Is monitoring heart rate while working out useful?

[DontFearTheRepr]

Is monitoring your heart rate while working out (deadlift, squat, etc.) useful? While performing aerobic exercise I've read it's helpful to ensure you're within your target heart range. So many fitness wearables can now accurately measure and log your heart rate, but is this useful in anyway?

[ironwill2008]

Is monitoring your heart rate while working out (deadlift, squat, etc.) useful? While performing aerobic exercise I've read it's helpful to ensure you're within your target heart range. So many fitness wearables can now accurately measure and log your heart rate, but is this useful in anyway?

It would only be of value if the Cardiologist whose care you were under recommended it.



Many fitness gizmo sellers attempt to correlate heart rate with single-exercise-event calorie "burn," but trying to use such erroneous information to guide your calorie intake will lead you down the wrong path. Beginners are constantly enticed to buy/use such gizmos in lieu of what's actually required to see real changes in body composition---accurate weighing/measuring/tracking of food portions coupled with an experience-appropriate weight training program.

[vonschnapps]

Is monitoring your heart rate while working out (deadlift, squat, etc.) useful? While performing aerobic exercise I've read it's helpful to ensure you're within your target heart range. So many fitness wearables can now accurately measure and log your heart rate, but is this useful in anyway?

I don't even wear my heart rate monitor when I run anymore. There's a lot of talk about being in your target range, and training at threshold, etc. and then even staying in Zone 2 during the off season, etc, all for speed, endurance, and conditioning, I can't see how a heart rate monitor would be of any benefit during a basically anaerobic lifting workout.

[Porphyry]

I don't even believe HR monitors are useful for AEROBIC activities. I went through a phase where I was wearing one all the the time and I got to the point where I could pretty much guess my HR within 10BPM just by feel. All my HRM-predicted aerobic capacity measurements were "elite" according to Polar/Suunto (EPOC, VO2, Resting HR <40).

Problem was that my performance sucked. I learned this the hard way when I twice got my ass kicked by friends in both cycling and running. Difference was they actually participated in competition. Turns out that no-one really cares if you perfectly maintained a zone-2 HR while cycling 25miles if you're ****ing slow.

Fast is fast, strong is strong. HRMs are largely BS. ironwill2008 is right: measure what matters. Improvements in HRM "scores" aren't improvements in fitness - improvements in performance are improvements in fitness.

[thejosef]

I don't even wear my heart rate monitor when I run anymore. There's a lot of talk about being in your target range, and training at threshold, etc. and then even staying in Zone 2 during the off season, etc, all for speed, endurance, and conditioning, I can't see how a heart rate monitor would be of any benefit during a basically anaerobic lifting workout.

I rarely wore my Garmin chest strap when I would run, but I recently bought a TomTom Runner Cardio that actually checks your heart rate from the watch. It is an AWESOME advance in heart rate tech. That being said, I never wear it for weight training.. only for running, and really just cause it's cool to see my HR. Lol. I agree with what others stated above.. I just see no benefit to use it for strength training.

[ichthis]

...I agree that the notion of using a heart rate monitor to try to get in/stay in the 'burn zone' is probably not a very productive idea. However, I've sometimes found mine useful to use as a tool to maintain a certain level of intensity through a run.

[Robfitx]

I used to wear one during cardio/HIIT. The heartrate stat seems pretty reliable at telling me whether I'm "dogging it" or not, but all that really does is confirm something that I already know....

[Cleveland33]

I don't even believe HR monitors are useful for AEROBIC activities. I went through a phase where I was wearing one all the the time and I got to the point where I could pretty much guess my HR within 10BPM just by feel. All my HRM-predicted aerobic capacity measurements were "elite" according to Polar/Suunto (EPOC, VO2, Resting HR <40).

Problem was that my performance sucked. I learned this the hard way when I twice got my ass kicked by friends in both cycling and running. Difference was they actually participated in competition. Turns out that no-one really cares if you perfectly maintained a zone-2 HR while cycling 25miles if you're ****ing slow.

Fast is fast, strong is strong. HRMs are largely BS. ironwill2008 is right: measure what matters. Improvements in HRM "scores" aren't improvements in fitness - improvements in performance are improvements in fitness.

I used to wear one during cardio/HIIT. The heartrate stat seems pretty reliable at telling me whether I'm "dogging it" or not, but all that really does is confirm something that I already know....

This. We used to wear them when rowing, but it was an easy way for coach to come and see if you are really going at the rate you were supposed to be at. Then again, we also got into a competition on who could achieve the highest BPM. I forget what won, I was able to hit 220bpm.

[keyboardworkout]

I also wear a monitor during rowing. I use it mostly for intervals. I allow my HR to recover to 100 before starting the next interval. This is a good gauge of fitness (how fast your HR drops).

The good thing is that after wearing a monitor for a while it will be easy to guess your HR with an accuracy of +/- 5 beats or better.

HR monitors are also fun to wear during sex. We have made a game out of who is working harder.