Training without a heart rate monitor

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Patchthedog
Warming up
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2017 11:57 am
I row on...: Model D with PM4

Training without a heart rate monitor

Post by Patchthedog »

Hi,I'm 57,very unfit and overweight,I also have ectopic beats which throw my heart monitor for a loop and have no idea what my heart rate is at any one time,I had a stress test on a treadmill a few months ago(Bruce protacol,10 and a half minutes,heart rate up to 173),my cardiologist says i'm ok to exercise after he reviewed the ECG of my stress test but without knowing my heart rate I'm not sure about how hard I should row,any ideas?.
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plummy
Friend of the Free Spirits web site 2020
Friend of the Free Spirits web site 2020
Posts: 8306
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2006 8:17 am
I row on...: Model E with PM4
Location: Sale, Cheshire, UK

Re: Training without a heart rate monitor

Post by plummy »

Hi Path - and welcome to the forum.
You are not too dissimilar to me (54 and and have ectopic beats from time to time) - although I wouldn't consider myself as "unfit" "or overweight" (72kg ish).
If you cardiologist has said you are ok to exercise and can't find a monitor that gives you reliable information I would perhaps suggest just rowing until you feel you are working "quite hard" and no more and restricting it to 20 minutes or so at a time and then slowly building up the time you row.

My guess (and I could be wrong) is that you are looking to loose weight and get fitter, so starting with steady, not too taxing sessions would be the way to start off so your metabolism gets the kick in the pants it needs but without risking early injury (or worse).

I would also read up as much as you can (or watch some videos) about good, sound technique so you start off with bets practice.

Plummy
60 yrs old, 76kg, 5' 10"
43Mm metres rowed. Re-setting the bar much lower now. Getting too old for this malarky
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gregsmith01748
Friend of the Free Spirits web site 2015
Friend of the Free Spirits web site 2015
Posts: 1194
Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 4:51 pm
I row on...: Model C with PM4
Location: Hopkinton, MA, USA

Re: Training without a heart rate monitor

Post by gregsmith01748 »

HI,

I have two ideas for you.
1. Learn about the Borg Scale. This is a scale of Perceived Exertion, and it just helps put a number to how you feel. Kind of like the pain scales that they use in the emergency room.

2. If you are really interested in having a way to see how hard you are working, you can buy yourself a lactate meter. This is the most direct measurement of exercise intensity. The most useful purpose of this is to help establish a workout intensity that is appropriate for endurance training. There is a whole thread on this site about it, here...

http://www.freespiritsrowing.com/forum/ ... it=lactate
Greg - Age: 53 H: 182cm W: 88Kg (should be 83Kg)
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Training blog: https://quantifiedrowing.wordpress.com/
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