INSANITY and Heart Rate Monitor

raven56706

Looking to do some of the insanity workouts as my cardio on the weekends. Can i use my polar heart rate monitor to track the calories burned?

i ask that because i know there has been debate on here about the HRMS and strength training. While i know this isnt strength training and more of a HIIT workout, i wanted to see what my mfp peeps said.

Hornsby

Nope, won't be accurate for calorie counts. You can use it for it's intended purpose which is to measure heart rate though.

raven56706

so when is a HRM good for then? its almost as if it wont be able to track anything except for when on the treadmill, stepper and elliptical

Hornsby

raven56706 wrote: »

so when is a HRM good for then? its almost as if it wont be able to track anything except for when on the treadmill, stepper and elliptical

It's good for measuring HR for every activity. Again, what they are made to do.

kami3006

It only approaches accuracy for steady state cardio.

Simply put:
The algorithm uses heart rate to estimate oxygen uptake during steady aerobic activity and determines calorie burn off of that. The formula cannot be applied to other types of activities because oxygen use either isn't steady or, as in anaerobic activity, used in a different manner.

shaunroberts

Hey,
I use mine for Insanity. Using the calories burnt figures I still manage to loose a steady and consistent amount of weight per week.

More importantly It enables you see if your pushing yourself hard enough which is important for interval training.

It may not be 100% accurate buts its close enough.....just make sure you don't eat back all the burnt calories.

Cheers,
Shaun.

Hornsby

So what is the percent of calories you eat back @shaunroberts?

shaunroberts

Hi,
Give myself a 500 calorie deficit/ day to start with. I then take off 100 calories/ workout. eg. 2 maxout sessions comes to ~700 (calculated by iCardio) so I adjust it to 500 calories.

Works for me. But more than anything I find the HRM motivating. Shows how hard your working and if your really pushing yourself.

Shaun.