As many of you know, I went through all of Round 1 without a heartrate monitor (HRM), and I did just fine. So is a HRM on my “must have list” — NO! But is it a lot of fun — YES!! (Way more than I would have thought).
I got a HRM a couple weeks ago, after talking with my brother about his. I always figured that as long as I BROUGHT IT as hard as I could during a workout, who really cared how fast my heart was beating or how many calories I burned. Well, now that I’ve had my HRM for a while, I’m learning a lot about how my body works, which will greatly improve my ability to “listen to my body” and push it to new levels.
I got an Ironman brand HRM with a chest strap. It was about $100. Some cool things I’ve learned since I started using a HRM:
*I burn nearly 1000 cals on the P90X lifting days, and my heart rate gets over 170! (I never would have guessed I was pushing that hard — not only are the lift days great for muscle building, but they will also cut body fat big time!)
*On days that I work out first thing in the morning, my body stays revved up all morning (Not including the workout, I burn another 1000 calories before lunch doing nothing!!) Cool!
*Insanity is just that … INSANE! I burn 1500 calories and my heart rate is over 180 for much of the time! CRAZY! It takes a lot of calories to move this 210 pound body like Shaun T for an hour!
*My resting HR is in the low 40’s while awake, and actually drops to 32 when I’m asleep. (Hybernation??)
*The ab routines don’t burn very many calories, even though my abs are burning (150 on Ab Ripper X, 220 on Killer Abs, 280 on Insane Abs)
*During a normal day, I can keep my HR a little more elevated (and thus burning more calories) simply by moving around every little bit (whenever I see it going into that nice low “rest” phase, I will hop up and get busy for a couple minutes, thus cranking it back up).
*Sometimes when I think I’m pushing it “hard”, I will look at my HR and realize that I’m dogging it and need to push harder! A lot of it is in my head.
So in conclusion, do you need a HRM? No. But if you have a few extra bucks to pick one up, they really do tell you a lot about how your body is working. They go on sale at most sporting goods stores every few months so keep an eye out for a good deal. I’ve actually worn mine so much that I have a blister on my ribcage from where the adjustment clip rubs. Haha!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
