EA SPORTS Active

Heart Rate Zone Education

"Monitoring your heart rate during exercise is a great way to get the most out of every workout.

Knowing what zone to be in will help you reach your goals quicker.

Each zone is a percentage of your maximum heart rate (MHR), the highest number of times your heart beats in a minute.

It is measured in beats per minute (BPM).

You can use a basic formula to calculate your theoretical MHR.

220 – Age = Theoretical MHR.

Because age is part of the formula, zones will vary from person to person.

When you workout in lower zones, you can exercise for longer durations, but the rate of calorie burn is low.

In the higher zones, your rate of calorie burn is high, but your ability to maintain a high intensity will depend on your fitness.

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Heart Rate Zone 1: Smart Start Zone

Exercising in this zone feels comfortable.

You can speak easily as you exercise.

If you’re just getting started with working out, begin with Zone 1 and progress gradually.

Your body uses mostly fat for energy in this zone, but you burn fewer overall calories than at higher intensities.

Burning fat for energy doesn’t mean you lose more body fat – the best way to lose weight is with an overall higher calorie burn.

Zone 1 is good for warming up and cooling down, plus it’s where you recover from vigorous intervals.

Heart Rate Zone 2: Healthy Heart Zone

You should only be able to speak in short sentences because you’re breathing heavily.

If you’re a beginner looking to step it up a notch, do cardio intervals here.

Your body uses mostly fat for energy in this zone, so you burn fewer overall calories than at higher intensities.

Exercising in this zone helps the heart get healthier and stronger, making your body more efficient at pumping blood and utilizing oxygen.

In addition, fitter people can recover from vigorous intervals in this zone.

Heart Rate Zone 3: Fitness Boost Zone

You should be breathing very hard and only able to speak in short phrases.

Training in this zone makes the heart stronger and improves the body’s ability to transport oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from muscles, so they can work longer.

Your body uses about half carbohydrates and half fat for energy in this zone, but you burn more overall calories than in previous zones.

Regular training in Zone 3 enables you to work out longer and cover more distance in less time while running.

Heart Rate Zone 4: Performance Plus Zone

You can only speak a few words at a time because you’re breathing so hard and fast.

You may feel your muscles burning at the end of a set because of lactic acid buildup, which limits how long you can maintain a high intensity.

This is when you’ve reached your Anaerobic Threshold (which happens at about 85-90% of MHR).

Your body uses mostly carbohydrates and minimal fat as energy in this zone.

This translates to a significant overall calorie burn compared to Zones 1-3.

Training in this zone improves the amount of oxygen your body can consume (called VO2) and increases your ability to tolerate lactic acid, improving your ability to work out at high intensities for longer.

Heart Rate Zone 5: Full Throttle Zone

You can barely speak in this zone and can only maintain it for seconds at a time.

Lactic acid develops quickly as your muscles experience oxygen debt almost right away.

This zone is best for very short intervals, where you work out extra hard for quick bursts then recover at a much lower intensity (Zone 1 or 2).

Don’t work out at this level for sustained periods without consulting your doctor first.

Your body uses mostly carbohydrates and hardly any fat for energy, but the calorie burn you get in this zone is very high.

Training in this zone for short bouts helps you handle higher levels of exercise intensity.

Fitness Test Education

Knowing where you stand week to week is great for monitoring your progress and also helps keep you accountable to your program.

We’ve designed a heart rate recovery test that will show you how you will be getting fitter over the 9 week program.

In order to get the most accurate results, it’s important that you give 100% on the test week to week.

When doing the specified exercise for the test, try and do as many reps as you can in the smallest amount of time.

Go as fast as you can and try to maintain that intensity.

After the test is over, keep moving and breathing to get oxygen to your lungs, and flush the lactic acid from the working muscles.

Heart Rate Recovery Education

Monitoring heart rate during exercise helps you gauge proper intensity.

But keeping tabs on what’s going on with your heart rate as you recover from exercise is also important.

Heart rate recovery refers to how fast your heart rate declines after exercise.

It’s your heart’s ability to return itself to normal after being elevated by activity.

The fitter you get, the more efficient your cardiovascular system becomes and the faster you’ll recover from intense exercise.

Track your progress through the workouts in EA SPORTS Active 2 and see for yourself! When you recover faster, you carve out more time for high intensity exercise and increase the calorie burn of your workouts.

Burning Calories Education

People can easily get caught up in counting their calories.

They are important, but there’s more to calories than appearing on the packages of the food you eat.

It’s important to know the calorie content of the foods you eat, but the quality of the calories is also important.

Example consuming 100 calories of protein take more energy to digest than 100 calories of fat.

Calories are calculated based on the data you enter when you create a profile.

This provides you with an approximate value for calorie burn in your workouts and journal.

Calories are a great way to measure the intensity of workouts.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that you burn a minimum of 200-300 calories exercising, 5 days per week.

Using Your Own Resistance Bands and Weights

Another way to increase the intensity of your workouts is to increase the resistance of the bands you are using, or even use dumbbells if your version of EA SPORTS Active 2 allows you to.

Make sure you inspect any resistance band you use for small tears to prevent any disruptions to your workout.

Choose a resistance that is going to challenge you, but still be able to maintain good technique and form during the exercise.

By stepping outside of your comfort zone, you will attain your fitness goals quicker.

Don’t hesitate to use different weights or bands for different exercises.

The muscles of your body are different in size and some can lift more than others.

Breathing while exercising

Proper breathing not only makes you feel energized, it helps you get more out of your workouts.

A few breathing tips for safe and effective workouts: Keep breathing throughout every exercise even if the movement feels tough – don’t hold your breath.

The more consistent your breathing is, the more oxygen you get to your working muscles, heart and lungs.

The result: stronger performance.

A good rule of thumb for breathing during exercise is to “exhale on the effort”.

This usually occurs when you are pushing, pulling, or squatting against gravity.

For example, exhaling on the up phase of a squat or push up.

Fat Burning Explained

Let’s dispel a common myth about the “fat-burning zone.

” It’s tempting to think that using fat as an energy source means you melt more fat off your body.

But it doesn’t work like that! The truth: When you exercise at low to moderate intensities, your body uses either mostly fat as fuel, or about half fat, half carbohydrate and some protein.

At high exercise intensities, your body uses mostly carbohydrate for energy.

If you goal is to lose weight, what matters most is total calorie burn: The body burns calories much slower when using fat for energy compared to carbohydrate.

It makes sense: Hard exercise zaps more calories than light exercise.

So go for more intensity to burn more overall calories.

How do I setup the Total Body Tracking USB Receiver?

Insert the USB Receiver into the front of the PlayStation3 system via the USB connector.

It will now be ready to receive signals from the other sensors.

How should I put on the Heart rate monitor Left arm motion sensor?

Install fresh batteries in the sensor.

Make sure that the Heart rate monitor left arm motion sensor is placed high on your left forearm.

You should be able to read the EA Sports Active logo.

The heart icon should be facing you.

It should be in DIRECT contact with your skin, not on top of clothing.

It should be on the outside of your arm.

The elastic strap should be snug to detect your heart rate.

You may need to adjust the elastic strap during your workout.

If the strap becomes too tight during your workout, loosen the strap and take a rest.

How should I put on the Right arm motion sensor?

Install fresh batteries in the sensor.

Make sure that the Right arm motion sensor is placed high on your right forearm.

You should be able to read the EA Sports Active logo.

The figure with the right arm highlighted should be facing you.

It should be in DIRECT contact with your skin, not on top of clothing.

It should be on the outside of your arm.

You may need to adjust the elastic strap during your workout.

If the strap becomes too tight during your workout, loosen the strap and take a rest.

How should I put on the Right leg motion sensor?

Install fresh batteries in the sensor.

Place the Right leg strap motion sensor high on the FRONT of your upper right thigh.

The figure with the right leg highlighted should have both feet pointing towards the ground.

It can be placed on top of pants or shorts.

The elastic strap on the sensor will work best with form fitting pants.

On loose or baggy pants/shorts, ensure that they are not bunched up above the elastic strap.

Tighten the elastic strap so that it’s snug, to prevent slippage.

The LED lights keep blinking on my Total Body Tracking system

Try installing fresh alkaline batteries in all of the sensors, to ensure that you have a full charge.

With the USB Receiver installed, press the connect button on the face of the sensor and wait 30-40 seconds to see if the devices will connect with the USB Receiver.

If the sensors still won’t connect, please “Rebind” your Total Body Tracking system.

You can perform a rebind under the Help & Settings menu/Rebind Total Body Tracking System.

I switched my Total Body Tracking system with someone else

The Total Body tracking system is comprised of individual peripherals that are designed to work with each other from the factory.

If you are planning to use them for a multiplayer experience, it’s advisable to label your Total Body Tracking system for your own use, so that you do not mix them up with another user.

If for some reason your Total Body Tracking system is not working or you’ve mixed them up with another user, you may need to "rebind" the set of peripherals.

You can perform a rebind under the Help and Settings menu/Settings/Rebind Total Body Tracking System.

My Heart rate monitor doesn't seem to be working

Review the FAQ for “How should I put on the Heart rate monitor Left arm motion sensor?” This will guide you on how to wear it properly. Make sure that the Heart rate monitor Left arm motion sensor has fresh alkaline batteries installed. Adjust the elastic strap so that it is snug. Direct contact with skin allows the sensor to detect your heart rate. If you have tattoos or scars on your forearms, try adjusting the position the sensor slightly to find an area where the sensor can detect your heart rate. Need help connecting your console online? Sony: http://us.playstation.com/support/answer/index.htm?a_id=977.

How do I rebind my peripherals?

In this document you’ll find the steps needed to rebind sensors that might have become disconnected with the USB receiver.

The first set of steps is intended for users who are playing EA SPORTS Active for the first time.

The second set is for users who have previously played EA SPORTS Active and currently have a saved file on their system.

First-Time Users: 1.

Insert the EA SPORTS Active 2 disc into the PS3™.

2.

From the initial boot-up screen, press START.

3.

Confirm the Autosave message, then confirm the time is set correctly.

4.

Watch the Total Body Tracking System tutorial videos.

5.

After the tutorial, the Total Body Tracking System Setup screen appears.

6.

To begin connecting with the USB Receiver, press the buttons on the sensors.

Note: If a sensor is not bound with the USB Receiver, the lights on the sensor will flash continuously.

Wait approximately 30 seconds and the following pop-up screen appears: 7.

Once the pop-up screen (above) appears, select OK.

The Total Body Tracking System Setup screen reappears.

8.

On the Total Body Tracking System Setup screen, the Rebind Peripherals option is now available at the bottom-right corner of the screen (see below).

9.

Press the Square button to Rebind Peripheral.

Step 1 of the step-by-step process to rebind the Total Body Tracking System appears on-screen.

10.

Press the X button to Begin Process and follow the on-screen steps to rebind all peripherals one-by-one.

Note: Be sure to press and hold down the button on the respective sensor the system is trying to rebind.

A single push is not sufficient.

You must hold down the button until a checkmark appears on-screen, indicating the rebind is complete.

11.

When complete, press the X button to Finish.

You can begin using EA SPORTS Active 2 efficiently.

Enjoy your workout! Subsequent boot of the title (game save): 1.

Insert the EA SPORTS Active 2 disc into the system.

2.

From the initial boot-up screen, press START.

3.

Confirm the Autosave message.

4.

From the main menu, select HELP AND SETTINGS > REBIND TOTAL BODY TRACKING SYSTEM.

5.

Press the X button to begin the rebinding process.

Step 1 of the step-by-step process to rebind the Total Body Tracking System appears on-screen.

6.

Press the X button to Begin Process and follow the on-screen steps to rebind all peripherals one-by-one.

Note: Be sure to press and hold down the button on the respective sensor the system is trying to rebind.

A single push is not sufficient.

You must hold down the button until a checkmark appears on-screen, indicating the rebind is complete.

7.

When complete, press the X button to Finish.

You can begin using EA SPORTS Active 2 efficiently.

Enjoy your workout!