The more you work out, the more efficient you become, the less calories you burn. What to do, what to do?
I am a big fan of heart rate monitors. They help keep you honest when you exercise. They can help you make sure that your warmup is really a warmup, and know when you have cooled down enough.
One of the main reasons for getting a heart rate monitor is to watch the effort that you are producing. As you train, you become better at what you are doing, and you have to work harder to see results.
When I started working out, I thought that walking 3 miles was great exercise, now I don't even break a sweat. For me, because of knee problems, running is out. So... to increase effort, I walk on a treadmill at an inclline. I like to keep my heart rate at around 150 beats per minute (goals vary by age and the intensity that you are looking for) and I find that wearing a heart rate monitor really helps me reach my goal. It also guides me to change intensity, speed up, or increase the incline.
I dislike the heart monitors that are built into the cardio equipment that I use, because for complete accuracy, you need to stop exercising. I don't want to have to stop exercising to check my pulse. I currently own a Polar heart rate monitor, and would not hesitate to reccomend it to anyone looking for one.
