Heart Rate Response to Basic Ashtanga Practice (Part 1)

A few years ago, I wore my Polar F4 heart rate monitor while I did my ashtanga practice just to see how my heart rate responded and how much calories I'd burn.  There was this idea that ashtanga will help you lose weight and has some cardiovascular benefits (In what I've read lately, asana practice should not be like exercise otherwise it defeats its purpose).

My knowledge about the body and how it works is based on my training in sports science.  Conventional knowledge tells us that in order for us to improve our cardiovascular endurance, we have to train the heart to beat up to a certain rate and maintain that for at least 10 minutes at a time.  Below that, the benefits are minimal.

So I wanted to check if the intensity of an ashtanga yoga practice is high enough to be considered moderate and if the heart rate can be maintained in the prescribed training zone for at least 10 minutes.  The results of initial observation was here. 

A couple of months back, I decided to observe my heart rate again using my new Polar RS300x.  It has more memory than F4 but it won't tell you exactly how much time you've spent in your training zone.  It has a graph however that shows you which training zone you spent most of your time in.

My primary objective was to see how the heart rate fluctuates during a basic ashtanga yoga practice.  The secondary objective was to know how much calories are consumed during a basic practice and determine its metabolic equivalent.

to be continued...