I have always used rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to monitor myself during cardio, mainly because it's easy (just a scale of 1 to 10) and I'm a nerd and have never been able to accurately take my own pulse.
For those of you that go by heart rate, do you think it would be worth it to buy a heart rate monitor? I was reading about some recommended cardio exercise recently, and the article suggested going to 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. Right now I have no idea what the level is for me. I understand how you figure it out and everything (220-age, etc.), but I can never seem to get an accurate pulse reading with my fingers on my wrist or neck. Should I buy one of those doodads I can strap to my arm until I get the hang of it?
PS:
Yesterday: weights, diet, water-->all on.
I did the bench press (chest), overhead press (shoulders), bent over rows (back), squats (quads) and conventional deadlifts (hamstrings). I really worked my chest and back hard and I am sore today, but a good kind of sore. Legs aren't nearly as sore as usual; must be time to increase the weight! :)
Today: cardio (about to do it right now), water-->on.
Diet-->Way off. One of those work lunches again with NOTHING healthy on the menu. Seriously, I looked. I didn't go too crazy, but still. Of course, I'm not hungry at all now, so calories will stay pretty close to normal, even if the quality of those calories leaves something to be desired!
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4 comments:
I think the preceived exertion index works just as well as checking your actual heart rate. I don't think I would spend the extra money on a heart rate monitor. You can probably tell if you are working out hard enough or not just by how you feel. You should be able to cary on a conversation, but not really want to. I can always tell before I check my heart rate if it's going to be in the targe range or not based on how I feel.
Way to go on the work out and don't feel to bad about the lunch. I'm sure you chose as best as you could.
Thanks, Sandra!
I've never gotten a heart rate monitor to work properly. I'd stick with your method
I agree with Sandra.
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