Please explain Polar HRM calories burned...

chantelleburbine
chantelleburbine Posts: 5 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Thanks in advance for any advice :)
Im wondering if the number on my Polar HRM is the actual number of calories actually burned.

Or do I have to somehow subtract the calories that I use just to live/breathe/exist from this number?

My workouts are intense, average heart rate 160- 170bpm, for an hour or so, Im 335lbs, but having 800 or 900 cals on the Polar seems WAY too good to be true.

Replies

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Connect your accounts at https://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/331
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 609 Member
    edited August 2015
    Which HRM are you using? and what type of workouts are you doing? Is this a steady state heart rate?
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    That sounds like a dangerously high heart rate for someone of your weight.
  • cherrylove1975
    cherrylove1975 Posts: 1 Member

    If you've entered all of your info correctly and that's the heart rate your maintaining for an hour and based on your weight that sounds accurate.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited August 2015
    900 calories an hour would require an elite level of fitness - think your calorie count is being skewed by your high heart rate. Your feeling that it sounds way too good to be true is more than likely spot on.

    Depending on what your "workouts" are I would find another way of estimating calorie burns.
    Use the HRM for what it's actually good at - counting your heart rate.
  • ScreeField
    ScreeField Posts: 180 Member
    edited August 2015
    The Polar watch is measuring--or rather estimating--your direct calories burned (all calories burned, whether exercise or otherwise) during the time period measured. However, it's not 100% perfect. Polar uses formulas that require constants for weight, height, etc. and makes assumptions for VO2max and HRmax.

    All that being said, I think 800 to 900 calories is very reasonable and your heart rate seems about right for a great workout. A hard workout for me, for a full hour, is about 450 calories per hour (give or take 25 or so). But, I weigh 120 lbs. With more body weight, calories burned per hour increases a lot.

    Here's a chart showing how many minutes of exercise it takes to burn 500 calories, based on body weight. As you can see, it takes 24 minutes of sprinting for someone weighing 120 lbs and only 12 minutes for someone weighing 240 lbs--so effectively, the 240 lb person is burning twice as many calories per hour:

    calories.jpg


    I think linking your accounts (see above post from editorgrrl) is a great idea. MFP will give you an updated intake value based on the combination of exercise and your regular daily burn.


    (chart source: http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/20-ways-to-burn-500-calories)

Categories