kayjay Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Like many of you I like to exercise but I really have to watch it. Dr's at Mayo told me 5min on the recumbent bike. Some days I can't even do that but tonight I got on my bike for 10min with my compression girdle underneath support tights.Hmm. then I got off the bike and on my eliptical. I really want to use it but I passed out before having "fun" on it. Hard for type "A" me to do so little!By my own standards I hardly exercised at all... but now I have chest pain. I think I could be smarter about cardio with a heart rate watch.. do any of you use them?Do they work for those of us who are "abnormal" in so many ways? I really need exercise because I can't stop eating and my clothes are getting tight (meds prob. not helping either). I don't want to add extra lbs. to my problems!Thanks as always for your advice... I am addicted to this website! Kayjay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadesofgrey49 Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I'd like a recommendation, too! And when exercising, what should I try to get my heart rate up to? The most recent professional advice was to go to my max heart rate...I don't know what that is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartcats Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 I really like my Polar. Easy to use and accurate. Before my Beta Blocker easily caught up 200+ moments on stairs and stuff. I try to wear it often but haven't been lately. When I work I wear it all day. And of course for exercising. You don't need a super fancy model. The $99 one is great for our needs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggie Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Since I can't take any meds for pots I always wear a polar heart monitor to know where my heart rate is while being up on my feet. I get the easiest one to use and it lasts quite long. What's really nice is when it does break all I need to do is send it back to polar and they fix it for free, all I have to do is pay for the shipping. I have two so when one goes down I wear the other one while the one is being fixed. They are very simple to use and I find they are not uncomfortable to wear. I live in Florida where it really gets hot and I still have no problems with mine.Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayjay Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Cat Lady and Maggie- are you talking about the same thing or does Maggie's go around her torso and cat Lady your wrist?Should I not even look for a watch model? I really only want to wear it when I exercise- to tell you the truth most of the time I don't even want to know my "stats"... they freak me out!!I am trusting that I won't drop over dead before God wants me too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futurehope Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Maggie,I have a Polar heartrate monitor. Once when I thought the battery in the transmitter died, there was no way I could replace it, and I thought I would have to send it back to them with $50 to get it replaced?Well, I only spent $90 on the watch and was not about to spend $50 to replace a battery?!Luckily, I got it to work again without sending it in.I hope I'm wrong about the $50, because I was about to forget about it and get a Timex heart monitor which would allow me to replace the battery. The polar does not allow me to open it up at all and replace a battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewatcher Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 I use the one with the chest strap and the wrist-watch. I constrict so badly, the wrist only type don't always work for me. I know I read a target HR zone for POTS, but I don't know where! It's like, the very bottom of the "normal" cardio range, 60-70% of Max HR is what I think. That's very slow if you are unmedicated, but not impossible if you are. I think you are supposed to move, but not so much that it triggers the adrenaline surge...(?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potsgirl Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 There are many sites on the Internet that can help you determine your ideal heart rate zone while you're working out. At www.bodyforlife2.com/max_heart_rate.htm, all you need is to put in your gender, age, and resting heart rate and it'll give you ranges and your maximum heart rate. My doctor told me to stay in the 'easy' to 'moderate' zone. For example, I'm female, 47, resting heart rate of 60. When I work out, I try to hit about 70 - 75% of my max, or about 140-150 beats per minute. Others may need to be closer to 60%, depending on your conditioning level. Of course, quit exercising if you get too short of breath, have pain, and make sure your doctor approves. I used to know the formula, but this site makes it easy. Good luck, and hope this helps. Jana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firewatcher Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 There are many sites on the Internet that can help you determine your ideal heart rate zone while you're working out. At www.bodyforlife2.com/max_heart_rate.htm, all you need is to put in your gender, age, and resting heart rate and it'll give you ranges and your maximum heart rate. My doctor told me to stay in the 'easy' to 'moderate' zone. For example, I'm female, 47, resting heart rate of 60. When I work out, I try to hit about 70 - 75% of my max, or about 140-150 beats per minute. Others may need to be closer to 60%, depending on your conditioning level. Of course, quit exercising if you get too short of breath, have pain, and make sure your doctor approves. I used to know the formula, but this site makes it easy. Good luck, and hope this helps. JanaThere is a different formula for those of us on BBs, but I don't remember where i saw it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brye Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 I bought mind for 50$ from the "Jonathan no excuse work out site" that I got started on through my flylady yahoo group. I'm very pleased with it. IT has a chest strap I wear and the watch and it seems very accurate. I didn't think the price was too bad. So far I haven't been able to work out since I bought it but it has a lot of great work out features you can use to calculate highs, lows, averages, all kinds of fun stats. Good luck!! Hope you find the right one!Brye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ana_22 Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Are these waterproof? the ones with the chest strap?id like to use one swimming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggie Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Futurehope,I have the polar monitor that has a chest strap with a watch that I wear on my wrist. My husband set the watch for my lows and highs so it only beeps when I'm too high or at a good resting rate. I have found that you need to keep your receipt for proof of purchase, that's when I can send it in and they fix it free, just pay for the shipping. In regards to how high heart rates should go during exercising one would need to check with their dr because all of us are different. At this point my neuro does not want my heart rate to go over 120 while exercising. When this happens I stop rest and let it get back down and then continue on. There is a heart monitor for water, but it is a special heart monitor and costs more. Since I live in Florida I do have a pool, but am not allowed in it unattended because of my condition of pots. If you should become in distressed or you are a fainter the water is not the safest place to exercise.Maggie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brye Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 My watch with the chest strap says water resistant. I'm not sure that's water proof though as in can swim with it.Brye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayjay Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 My watch with the chest strap says water resistant. I'm not sure that's water proof though as in can swim with it.BryeI just got mine from amazon- i wore it in the tub- just wanted to see what my hr is doing when I wash my hair- no problems! I don't know how you could keep the strap up swiming. I am happy I got it. Thank you all for your imput! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heathmcev Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I tried my brother's chest strap/wrist watch combo but it's just such a pain... and constricting. So I ended up with one of the Brookstone Heart Rate Rings. I was skeptical at first, but I wore it while doing a loop monitor for my cardiologist and subsequently was able to find out that the ring was accurate! the heart rates I saw matched those the loop recorded. and it comes in pink I think I paid $35. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erik Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Do any of these (or others) happen to log ongoing HR then download to a computer?I currently do this with a Pulse Oximeter and it is really handy to have graphs (and keep documented history to show extent & duration of the issue). The graphs make it really obvious and document exactly how my pulse goes up upon standing (and my frequent bradycardia)! I've used it to record overnight during sleep too in case anything radical is going on then.It's a "CMS-50E" pulse-ox (facelake.com or echostore.com)... down side is that it dangles from finger... so I'm wondering if some of these watches or whatever can do the logging??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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