Tuesday, January 6  

The right tools for the job

I'm in the office late tonight. I'm off to Sydney tomorrow for a couple of days and I need to tidy a few things up. I didn't get home until 7 pm and then had to have my 1 km swim, go home for dinner and then go for a run. I had the run at about 9.30 pm and then came straight into the office.

(And no, I haven't had a shower yet. And yes, I do smell quite a bit!)

One thing I've been reviewing is a client's web site email newsletter strategy. You see, web site visitors sign up on his site via a program called Dada Mail. We then transfer the addresses into a web based template newsletter - called Constant Contact - site and send from there.

We do that for a number of reasons. One of the main reasons is that Constant Contact provides great tracking information for each email campaign.

I used my Heart Rate Monitor when I went for a run tonight. Because I do endurance stuff, it's most beneficial for me to run at between 60-70% of my Maximum Heart Rate (Maximum Heart Rate is 220 minus age). So, at 37 my Maximum Heart Rate is 183. And 70% of that is 128.

To train best for endurance stuff, it is best if I exercise with my heart rate at between about 110 and 128. At that rate, my body can more efficiently can fuel the fire that is the exercise.

As strange as it seems, if I go at faster than 128 beats per minute when exercising then I do not help myself with the endurance sports. And it's the exact same principle for exercising for weight loss.

If you want to lose weight, exercise with your heart at the between 60-70% of your Maximum Heart Rate. At that rate your body has a chance to burn fat to provide the required energy.

Any higher and your body cannot burn the fat quick enough, so it stops and uses glycogen from your bloodstream and liver. So by exercising at high intensity you actually do yourself a disservice if you are trying to lose weight!

And yes, there is a point here somewhere!

The point is that you need to have the right tools for the job. If I exercise without the Heart Rate Monitor I do not do as good a job of it.

If I use an email newsletter marketing campaign, then I should have the right tools to measure the success or otherwise of what I'm doing. Otherwise I'm just guessing. And I'd be guessing that will waste my money.

Have a good night.

Brendon