Marching Into the Peace Corps, Pt 36: the Value of a Heart-calorie Monitor

Back in early December, I saw an infomercial when I first started to work out. It was for a new program called P90X, and I wasn’t sure if I was really going to be swayed by it, so when it came on again a few weeks later, I decided to stop and watch it. The more I did, the more I was convinced it could be a future step in my fitness regimen, but I wasn’t sure when I’d be strong enough to make it through such a demanding workout. At the very least, it looked hard on TV, but then again TV makes everything look great.

By mid January, I had been working out and walking for about a month and a half, and I felt good, but not really strong with stellar endurance. I made a decision that if my income tax refund was large enough and I could sell off a few things on Ebay, I’d buy the P90X program even if I had to put it aside for a little while. Most people know their limits, and in my case, I was exhausted simply watching that infomercial, so it made sense if/when I got the program, I’d set it aside and continue to work my way towards being fit enough to use it.

It was sheer luck that I managed to sell off some old and new workouts on Ebay, and my tax return came back with enough money that would allow me to purchase the program, some workout clothes, and a heart/calorie counting monitor. It is only through sheer determination I possess the strength and stamina to start the workout today.

As I guessed correctly, this program is NO puff piece. I will admit I don’t sweat much and I never have, but I must be doing something right to have lost 30 pounds thus far. I am using the “lean” portion of the program, which is mainly for women, and at the end of the 90 days, I’ll graduate myself up to the “classic”, which is the default mode of the program. Should I decide to keep going, I have one more cycle, and that’s called “doubles”, and its name says it all – two workouts a day for the very ambitious.

Day one of the “lean” cycle is the Core Synergistics DVD, and it’s not easy at all. For all the work I’ve done since December, I found in several areas I was totally unprepared for the exercises – like the sphinx and walking pushups. I had to surrender to the normal push up position, as there was no way my body was going to cooperate. It’s amazing how fast your body can learn to deal with a weighted load, and at the same time, it cannot handle a different style push up. If Core Synergistics is the “recovery week” disk, I’m in trouble as it kicked my “calorically enhanced can” all over the carpet. In some ways I didn’t like it because it tells me I’m not ready for the program, but in other ways, I can keep up with the workout.

If you’re looking to purchase this program, you better be in good shape to start with, or you better be working out a lot on your own for some time. This is not a program for the faint of heart, and it tells you to be careful if you’ve got back or knee trouble. Actually, this might not be the best program for someone with these types of problems unless you strengthen your weak spots first.

The other splurge I made was on a heart monitor with a built in calorie burned counter. I do realize that the strapless ones aren’t as accurate, but then again when you’re talking about technology, you’re estimating calories burned anyway. The technology’s good, but not 100 accurate, and with that said, it arrived in the mail today, just in time for my first P90X workout.

I spent about a half hour programming the monitor with the proper settings, strapped it on, and fired up the Core Synergistics DVD. About an hour later, I checked the “calories burned” section, and it told me I had burned almost 1,000 calories. Even if that number’s off by 20%, it’s still 800 calories burned in an hour! I routinely checked my heart rate, and I was zooming along at 75%, so there were times I had to slow it down to be safe.

The fact I was burning mega calories tells me a few things: I am not eating enough to compensate for the higher burn. By not having enough calories, I have told my metabolism, “Sue is starving – hold onto the fat stores!” That’s a problem – I don’t want it to hold onto the fat! I want my saddlebag butt and my Homer Simpson “donuts” belly GONE, not hanging around! The more I worked out last week, the more frustrated I got because I couldn’t get my body to give up the fat. Now I know why.

I normally consume around 1,200 calories a day and it was fine for a while, but now I’m more active, I must increase the calories so by body doesn’t think it’s in starvation mode. I found I should be consuming 1,800 calories, and that’s based on a simple combination of formulas:

1. Your body weight x 10 = resting metabolic rate (RMR)
2. Your RMR x 20% = daily activity burn
3. Your RMR + daily activity burn + 600 = energy amount

• Level One range of 1,800 – 2,399 = you should consume 1,800 calories a day
• Level Two range of 2,400 – 2,999 = you should consume 2,400 calories a day
• Level Three range of 3,000+ = you should consume 3,000 calories a day

If I didn’t have the heart monitor with the approximate calorie counter, I could not have estimated my workout intensity. I knew I was tired after it was over, but I didn’t know how many calories I was burning. In my case, I had burned almost 1,000 calories in a single workout, and my daily intake is around 1,200 calories. If we assume the count is off by 20%, that still means I have 400 calories not used at that point in time, but would be shortly in order for me to exist (breathing, heart beat, pumping blood, organ function). Keep in mind 600 calories is starving, so I can see exactly why my body held onto the fat with tooth and nail ferocity.

Even if you can’t afford a heart rate and calorie watch monitor, see if you can borrow one for a workout or two from a friend who owns one to gage your calorie burn and heart rate. You might be strangely surprised at how hard you’re actually pursuing your workout goals, forcing you to make a course correction or two. There’s nothing wrong with having more information than what the scale or your clothes can tell you, and that’s why I’d recommend this little gizmo for all people who are starting an exercise plan, especially if you’ve got health problems – you must know exactly what your body has to tell you. I don’t think I’ll ever work out without one ever again!

If you don’t like trying to find all the segments of this series, you can locate the links to them here and they will return you the exact spot on the appropriate site.