Accuracy of HRM

dramallamaduck

I have a Polar, something... I have no idea what it is... It was a birthday gift from my best friend. I wear it when I go to Camp Gladiator (it's a bootcamp thing that's popular here in Texas). A lot of times it's telling me that I'm burning 500-600 cals for an hour of activity.

Do you think this is accurate? I'm not eating back the calories and I've been really bad about logging recently.

OldHobo

Is it telling you that you are, at the moment, burning calories at the rate of 600 calories and hour? Or is it saying that that you burned 600 between say 7:16 and 8:16 AM?

If you Google "how to burn 600 calories an hour" you get a whole bunch of hits on articles that explain ways to do it so it is possible.

brianpperkins

dramallamaduck wrote: »

I have a Polar, something... I have no idea what it is... It was a birthday gift from my best friend. I wear it when I go to Camp Gladiator (it's a bootcamp thing that's popular here in Texas). A lot of times it's telling me that I'm burning 500-600 cals for an hour of activity.

Do you think this is accurate? I'm not eating back the calories and I've been really bad about logging recently.

The formulas used by HRMs only approach accurate for steady state cardio. Not for lifting, not for intervals, not for yoga or Zumba, etc.

cwolfman13

They are reasonably (but still and estimate) accurate for steady state aerobic cardiovascular work...the further away you get from that, the less accurate they are for calorie burn. Also, HRMs with a chest strap are going to be more accurate than ones without a chest strap.