Tuesday, May 20, 2008

You can't fool the Polar F11

I tried today! I don't know if you guys are sick of hearing about my heart rate monitor (hrm) but it helps me to stay on track when I talk about it so I will try to name the posts something so you know what it is about and can skip it if you want. I need to name him. I have decided that even though it is pink it has to be a girl because I have to strap it to my chest really close to my boobs and no girl gets that close to those. Any name ideas are appreciated!

Today I was debating on whether to do the step class at lunch or not but my knee was hurting yesterday and step can be sort of bad for your knees so I opted out...I debated about it a lot though and finally decided that I would go down after work (gym in basement of work and free...can't beat that) and ride the bike cause that is good for the knee and then tomorrow I would do my spin class because I know my teacher misses me. I also decided that of the 3 workouts I had left according to Polar I was going to do the "short" one. This one is only 30 mins so how bad could it be? look it up and for the first 15 mins I have to be between 70-89 and then for the second 15 I have to be between 80-89. I Well, I get down there and start on the bike but after pedaling as fast as I can at the highest resistance I can handle I can only get my heart rate to 69, so after 4 mins I had no "in zone" minutes...plan two is the elliptical so head to that and get my heart rate up. I have to go pretty fast at a pretty high level to get it up...and it is really hard to keep it there.

My lesson learned is that, yes, I used to work out but apparently I wasn't working out hard enough to make a difference. Since I got this heart rate monitor I had to walk a lot faster than I normally would (but couldn't run) and up an incline, can't ride the bike anymore cause it doesn't do enough and have to do the elliptical about 2 levels higher than I used to. I will be interested to see if all of this makes a difference in my fitness. I am sore today (and all I did was walk yesterday) so I am encouraged since walking has never made me sore before. This little device is perfect for me because there really is no way to cheat at all.....it keeps up with it all and you can't change it....I love it and I highly recommend it. I didn't really believe in the website www.polarpersonaltrainer.com but it definitely lives up to its name and it pretty close to having someone standing there telling me to push it, only this little guy uses blinking numbers and alarms (which I turned off until i get the hang of my zones).

In other news, I have a 3 inch scratch across my face that looks like a kitty scratch. How did I get it you ask, when I don't have a cat? Well, I was doing laundry and due to the fact that I live in a shoebox I have a basket that hangs on the back on my laundry room door that holds food (crackers, cereal and the like). In said basket is a box of oatmeal packets (and the big sam's like pack though it is from Target). This morning I had no more latte mix so I grabbed a packet on my way out the door and apparently left the industrial cardboard flap sticking out. After changing out laundry I turned to leave the room and the corner of the box scratched me across the face...what a dumb way to get a 3 inch scratch...can't wait to explain that tomorrow....

4 comments:

Drena said...

r we doing trivia tomorrow?

Mollypants said...

I don't know what I would do with that thing other than notice that my heart rate is already too fast - I take medication that contains a stimulant so its always fast. I'm sure your resting heart rate is about half mine. Does it do anything in the long run or does the targeting of the heart rate help you to get more out of the workout or what? I am pretty embarrassed that I know nothing about my heart other than that my doctor said I was pumping blood like a champ. Maybe I should get one and start using it, although that might require me to actually work out. Your willpower and dedication is WAY better than mine. I wish I had that Ramsey Center again :)
If it's nice tomorrow, maybe I'll be inspired and go running. Or maybe I'll keep on being a skinny fat kid, eating stuff that's bad for me and essentially being sedentary except for walking around Philly.

Mel said...

Yes, it keeps track of stuff over time...you do a resting heart rate reading and an VO2 reading which is how efficiently you use oxygen...then it syncs up with your computer and keeps track of it over time. You choose a workout plan based on whether you want to maintain your fitness, improve it or become an athlete. It will tell you both on the computer and on the watch that you wear what your target is and you have to stay between it...the funny thing is that sometimes it is hard not to go above it...which seems odd...seems like I would go too slow but I seem to have a hard time staying in the zone which is what builds endurance I guess....the jury is still out...it says that it takes 6 weeks to improve your heart fitness so we will see.

Drena said...

I think you should name it Albert. Like Fat Albert. He'll keep you from becoming fat. You could call him Al.