Monitor Heart Rate to Achieve Weight Loss Goals

Posted 9 January 2008

by Ray Browning, Ph.D.

A heart rate monitor is a valuable tool for anyone who is trying to lose weight. It’s simple: If you know how many calories you burn during exercise, you can more effectively plan your dietary intake so that you expend more calories than you take in each day. A heart rate monitor also helps you track your progress. You’ll know how many calories you are burning each day and how much your fitness is improving. This type of feedback can be extremely helpful as part of a weight loss program.

Many heart rate monitors have the technology to provide users with the number of calories (energy) being burned during any activity. Weight loss results when a person uses more calories than are consumed each day. A person’s age, weight, build, and metabolism are also factors in the number of calories burned during exercise. Do not rely solely on one method of calorie counting, as there are many factors. Knowing your body through the use of a heart rate monitor is a good place to start.

Most successful weight loss programs combine physical activity and dieting to create a daily caloric deficit that leads to gradual weight loss. Because a heart rate monitor can accurately measure the energy expended during most forms of physical activity, you are more likely to adopt a diet that leads to weight loss. In addition, you’ll notice that many daily-living tasks (e.g. walking up stairs), will become easier, regardless of whether you lose weight or not. This improvement in your level of fitness can be easily measured with a heart rate monitor and can result in a reduced risk of chronic disease associated with being overweight. A simple way to measure your change in fitness is to walk a certain distance (e.g. a mile) at a given heart rate and then repeat the exercise a few weeks later. You’ll notice that you’ll be able to complete the distance faster as your fitness level improves. To prevent weight regain, relatively high levels of physical activity are important. This means that a heart rate monitor may be even more important once you’ve lost weight. By using a heart rate monitor, you can easily adjust the intensity of your physical activity and you won’t end up doing the same thing over and over, which will reduce the chances of gaining weight again.

How does a heart rate monitor help people lose weight?
Most individuals who lose weight successfully do so by expending 250-500 kcals more energy each day than they ingest. This caloric deficit will produce about 0.5-1 lb. of weight loss per week. You can achieve this caloric deficit by dieting, exercising or a combination of the two. However, most successful weight loss programs require both. So, you need to watch what you eat (reduce intake) and become physically active to lose weight. How do you know how much exercise to do each day? This is where a heart rate monitor is an important tool. Because the amount of energy you expend is related to your heart rate, a heart rate monitor can predict how many calories you are burning while you’re physically active. If you know how many calories you burned during physical activity, you can plan your diet so that you have a caloric deficit. The best part of combining diet and exercise is that you won’t have to reduce your energy intake as much as you would if you were just dieting to lose the same amount of weight. For example, if you want to have a 500 kcal/day deficit, you can accomplish this by reducing your caloric intake by 500 kcals or by reducing your caloric intake by 250 kcals and burning 250 kcals with exercise.

Another way that heart rate monitors can help you lose weight is by providing you information on not only how many calories you’re burning, but also the intensity of your exercise. This is important for weight loss because it will allow you to plan exercise sessions with varying intensities. Thus, you will not end up doing the same exercise every day which will minimize the chance of reaching a plateau.

Can a heart rate monitor really make a difference in workout results?
There are several reasons why a heart rate monitor can make a difference in the results you get from a workout. First, tools like heart rate monitors, pedometers and other physical activity monitors encourage individuals to be more physically active, so you will workout more often. Just by having the ability to monitor heart rate, you are more likely to exercise. Second, since you get objective information on how hard you are working when you wear a heart rate monitor, you can set a goal for a workout and know if you have accomplished that goal For example, assume you want to exercise long enough to burn 250 kcals. With your heart rate monitor you can monitor your progress and experiment with changing the intensity of your effort and how long it takes you to reach your target energy expenditure. Third, you will learn the associations between perceived exertion (how hard the exercise feels) and various levels of exercise intensity. This can help you fine tune your exercise session. Fourth, a heart rate monitor will tell you when you’re being lazy. We all have days when we really don’t feel like exercising and would prefer to just go through the motions. On those days your heart rate monitor will let you know that you’re not working very hard. Sometimes that is enough to motivate you to pick up the pace. Finally, a heart rate monitor can help you to track your progress over time. You’ll have evidence that your fitness level is improving (even if you’re not losing weight) and you can use a heart rate monitor to plan workouts that will maximize the time you have available. It is like having a personal coach.

A heart rate monitor measures how fast a heart is beating at any given moment. Worn around the chest, the monitor will tell you how hard your body is working and therefore how many calories you are using at a given time. Many heart rate monitors are held in place by a body strap that can fall down or be uncomfortable. NuMetrex heart sensing clothing combines the value and power of a heart rate monitor right in workout garments, making a more comfortable experience. For more information about NuMetrex products, visit www.numetrex.com.

Ray Browning is a fitness expert, former professional triathlete and Ph.D. Research Instructor at the Center for Human Nutrition at UC Denver. He focuses on motivating and educating people to live healthy and active lifestyles. During his career as a professional triathlete, he captured 7 Inronman titles and won the 1993 Winter Triathlon World Championships. He was also well known for shattering the Ironman New Zealand bike and overall course records in 1989 while riding the first triathlon specific bicycle designed by Dan Empfield with a steep seat geometry and smaller 650c wheels. Browning hosted seasons 6 and 7 of the long-running PBS television series Trailside: Make Your Own Adventure.

Click here to check out the NuMetrex line of heart rate monitoring fitness apparel.

Comments

If the exercise bike shows 350 k cals how many calories are burned

Janet ~ Jan 24, 08:56 PM
Kcal is an abbreviation for kilocalories. Kilocalories are generally called calories. However, there is more to the story.
Caloric expenditure as reported on exercise equipment is an estimate. This estimate is based on a formula. There is not a standard formula that all manufacturers use. Various manufacturers use various formulas; thus calories are not “created” equally.
The accepted industry standard for caloric expenditure for most exercise equipment is +/-25%. Thus, a 350 calorie workout may actually have a calorie range of: 263 calories to 437 calories. (To determine the range, use this
formula: 350 calories X 25% = 87 calories; 350-87=263 calories 350+87=
437 calories.)
As a coach, I feel caloric measurement is useful as “trend” data. Trend data helps me associate the general direction (training plan) that the client has followed to achieve his current fitness results.
For an everyday workout, I prefer to observe heart rate data. Time in various heart rate zones indicates a truer picture of intensity and workload. This information is more precise and helps me create specific workouts to meet specific goals.

Coach Alinda ~ Jan 29, 06:32 PM
That’s exactly how I lost 112 lbs in 17 months. I changed my nutrition habits AND started to exercise. I used the heart-zones method, bought my first heart rate monitor and lost weight without suffering (yes, it took some time, but I don’t regret it). I preserved my weight for more then a year and half since then, I am fitter than ever and even started to compete (5 K running). Great article!

Mike ~ Feb 5, 09:52 AM