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