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...