Burn those Calories!!

I mentioned in this week's Monday Matters that I bought a Heart Rate Monitor.  Well, it did come in on Monday afternoon and I have been using it all week!  It's fabulous!!!  I bought a Polar FT4, and it says it's specifically "for females" - I really think that they say that because the watch itself is a little more feminine than a big black hunk of watch.  You can still preset all of the settings, and you still have to choose between male and female when you do the initial setup.

In any case, I have been using it all week.  The greatest thing about the FT4 is that it has the capability to calculate calories burned, as well as store historical data (so I can look back at my other workouts and not just "today's").  It's super easy, you just wet the sensors on the chest strap, clip it around your chest (I tuck mine right into my sports bra so it doesn't move), hit the on button on the watch, and it starts.  You can pause the recording, and you can review the time and calories while it's still recording.  AND you can wear it as a regular watch even while you're not exercising!!

Here are my last few work-outs using the FT4:

Tuesday:  Cardio Interval Training (at work):  45 minutes, 503 calories burned
Wednesday:  Tae Bo (at work):  40 minutes, 480 calories burned
Thursday:  Zumba (at work):  53 minutes, 536 calories burned

I was super curious what workout would get me the most calories burnt.  Technically, looking at the past 3 days, I could argue that Zumba burned the most.  But that was also the most time....So the engineer in my has come out.  I extrapolated the data to see what the calories would be if all three workouts were 1 hour...

Workout	Calories  burned @ 60 minutes
Cardio Interval Training	671
Tae Bo	720
Zumba	607

Now I have to admit.  The Zumba class that I did at work was with a substitute instructor, and it wasn't as intense as a usual class, nor was it as intense as some of the classes I've done at World Gym (with Sara or Gina).  So there is definitely room for error in the potential calories to burn in a full hour.  

But regardless of which workout I do, I think that the amount of "calories burned" is going to be pretty high on the list!!!

Since I have been counting calories on MFP, this is a huge help - now I don't have to rely on the machines for calories burned and I have a better estimate of calories burned when exercising off the machines!!

My new heart rate monitor - Polar FT4 - watch and strap