Heart Rate?? HELP!!!

[Happy]

I recently bought a Polar F6 and luv it!! I am active on Sparkpeople and found with my HRM I was burning alot less than they had me at... upsetting at first, but then I decided I was thrilled to be in the KNOW and just had to work a bit harder to achieve my goals

Well a friend of mine, who is extremely fit and tiny buys the same monitor....You know how friends are with copying things No problem tho - she was always hitting 1700 calorie deficits which is unhealthy and I hoped this proved that, like mine, she was not burning what she thought - Quite the opposite tho Her standing heart rate (pre-workout) read in at almost 100!!! and she easily hit 190 during cardio WITHIN 3 minutes!!! -- I was doing the same exact exercise; pace; etc and am in worse shape, as i have only been exercising 8wks or so and my heart rate did not exceed 150... She burnt 720 calories, I burnt 398!!!

It bothered me, cuz A - she is a size 0 --WHERE can she possibly go from there....After I quit smoking I gained 20lbs and was back up from a 2 to an 8, so I am working out to gain muscle and lose some fat... I am borderline overweight (per BMI) and she LOOKS extremely underweight.... I just do not get how one who only eats 1000 cal's a day can burn 3/4 of them in one workout....

So i started googling, to see how I could get my heart rate up higher to burn more calories and found the HIGHER the heartrate the more outta shape one is?!?! Is this true?? OR is something wrong with her HRM?? (which she bought used) OR something wrong with her?? OR ((my worst fear)) am I just not working hard enuff??

I know we are all different and we need to do what WE can do and not overexert based on another's progress - and I am not -- I hit my recommended calories; protein; fat and carbs daily and keep track of EVERYTHING down to a piece a gum as to not go overboard on my caloric intake... I feel, of the 3 of us tracking exercise and calories, I am the ONLY one doing it right anyways... One isn't hardly eating at all and the other *the one I am referring to* has got to the point of fainting from her deficits!!! (( DUUUUH -- GOTTA EAT!!))


Any advice at all (*or constructive criticism or even reassurance)* would be sooo greatly appreciated!!

[Karmalife]

Well, if she's that malnourished and getting her heart rate up to 190 (how old is she??) she might be taking a "supplement" to give her energy. When I was underweight I was using ephedra and buring tons of calories. Now I'm of a "normal" weight and have to work twice as hard to sweat like I used to.

what's strange to me is that at a size 8 you are bordering being overweight. I'm a size 8 as well but am very much in the normal range. I suppose it depends on height and lean muscle mass.

As for your HR, definitely figure out what your target is. You could mix up your cardio to include low intensity as well as HIIT. You don't want to stick to just low intensity all the time but you certainly don't want to stress your poor heart out like this girl is doing.

Stay positive and focused and try not to compare yourself with others. Do your best to improve daily or weekly and remember that we are all different!
Good luck,
Karma

[Happy]

Thanks so much for your reply Karma I don't know that my friend is malnourished, BUT, for example, on Sunday - she burned 1700 calories per her heart rate monitor (hiking; rock climbing; cardio) PLUS the BMR calories (i know mine are about 1500) and only consumed 900!!! She also often says she is faint; or is close to fainting, but doesn't seem to understand that there is a way to fix that!!

I am JUST under 5' tall... My ideal weight (per US BMI charts) is

My current BMI is now 24.4 (I am down to 125lbs) which is ok now. But 8 wks ago, when I began training, I was at 133lbs which had my bmi at 26.. just slightly overweight... When you are only 5' there isn't much room to play ....

Here is the BMI Chart I go by...You can google them and check your own too....

Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5—24.9 Normal
25.0—29.9 Overweight
30.0 and up Obese

What i'd luv to know is my percentage of body fat, as i know i have mostly fat and very little muscle... I am getting there tho

Thanks again for your reply Karma - and your wise words on not comparing... that is what I needed to hear... I am making progress and feel good.... I strive on listening to my body and have no problem hitting my nutritional goals!! That is all that matters!!

[Karmalife]

Hey again!
No problem- glad I could at least try to give you my opinion. I've been where that girl is- undereating and overexercising so I can pretty much spot it a mile away. I'm finally doing things the right way, even though it's a lot harder at times and not as quick a fix.

As for BMI, I don't usually pay attention to it. It doesn't take into consideration your lean muscle mass. If I plug in the numbers of all my exboyfriends they ALL come up as "OBESE" when none of them were anywhere even close to being overweight.

Now, being under 5 feet tall for you I'm sure is a bit more challenging but that doesn't mean you can't achieve your goals. What is your goal weight? By old standards, I would think somewhere in the 100-110 lbs range, again depending on how much muscle you gain. So don't be discouraged- you're not too far away!

As for measuring body fat, it's an awesome way to track your progress and I say go for it! I know it's scary (I should do it too) but it's really the best way to know how you're doing and if you are building muscle and losing fat.

Best of luck girly!

[Happy]

Yup, my current GW is 110 HOWEVER, I wouldn't care if I stayed at this 125 if I toned up and felt good in my skin...kwim.... Hence my wanting to look at body fat vs lean muscle mass; etc Is there an affordable way to test that at home??

Feel free to check out my spark page too, if you want.... Am I allowed to post that here?? If not, shoot me a PM..

Thanks again for talking with me -- I am gonna peek around the rest of the forum -- perhaps it can answer some questions for me...

Great board!! Thrilled to be here!!


By the way my friend is 28 y.o. -- about 5'5 and a size 0..... her waist is like 24"!!!!!!

[Karmalife]

There are scales you can buy which supposedly measure body fat but they are not worth it, in my opinion, as they are not very accurate.

If you have a trainer, ask him to measure it for you. He will most likely use calipers (which pinch and measure different areas of your body). There is also an underwater method (probably the most accurate) but I'm not sure how pricey that is. Here are a couple links for you:

The best way to measure body fat - CNN.com

4 Ways To Measure Body Fat by MunFitnessBlog.Com

[Gatorade]

Your friend is probably severly malnourished. Shes not getting enough nutrition her hemoglobin and hemotocrit are probably low, which means anemia which means faster heart rate. Your heart rate is good and you should aim for 85%, thats the target. You do 220 - your age which gives you max heart rate, multiply that by .85 or 85% and thats what your target is.