As a personal trainer I regularly ask my clients if they got in any exercise since the last time we trained together. I often received answers that consisted of "Yes, I pulled weeds" or "Well, I cleaned out my garage". While those are activities that burn calories I am not sure they should be considered a workout. But how would you know? Well one way to get a better idea is to incorporate a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) into your daily activities and seeing how they hold up to your normal workouts.
If you have never used one before it is a tool that practically guides you through your workout. Once set, it will let you know when you need to pick up the pace and when its cool to take a break. With the ultimate goal being to burn as many calories as possible during your workout (and to have some fun) a HRM will come in very handy.
Most basic models will do the job. My favorite brand is a Polar HRM. The FT4 version is great for keeping track of your heart-rate and the number of calories burned, and it comes in cute colors. There is no need to research the science behind it, just enter your information and the watch will do the rest. Try your best to keep your heart rate in the zone and you will ensure that you are getting the most out of each and every workout.
If you have never used one before it is a tool that practically guides you through your workout. Once set, it will let you know when you need to pick up the pace and when its cool to take a break. With the ultimate goal being to burn as many calories as possible during your workout (and to have some fun) a HRM will come in very handy.
Most basic models will do the job. My favorite brand is a Polar HRM. The FT4 version is great for keeping track of your heart-rate and the number of calories burned, and it comes in cute colors. There is no need to research the science behind it, just enter your information and the watch will do the rest. Try your best to keep your heart rate in the zone and you will ensure that you are getting the most out of each and every workout.
I often like to wear my heart rate monitor during activities to investigate how many calories I burn. By doing this, I am more motivated to skip a traditional workout and mix it up with new activities. If I find that the calorie burn wasn't stellar I just know not to treat the activity as "exercise" and merely an activity. Activity still adds to your total daily calorie burn but it usually takes a lot longer to burn the same number of calories than traditional exercises such as, running for 30 minutes, would burn (for me that is about 300 calories). I feel good if at the end of my workout I have burned more than 350 calories. ** Please note that HRMs are not 100% accurate. Use them as a guide!
Yesterday my Dad invited me to go out to a portion of the Ocala National Forrest to walk a good chunk of the Alexander Springs Trail, which I am pretty sure is no longer a spring because we saw no water anywhere. I was also a little surprised to not have seen any animals, not even a squirrel or a snake but it was still very pretty and peaceful.
Yesterday my Dad invited me to go out to a portion of the Ocala National Forrest to walk a good chunk of the Alexander Springs Trail, which I am pretty sure is no longer a spring because we saw no water anywhere. I was also a little surprised to not have seen any animals, not even a squirrel or a snake but it was still very pretty and peaceful.
We walked through the Florida terrain and have had very lively libations. We chatted about every topic and had a great time, that is once we found the trail. Between the crappy Google directions and the oh so helpful ladies in the Ocala National Forrest Welcome booth, we got off to a later start then expected. Once we got cruisin' we walked for a good 2 hours.
My heart rate was at a steady 108-110 bpms throughout the walk. While that is not in my zone, by the end of the 2 hours I was happy with my 475 calories burned but because it took 2 hours to get there I am going to have to rate this as a moderate level activity. I would have been happy to consider it a workout had my calories been closer to double that amount. Overall, it was a great experience and I cannot wait to do it again, maybe with more participants (Mom & Jonjon, wink wink). I have already started filling my calendar with more calorie burning activities. Let me know if you want in!