breeze]

These last 2 posts reminded me of an older thread, where people were using their Leslie DVDs on the step to up the intensity. I remember thinking what a great idea it was at the time even though I've never done it that way.

[slysam]

Originally Posted by Charmed

I am 52 years old and according to the charts, my THR should be somewhere between 118-143. For some reason, when I exercise with Leslie, I simply cannot get my heart rate up. According to my HR monitor, I am usually in the teens, with occasional spikes to the 120s. I am jumping, jogging, using hand weights, exaggerating my movements, and still can't get that heart pumpin'.

The strange thing is that I feel that I really AM getting a workout. I sweat, breathe fast and hard, and my perceived exertion is right up there.

So, do I not worry about what my HR monitor says and just go with how I feel?

Michelle

Go by perceived exertion. If you can adjust your maximum heart rate to something more likely for you. I was reading a book an hrm training (slowly as I have it on the kindle app on my phone so I mainly read while waiting for something though I read most of it when I had jury duty during al the waiting during the selection process). The book said the formulas used such as the 220-age work for the averages of people that were tested but not for about 20% of individuals. It can estimate too high or too low. To some extent maximum heart rate is genetic though fitness and age have some effect. Mine tends low so by hrm stats it always looks like I am not getting a good workout despite how it feels to me. A friend suggested changing the max heart rate setting on my heart rate monitor to be about 10 bpm higher than the highest heart rate I see during a very intense workout. That isn't really scientific or accurate but it did seem to shift my zones enough that the zone the monitor reported fit with my perceived exertion. Later when I started using the hrm app digifit, I opted to purchase the optional fitness assessments. Some of the assessments create custom zones for you based on the test results and that includes a guess at maximum heart rate. The assessments actually put my max heart rate pretty close (within a few bpm) to my method of highest workout max + 10 bpm.

My heart rate doesn't get high with the Leslie workouts I tried though. it is usually around 101 bpm for me but it can sometimes get into the teens. For me a workout that averages in the 100-teens is pretty good aerobic workout. Briskly walking on flat ground my heart rate tends to be about 101 +/-. So I like to look at the zones and make sure 101 is solidly in the "fat burning zone" as brisk walking is of the intensity that should fit in that category for a lot of people. When I run, the highest I see is 145-150 (it never stays at 150 it just touches it briefly) so I like to see 140 towards the top of the aerobic zone (zone 3 on my monitor). I set my max as 160 since that is 10 beats higher than what I see during an intense workout. That is my very rough method I used to match my zones to perceived exertion before I used the Digifit fitness assessments. I think the Digifit assessment set it around 155--it varies by which test or activity I do though.

[slysam]

Originally Posted by Charmed

I used to walk outside...can't do it anymore. But Leslie doesn't bother my feet and I am too choreographically challenged to do much else. I am just surprised that my HR is that low, considering my panting and sweating. I am okay where I am considering the fact that 2 yrs ago my PF was so bad I could barely limp. So I will stop moaning and keep trudging on!

Hmmm... I know I added to the comments about Leslie not getting my heart rate very high. I consider it a lower intensity workout. The Leslie I have does have jogging spurts but I could probably sing the whole time and don't really get breathy. I have been able to up the intensity a little using weights--having tried using a step--good idea! But these comments might not exactly fit your situation. However you are doing it, the Leslie workouts you are using sound like you are getting a good aerobic workout unless something else is raising your core temperature. Sweating and panting sound like signs of exertion to me. This makes me think that your hrm's estimate of the max heart rate is just high for you. Speaking of singing during workouts, are you aware of the "talk test"? Where mild aerobic exercise you can sing without much issue, if you up the intensity a little you can't sing well but can carry on a conversation, as it gets anerobic you can only give short answers to questions not really converse. It has to do with how breathy you get. Maybe google "talk test"aerobic exercise as another resource.

[Bebop]

I never thought to modify a Leslie on the step! I use the rebounder.

I'm going to try it this week!