Power Walking - heart rate (and not only) monitoring

Power Walking in Edinburgh

I was asking myself....how does it look the level of exertion on a power walk session? ..in other words: do I cheat or do I really work out well?

I've set up my test on a treadmill at the Pleasance gym, on runtastic app...

I started my research with 10 minutes of power walking at 120 beats per minute (bpm) frequency...it felt quite easy...and the heart rate chart confirmed it: 60% of the time my heart rate was under 118 bpm... wow, this is indeed much too easy, at a speed of 6km/h; still, it felt like a good "warm-up".

Next I got into another 10 minutes chunk, this time at 130 bpm... 84% of this I have exercised between 118-129 bpm, an interval called 'easy'...well...good enough for a 6.5km/h.

And the third 10 minutes chunk....140 bpm...this feels fast...and sweaty..and yes it makes sense, as 88% of the time I exercised in the Fat Burning zone...1.13km in 9.52 mins.

Unfortunately I've simply forgotten to set up the treadmill for my personal details, so the data I have about amount of calories burned it was not accurate.

Now, to answer the question that started my small test: yes, if I am exercising under the intensity that I got to when walking at 140 bpm, I am cheating.

Why would I waste my precious time without achieving some serious 'fat burning' exertion? That's why, next time when I go for my 10 minutes of power walking, I will go straight to my - now proven- fat burning speed: 140 bpm...

Good stuff!

If you want the audio file for 120 bpm, 130 bpm and 140 bpm, just send me an email...

Spring...time to go out!

Such a lovely weather in Edinburgh!
Sunshine, no wind...just perfect weather for a nice walk or power walk or jog or run...depending on your level of fitness...

Power Walking - Sunny day on Arthur Seat

My heart rate today was constantly on top range of my training interval, which is set up now between 60% - 85% max heart rate...

Power Walking - Beurer feedback

A short analysis shows that for 38 minutes of quite intensive exertion, i managed to burn , according to Beurer, about 324 calories... or about 85 cal/10 mins ...


Another input from Runtastic (see below) suggests 438 kcal for 48 minutes... or  91 cal/10 mins

Power Walking - Runtastic feedback

I would go with an average of  88 cal/10 mins for my outdoor jogging.....

Good to know that my body simply cant burn more than this....so in future, when craving for that muffin of 238 cals, I will no longer fool myself that in I don't know how much gym time (I've never been precise on this) I will burn that out completely....

I hope this monitoring to be a way to educate myself about the limits of my body, so I become aware that if I want to maintain healthy weight, I must pay attention to how much I put in through the food I choose...

I will try to keep a kind of a food diary too....that's difficult, huh?

Friday Run - with Beurer and Runtastic

By Mia Dragostin

I wanted to keep on exercising today, nothing big...just my regular daily half hour. Initially I have planned for an indoor 5k on a treadmill, then decided to go for an outdoor run...the day is so grey and gloomy

Power Walking in Edinburgh - Grey and gloomy day over Arthur Seat

Power Walking in Edinburgh - Muddy footpath

... and the footpath so muddy... 

I don't know why, but today the run really felt hard...got tired so quickly, every step felt so difficult, so close to simply give up...Even if I was a little disappointed of not being able to do a full run around, I must admit that at least I've done something...better than nothing!

I thought it would be interesting to check my heart rate graph with my new Beurer PM70 heart rate monitor, so I strapped it up and ...go girl, go!
The result is that out of the 45 minutes, I have exercised constantly over 60% of MHR, and about 20 minutes over 85% MHR, with a spike of about 200bpm....I still wonder if this spike really happened or it was a fault of the monitor...

Curious to see how Runtastic is working, I also took my phone with me.

Power Walking in Edinburgh - Runtastic map

If you want to find out how I do (and also to have a 'Cheer' from me, don't be shy and connect with me on runtastic ...just look for 'Mia D' ...

First Day of 2013 - First wee Run

by Mia Dragostin

No, it was not the New Year resolution that took me out for a wee run so early; I don't do New Year's resolutions... 

 I only have a new heart rate monitor, and I was curious how is working..more details about it later...now I just share the joy of being able to make it around Arthur Seat, just like this, after at least 2 weeks of continuous eating and pure lazyness...Yay! :-)

 

View Around Arthur Seat 3.3 miles = 5.31km in a larger map

Ready for Olympics - History: 100 metres

Should I design a new power walking program?

After joining the SIE bootcamp, I keep thinking about designing a new power walking program.

The first one was for academic purposes only, a research exploring the effect that power walking could have over health risk factors associated in metabolic syndrome (blood pressure, BMI, weight, fasting glucose).

During the research I have discovered a lot of things that I had no idea before.
The most important for me was that even if fitness professionals can come up with the BEST program ever, there is a BIG problem: if the client does not keep up with the frequency of exercising, there will be no result whatsoever.

I truly believe now that the first step should not be so much a perfect program, but a program which can be flexible and supportive enough for the client. Without permanent care and conversation with the client, I believe there can be no long term adherence to exercise, especially when is involved change, or the transition from a sedentary lifestyle to a more active one.

So, to keep it short:
I would need to find out from people who do not exercise enough (or at all) currently, or who have a very low level of total physical activity during the average day - the following:


If you want to become more physically active, what are some of the barriers which, at present, keep you away from doing this? (Please do this in at least 100 words).


Could you please share this post with your friends, I deeply appreciate your help.

Power Walking: Core Exercises

Here we have another series of 4 core exercises.

Reaches

Lying flat on the floor, bend at knees, lift your heels. Activate core muscles - this means you pull your belly button towards your spine, and keep that muscle contraction during entire exercise. Lift both arms in front of you so they are in line with your shoulders.

Raise your head and shoulders from the floor, only by contracting your abdominals.

Lower under control, repeat. Keep the movement rhythmical.

Power Walking: Reaches

Crocodile crunch

Lying on the mat, lift both legs towards you. Activate the core muscles.

With your head and neck off the floor, raise the upper torso and bring the legs towards you, then reach. Lower under control and repeat the movement.

Power Walking: Crocodile Crunch

The plank

Activate your core muscles, drawing your navel to your spine. Resting on your forearms and toes, hold your body up. Keep your elbows under your shoulderblades with forearms facing forward.

Power Walking: The Plank

Hip abductions

Lying on your side, position one leg over the other, bending the lower leg. Do not point the toes. Lift the higher leg so that it is in line with the hip and return to the start position. Perform 6 repetitions.

Continue the same scissors like movement from hip line until the foot gets to the level of the shoulder. Repeat 6 times.

Without stopping, perform a full range  -shoulder to starting position - movement; repeat 6 times.

Change the side.

Power Walking: Hip Abductions

Repeat each exercise at least 2 times X 10 repetitions each side (where is the case).

Reference: 

Mark Anthony (2006) - "Once a week work-out, Transform your body in 12 weeks", Collins and Brown Publishing