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The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › Wearing a Heart Rate Monitor in Class???
Tagged: Heart Rate Monitor, Mouth Breathing, Tachycardia
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Hi Guys!
I was curious to know if anyone wears a heart rate monitor in class. If so, which kind? I have one but find its super bulky and uncomfortable with the heat and all.Also, I was told that wearing a heart rate monitor will not give you accurate reading of calories being burned due to the heat and it not being able to measure accurately. Not sure if this is true.
Any feedback on both these questions would be super helpful thanks so much!
Namaste.
Hi Mandy
I was just wondering why you want to wear a heart rate monitor! There may be a great reason and I would really love to know it. Perhaps you’re training. To even own one is not so common.
OK, just on a hunch I will respond to your question about heart rate in this way: For me it doesn’t matter what my heart rate is per se. What I observe is, after strenuous poses, the ability of my fast-beating thumper to recover. 😉 I notice how when I breathe (after the pose) there is that link between breath and the heart slowing. There is no better time for me to notice this than on the floor even though I notice it when standing after the energetic poses but there is more to pay attention to because of the mirrors there (and the fact that one surrenders physically more when one lies either on the abdomen or on the back).
I went away for a month this year and there was minimal practice (but tons of walking, stretches and certain asana to keep me going). So when I returned to regular practice I noticed that that recovery was slower. That way I tracked my return to practice and body health by observing my heart rate with only an internal monitor!
Would love to hear your thoughts
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hey! I use the Bowflex strapless heart rate monitor. Its great because you wear it on your wrist like a watch so it doesn’t get in the way. It is also water resistant so the heat/humidity doesn’t change the readings for me.
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_gear/bowflex_heart_rate_monitor_strapless.doHi Newbie!
You are probably like me and track your calories on a daily basis or as much as possible. For that reason, I wear a heart rate monitor for nearly every exercise I perform. Hot yoga is an exception to this because I feel it causes distraction and discomfort. I decided to wear it for one class and get my total calories burned and just go by that number every time.
As far as the heart rate monitor being accurate – from what I know, they are most accurate with traditional exercises that your body and muscles are used to and exerting yourself to unfamiliar or extremely strenuous exercises can throw the calorie count off. I still, however, feel better knowing that I have a set calorie count in my head of what I have burned after a class. It might be a little more or a little less but overall I feel satisfied.
I use the PolarFT7 and love it. It monitors the duration of the exercise, the calories burned, heart rate, and how long you were in fat burn or fitness improving mode.
Hi, Gabrielle:
I’m repeating my last line of this tome here, and then please wade through the background paragraphs that follow to understand the context of my question.
Question:Â do you think in time that I can throw away the heartrate monitor and even breathe through my nose?
The rest of the story:
I’m new to Hot Yoga, 25 classes so far, but I come in as a 70 year old man, who had to improve his lung function due to asthma, deviated septum, nose polyps and allergies, to begin exercising. To combat some of those issues, I had to wean myself from a beta blocker called atenenol, which I took for over 10 years for a condition called tachycardia (=”elevated resting heart rate”).
I got off the beta blocker, started addressing the nose/lung issues, and started getting in pretty good shape at a local gym.
My constant personal nemesis has been that I wear a heart-rate monitor, for it’s pretty easy for me to spike the old heart rate to 170 or so in weightlifting reps, and also in Bikram sessions.
When that happens, I sit for a moment, or dead or child’s pose, and then I’m back at it again.  Nuisance, but I’m changing my focus entirely to Bikram from the gym (a different issue prompted it – the trainer had me doing some weights that ended up tearing my long-head biceps tendon, supraspinatus, subscapularis and a SLAP tear as well!).
Since I’m going to be doing Bikram for the rest of my life, I have trouble breathing through the nose for all the above-mentioned reasons – polyps galore, septum, allergies, asthma. If I strictly breathe through the nose, my heartrate spikes — 170 or so. If I breathe through the mouth, I can function much lower and with less fear and stress.
One of the instructors kind of chides me in front of the class, laughing at the heartrate monitor, and being sarcastic about mouth breathing — do you think in time that I can throw away the heartrate monitor and even breathe through my nose?
Thanks in advance for any advise or comments you might profer.
Barry
Hi Barry
That’s some story there. Thank you so much for the all the details.
Believe it or not, I need some more information! 😀 So… I want to ask you about your nose breathing experience.
When do you nose breathe outside of the yoga room?
When do you nose breathe IN yoga?
Are you able to breathe in through the nose for the pranayama exercise at the beginning on class?
When you are doing yoga and you breathe in, what sensations are you aware of in your body? And where are those sensations? I want to know the muscular sensations of tightness or stretching or ??? and location of those things as well as the emotive stuff and where you feel those.
When you are lying on the floor on your back in savasana, are you able to breathe through your nose easily?
Do you ever have to breathe with your mouth open lying on your back?
When you are in standing savasana between poses, are you able to breathe through the nose without any mouth breathing?
Do you tend to divert to mouth breathing as a result of feeling stress?
Is your prime indicator for mouth breathing as a result of knowing/seeing your heart rate monitor?
To make this easier for us both it might be wise for you to copy the questions and answer them one by one.
One question I didn’t ask is whether when you’re NOT thinking about breathing, in normal circumstances, whether you’re a mouth or nose breather.
That’ll do for now! 🙂
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi, Gabrielle:Thanks for your prompt response. I just got back from a 4:00 p.m. class here in Cockeysville, MD. It was my poorest experience since the first week when I was not using a heartrate monitor, holding the bar in the back on standing poses, and generally tripping my flight/fear response to the max. I decided after 3 or 4 traumatic classes to wear the monitor, for I had a feeling it was high.#1 When do I nose breathe outside the yoga room?Pretty much as much as I can, consciously, that is. For example, before they diagnosed the asthma/allergies/nose polyps, I was a terrible snorer. I was also 30 pounds heavier. When I decided to start getting into shape, it was a whole process I had to go through. It coincided with discovery that my calcium levels were indicating that I had hyperparathyroidism, which culminated in my going to Tampa FL for the world’s authority to do his 17 minute miracle operation to solve the problem. In addition to multiple visits to endocrinologists, I was also trying to address the low lung function and the beta blocker.When I was able to start losing weight, to start fluticizone (nasal corticochal spray) for the nose passage narrowing, and to begin a shot regimen for the mold and other allergies I had, I began to stop snoring, to begin to breath through my nose while I slept. My wife says that only when I have a few beers does she ever hear me snore anymore (that’s infrequent anyway).#2 In Yoga, I begin the 1st pose of breathing through my nose, but I’m always wearing a heartrate monitor, and I go from entering the Bikram lobby at 80-90, to setting up my mat at 100, to perhaps 120 by the end of the 2nd stage of the breathing pose. Today with the change in temperature in Baltimore, I really suffered. After the 1st poses, I was breathing through my mouth. At every stage, when I normally might be at a certain heartrate, I was 20+ beats higher, and there were several poses where I just lay back and passed on them in the middle of the class. I was near or above 170 for Standing Heat to Knee, Standing Bow, Balancing Stick, getting dizzy and laboring heavily, and I basically lay down during Standing Separate Leg Stretch, Triangle, and Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee. By Tree I was able to finish the rest in good shape, but the instructor mentioned that with 44 people in the room and the temperature outside going up so much today, things were a little more heated than usual.#3 Yes, nose for pranayama.#4 I think the heartrate monitor (still hanging around since I stopped taking the atenelol beta blocker and managed my tachycardia through exercise) that I wear is still in my consciousness when I’m in class. I do not look at the heartrate until I start to feel that it’s rising dramatically. The “sensation” is I guess partially fear, partially rising heart rate, partially laboring to breathe through my mouth which is audible at least to me. The trifecta I guess of nuisance distractions to my progress.When I breathe in, I don’t feel tightness in muscles — the heat warms me up, the sweat is a lubricant. It’s, as you say, more emotive issues than physical issues. See my savasana answer below about tingling.#5 Usually when savasana comes up, my body is tingling and I almost feel like I’m shaking, and when I look at the heartrate monitor, it’s over 150 at the start. By the end, it can go down to 130 or so, or sometimes even lower. So it’s a temporary spike that savasana helps lower.#6 By the time I’m on my back, I’m breathing through my mouth. The septum, the nose polyps, the asthma — not that I HAVE to use my mouth, but I do notice that if I continue to breathe through my nose, the heartrate is slower to come down.#7 I’m not aware that between poses I’m using my nose much — it’s probably about 90% mouth. Not that I can’t work to change that — it’s just the way it is at present.#8 Yes — it’s stress and the nose blockage combo that make it “easier” for me to use my mouth. Hopefully I can conquer this.#9 Yes and No — I wear it, and as things progress in the class, I DO start looking at the watch — I stop everything at 160, or when I notice it’s already at 170, and generally after a short period of time, it drops into the 140’s. When it rises, I am sure I’m mouth breathing. Which comes first, the heartrate or the mouth breathing — I would say they happen concurrently.#10#11 Before I began to lose weight and address the nose blockages from the septum, polyps, allergies, and asthma, I was a mouth breather. I can remember having my mouth open “catching flies.” Now I find I can go through a day with much more reliance on nose breathing.Hope those answers help define things for you.I appreciate your time and expertise!Barry—– Original Message —–<b>From:</b> Hot Yoga Doctor<b>To:</b> [email protected]<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, February 20, 2016 9:35 PM<b>Subject:</b> [Hot Yoga Doctor] Wearing a Heart Rate Monitor in Class???Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor) wrote:
Hi Barry
That’s some story there. Thank you so much for the all the details.
Believe it or not, I need some more information! 😀 So… I want to ask you about your nose breathing experience.
#1Â When do you nose breathe outside of the yoga room?
#2Â When do you nose breathe IN yoga?
#3Â Are you able to breathe in through the nose for the pranayama exercise at the beginning on class?
#4Â When you are doing yoga and you breathe in, what sensations are you aware of in your body? And where are those sensations? I want to know the muscular sensations of tightness or stretching or ??? and location of those things as well as the emotive stuff and where you feel those.
#5Â When you are lying on the floor on your back in savasana, are you able to breathe through your nose easily?
#6Â Do you ever have to breathe with your mouth open lying on your back?
#7Â When you are in standing savasana between poses, are you able to breathe through the nose without any mouth breathing?
#8Â Do you tend to divert to mouth breathing as a result of feeling stress?
#9Â Is your prime indicator for mouth breathing as a result of knowing/seeing your heart rate monitor?
#10Â To make this easier for us both it might be wise for you to copy the questions and answer them one by one.
#11 One question I didn’t ask is whether when you’re NOT thinking about breathing, in normal circumstances, whether you’re a mouth or nose breather.
That’ll do for now! 🙂
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Post Link: https://www.hotyogadoctor.com/hotyogaforum/topic/wearing-a-heart-rate-monitor-in-class/#post-21249
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Hi Barry
Thank you ever so much for being detailed and methodical.
Before we go on, please do tell me what you think the temperature is in the studio. Do you know if it is set to a certain level? What evidence do you have of temperature? What about humidity? How do you know it’s what ‘they’ say it is?
Look, it does appear that your HR is too high at times. You know that. Let me hear more about the temp and moisture levels. You have indicated some disturbing physical signs of distress. I just need more about the environment.
When you do decide to look at your monitor, are you ever surprised at the reading being lower than you imagined? How accurate are you at determining your HR?
Here’s a question for you about the studio you go to: Have any of the teachers or owners ever had a conversation with you about what you’re doing with the monitor and what exactly you’re tracking? What advice have they given you about managing the issues you have in class? (I do note you have said you get publicly chided in class. That’s bad form and really discourteous.)
You must be under the care of some medical doctor, cardiologist or so-called alternative practitioner. What are they saying? Eg, avoid the HR climbing above 150?
Over to you, squire
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hello again, Gabrielle:You are well-known. Today I had a conversation with the owner of the studio, (a ma-and-pa operation, the Garners), and it was clear that he was aware of the Hot Yoga Doctor, and even where you live. He is the only authentic Bikram studio in metropolitan Baltimore, and he thinks that the others offering “warm” and other versions are just opportunistic poseurs and he said it all came out of lawsuit that spun out of control (plus the obvious scandal news a while back).I mentioned we were conversing and he asked for updates from time to time. It was also very aware that some of the other students had mentioned the behavior of the teacher who was cynical of my monitor and my mouth breathing. I had taken the high road, just trying to carry on, but he made a point today of telling me that mouth breathing is something you do when you have to do it, and it’s perfectly alright if I must do it.Which leads me to “what’s new” since your last note with all the precise questions about breathing. This morning I made a very conscious effort to nose breathe only. I last about 45 minutes. And for the rest of the class I tried to nose breathe through every savasana and that was about the extent of it for the 2nd half of class. I was pretty gassed for my nose just doesn’t afford me as much refreshment as it should, but maybe one day it will. I’m optimistic, but when the nose stops working, it’s heavy-duty mouth breathing, and even sitting out a pose or two to recover my composure.I will ask tomorrow about the temperature and the humidity, but I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that it’s 105 degrees and 40-45% humidity, or whatever Bikram recommends it to be. Eddie is a purist in Bikram, and he only opened a door once or twice during the entire class, compared to some teachers who might open it four or more times. I feel it’s hot — the other students all remarked about the temperature today — and with the weather going into 50+ degrees, we all felt it.I will apprise you of the temp and moisture levels after speaking to the owner tomorrow.I have brought up with teachers/owners/fellow students when asked that I have tachycardia, and as a precaution, I use the montior. (one day I may switch to the arm-only type, but currently I have the wrist and chest component version). The one teacher mentioned that I really didn’t need it, but everyone else has just accepted my medical explanation and not questioned its efficacy.I have an internist, but I’ve never gone to a cardiologist or other practitioner. Thirty years ago a Johns-Hopkins trained internist had picked up on the elevated resting heart rate and put me on beta blockers for the next 25 years, and it was only when the “nose/lung-syndrome” of issues developed (and nothing could be done until I went off the beta blocker) that the heart rate started to climb when I was physically exerting myself.No medical person has ever told me to stop exercising. The consensus has been in effect, “just stop and let things cool down, and then climb back on the bike.”So I’ll update you on the studio and I’ll continue to try to stick to nose breathing.One thing I’ll try again tomorrow — the “chiding teacher” recommended that I take the wrist component off and put it near the mat but a few feet away. To try to get me to stop checking it mid-lesson when things typically get a little anxious. I did it once and it wasn’t all that bad. Worth another try. Maybe there’s a tie between the watch and fear that isn’t well-founded. We’ll see.After class I’m going to Atlanta, GA til Sunday, but I’ll be sure to bounce the ball back into your court.Namaste,BarryHi, again:
I was in Atlanta til today and that huge metro area of 5 million people no longer has any Bikram studios! So I just did cardio at a gym and read your book, and practiced some poses.
I went this morning to the Baltimore Bikram Yoga studio and the owner was the teacher.
He said it’s 105 degrees and he aims for 40% humidity and that can fluctuate with the outside temperature (in warm weather, it’s evidently higher).
I keep trying to use my nose but by the 3rd pose it’s just mouth breathing. Twice my heart rate hit 170 and I stopped, each time, for one set of a pose, and then I was back at it. The entire class seemed to be laboring today, so I didn’t feel alone.
You had asked me to verify the temp and moisture.
Thanks and namaste,
Barry
Hi Barry
You know, it makes no difference if your teachers or studio owners know that the temperature is 105 degrees and aim for 40% humidity if they know that conditions fluctuate… and then they don’t do anything about it when it does.
You see, Heat Index will markedly rise when temp is high and humidity is high. Conversely, if humidity is high you can adjust your Heat Index to safe and effective levels by simply dropping the temperature. What that has the effect of is creating a lower heat condition that feels as if it is much higher. This makes your experience much more satisfying and much safer than high heat and high moisture.
I can just about guarantee that you would have a better time of it if the Heat Index doesn’t climb unnecessarily high. You indicate that mouth breathing correlates with times of increased stress. That certainly doesn’t surprise me – particularly with your ‘condition’ if I may call it that.
My other reflections:
>> It’s too hot where you practise.
>> There appears to be too much reliance and or ritual associated with the HR monitor. I think if you were able to get rid of it (have it close by for a while as a back up if you must) you could learn to listen to your body. This is why I have asked you if you have ever been surprised at the reading. I wanted to work out if you believed it was 170 and then found out it was a lot lower when you looked at your monitor. Equally I wanted to know if you believed it was say, 110 or 120 and looked at the monitor to discover that the reading was 170. If you have consistently found your prediction to be accurate with a few bpm then you can seriously consider getting rid of the monitor.
How do you feel when I say that?
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi, Gabrielle:
Studio conditions are very important. Â Three days ago we had 62 pupils in the class, and tight as things were, it was bearable, since the weather was moderate, 60 degrees F.
Yesterday it was in the 80 degree F range, and 1/3 the number of people in the studio, and it was unbearable. Â People (I was the first) were taking to sitting out poses left and right. Â The instructor did put on the overhead fans, which are more for show than comfort, to no avail.
Afterwards, I asked about adjusting the climate inside based on the weather outside, and I was a little disappointed by the instructor’s response. Â In effect, she said that there were always going to be changes as the weather went from season to season, but that they couldn’t be adjusting things for (example) today’s weather for what if we got a cold spell again next week.
That answer seemed very narrow-minded to me.  Not taking into consideration the Heat Index and making adjustments doesn’t seem to be a healthy way to run a business.  She said she’s been there 11 years and that (in effect) things tend to normalize themselves without any interference by management with the Heat Index adjustments.
It was a perfect storm for me, unfortunately. Â I had decided (per your suggestion) to not be so reliant on my heart rate monitor, and to glance at it only periodically. Â One instructor had previously suggested that I take off the watch and put it to the side, so that I wasn’t updating myself on the rate so often.
Well, I blew it. Â I took off the chest band instead, and lost the connection, and it’s reliant on GPS to fix itself, and indoors there was no GPS signal, so I soldiered on through the class without any use of the now-nonfunctioning monitor. Â It was rough, and I was not the only person sitting out poses from time to time throughout the class.
It probably is, and will always be, too hot where I practice. Â I’ll just have to bring lots of water, keep on my monitor, and rest whenever things get too tough. Â I will make an effort to take off the correct piece, the wristband, and reduce looking at it during classes.
I might be OK if I can ascertain, as you suggest, that my “guess” on my heart rate (based on my level of discomfort) is tracking closely to the actual heart rate being registered on the monitor. Â In that case, I probably one day will feel confident enough to just STOP when I know I’m borderline, and REST until I know I’m under better control. Â Sound like a plan?
I don’t like being the only person in the class with a chest band on — there are sometimes others who have more sophisticated “all-in-one” wrist bands (FitBit and Apple Watch and others) that eliminate the need for the chest band. Â I have considered buying one, but the versions I’ve seen students wearing look like the little screen fogs up in the humidity. Â I don’t need that. Â So I’ll just try to wean myself entirely of the device.
One doctor in class was disturbed by my 170 reading and he said that if I were HIS father, he would recommend I wear a Holton Monitor, to rule out any chance I might experience myocardial ischemia or atrial fibulation (A-Fib) or a stroke. Â He said to contact a cardiologist and see if the wearing the device might not be a bad idea, until they can rule out that the tachycardia (elevated heart rate) was indicative of possible future problems such as I just mentioned. Â I’m asking my internist about this, as some other marathoner friends of mine agreed with his suggestion.
More to follow.
Namaste
Barry
Hi Barry
Yes, that response and abdication of responsibility is indeed disappointing. If anything ever happened it certainly wouldn’t hold up in court!
I too was alarmed at the 170 reading – and rightly so. The name is a ‘Holter Monitor’ by the way. You generally wear them for 24 hours and undergo normal activity. Going to yoga on that day would be very well advised although it will cramp your poses a tad but the information it will glean will be well worth it.
I can advise another thing that I am sure will make a difference to you. In class drink water that has a pinch or 2 of sea salt in it. Add drops of lemon for flavour if you wish. The salt will help you replenish those that you are losing with your sweating and may significantly contribute to your feeling better than just drinking plain water.
Try it!
Keep me updated.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi, Gabrielle:
Just a brief check-in to update you on my activities. Thanks so much for all your advice to date, which has been very helpful. I have been learning for several months now, and I’ve taken off my heartrate monitor. I think I taught myself to remember what I feel like when my rate spikes to 170 bpm or so, and knowing the feeling that is associated with that rate, I simply recognize that feeling and sit down til I am comfortable again to proceed. I might miss a total of 5 individual poses, usually one or two in the standing series, and I’m still around to tell the tale after the breathing at the end.
The temperate / humidity issue is one I’m learning to live with. Someone has snuck a hygrometer into the class and lets me know if things are too-too hot or moist, so I try to stick near the back door, and to not overdo things when I know it’s a high-risk environment that day.
I’ve avoided the Holter Monitor and hope to not have to go down that path ever.
Hope all is well with you.
Namaste.
Barry
Hi Barry
Thank you so much for the update. It is very much appreciated. Well done you! I am so pleased you have ditched the monitor in favour of listening to your body. Yes, I see you’re using a little technology and that seems to be supporting your practice. I must say I giggled when I read of the ‘black hat ops’ that occur simply so you can know what the humidity situation is. 🙂 Really, that information should be freely available (we both know that).
I just refreshed my memory of our conversation and found a suggestion I made about adding a pinch of salt to your water for class. Wondering if you did that and if you did, if it seemed beneficial.
A word about the Holter Monitor. I actually don’t think that is anything to be concerned about if it is suggested to you again. It’s simply a data collection device, and the data would be commented on by your cardiologist by applying statistical knowledge – which means that it gives an indication of what could be going on. There are markers that could be relevant to you. So it’s helpful if it finds something and equally helpful if it doesn’t!!! It is not a treatment but just helps you understand where you’re at. What is done with that information is ultimately up to you and dependent on your cardio’s advice to you. So I would suggest to go with the flow if it is ever recommended again!
Thanks again! It’s great you filled us in! I love that
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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