Garmin Connect
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mommarnurse
Posts: 515 Member
Anyone using Garmin Connect synced to MFP? Specifically, I have a Forerunner with the HR strap. It's for running but can be used for any activity using the HR monitor and the calorie burn is based on that. Anyway, I did a cardio kickboxing class today for an hour and burned 471 cals; my status feed says I ran for x amt of minutes at x min/mile to burn the 471 cals. It's like it's finding a MFP activity that matches the calories burned and posts that instead of "Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment" or something like that. It also is way off for my runs in general (time distance pace ) although the calorie part is always correct. Obviously the important part is that the calories are correct however wondering if anyone knows if there's a way for it to not do this.
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So your FR thinks you're running, and tells MFP that it was a running session, hence the label.
I'd be sceptical around the calorie estimation though. Again the FR assumes running and whilst it doesn't have a GPS trace to base the calorie estimation it'll use a running MET factor, which will probably be a bit high.0 -
The HR strap is for activities that elevate your heart rate and keep it elevated. And the calories are computed based on distance or steps (assuming you have one of the newer watches or a footpod). I do not believe kickboxing qualifies for either of these.0
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mommarnurse wrote: »Anyone using Garmin Connect synced to MFP? Specifically, I have a Forerunner with the HR strap. It's for running but can be used for any activity using the HR monitor and the calorie burn is based on that. Anyway, I did a cardio kickboxing class today for an hour and burned 471 cals; my status feed says I ran for x amt of minutes at x min/mile to burn the 471 cals. It's like it's finding a MFP activity that matches the calories burned and posts that instead of "Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment" or something like that. It also is way off for my runs in general (time distance pace ) although the calorie part is always correct. Obviously the important part is that the calories are correct however wondering if anyone knows if there's a way for it to not do this.The HR strap is for activities that elevate your heart rate and keep it elevated. And the calories are computed based on distance or steps (assuming you have one of the newer watches or a footpod). I do not believe kickboxing qualifies for either of these.
It's tracking my HR, which based on the trend from running and that calorie burn, I think the burn number is accurate for the CK. (This is a very high intense one). I turned the GPS off for the class, not sure if that makes a difference. I thought the calorie burn is based on the HR?0 -
I don't believe that is the case. I believe I burn the same calories on days my heart rate is higher over the same distance (it can be higher due to illness or over-training). I'm pretty sure it is based on my weight and distance.
I have no idea how it tracks other activities. Hopefully someone smarter than me will chime in.
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I don't believe that is the case. I believe I burn the same calories on days my heart rate is higher over the same distance (it can be higher due to illness or over-training). I'm pretty sure it is based on my weight and distance.
I have no idea how it tracks other activities. Hopefully someone smarter than me will chime in.
Mines definitely higher when I've been neglecting getting enough water. Going to check my calorie burns for higher HRs0 -
Ok, so I just went back and looked at some of my runs that are the same distance. Seems like it's more of a time (length of workout/run) and HR vs. Pace. Interesting. I need clarification lol. I used a calculator based on HR and biostats and it came up with a net burn of 504 for today's workout;. Pretty close to the 471 from the Garmin.0
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mommarnurse wrote: »I thought the calorie burn is based on the HR?
In a fairly tightly controlled set of circumstances HR can act as a proxy for calorie expenditure. Essentially steady state, aerobic range activity.
Kickboxing isn't steady state, and can range from below aerobic, into aerobic and on into anaerobic, so the relationship between HR and calorie expenditure breaks down.0 -
mommarnurse wrote: »Anyone using Garmin Connect synced to MFP? Specifically, I have a Forerunner with the HR strap. It's for running but can be used for any activity using the HR monitor and the calorie burn is based on that. Anyway, I did a cardio kickboxing class today for an hour and burned 471 cals; my status feed says I ran for x amt of minutes at x min/mile to burn the 471 cals. It's like it's finding a MFP activity that matches the calories burned and posts that instead of "Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment" or something like that. It also is way off for my runs in general (time distance pace ) although the calorie part is always correct. Obviously the important part is that the calories are correct however wondering if anyone knows if there's a way for it to not do this.
I don't have a Forerunner, but I have had my vivofit with HR for the past year. Here are my thoughts
1) It wont come over from Garmin as kickboxing unless there is a glitch and somehow the sync to MFP doesn't occur until well after you rename it
2) Calorie adjustments are for non-activities.
3) Without a GPS you have to calibrate your steps for better accuracy. Find a known distance, run it and enter your steps. Same for walking if you think it is off. There is a way to do this on Garmin Connect within your profile settings
4) I had no problem losing weight using the HR calories provided from kickboxing class
5) The calorie calculation will be different when you use the HR strap versus when you don't. For many people, its higher with the HR strap.
Hope that helps
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20yearsyounger wrote: »mommarnurse wrote: »Anyone using Garmin Connect synced to MFP? Specifically, I have a Forerunner with the HR strap. It's for running but can be used for any activity using the HR monitor and the calorie burn is based on that. Anyway, I did a cardio kickboxing class today for an hour and burned 471 cals; my status feed says I ran for x amt of minutes at x min/mile to burn the 471 cals. It's like it's finding a MFP activity that matches the calories burned and posts that instead of "Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment" or something like that. It also is way off for my runs in general (time distance pace ) although the calorie part is always correct. Obviously the important part is that the calories are correct however wondering if anyone knows if there's a way for it to not do this.
I don't have a Forerunner, but I have had my vivofit with HR for the past year. Here are my thoughts
1) It wont come over from Garmin as kickboxing unless there is a glitch and somehow the sync to MFP doesn't occur until well after you rename it
2) Calorie adjustments are for non-activities.
3) Without a GPS you have to calibrate your steps for better accuracy. Find a known distance, run it and enter your steps. Same for walking if you think it is off. There is a way to do this on Garmin Connect within your profile settings
4) I had no problem losing weight using the HR calories provided from kickboxing class
5) The calorie calculation will be different when you use the HR strap versus when you don't. For many people, its higher with the HR strap.
Hope that helps
Right, I know th e calorie adjust men is for the fitbit and what not , I'm just surprised it doesn't come accross as "Garmin Run" or something like that if its "synced" seems like it should. I was using the HR strap and went back into Garmin Connect to see the HR. Ave 149 with frequent spikes into the 160's to 170's , so I used a calorie calculator using the ave HR and time and came up with a pretty similar number to what he Garmin gave me. Of course it also thought I went 2.5 miles lol. I want to be able to use it for things other than running, if possible.0 -
20yearsyounger wrote: »
they moved it into the new app. See if you have this under user settings.
Did you have to custom set yours? Mines blank under the walking stride and running stride areas. (Gives me the option to set custom)0 -
mommarnurse wrote: »20yearsyounger wrote: »mommarnurse wrote: »Anyone using Garmin Connect synced to MFP? Specifically, I have a Forerunner with the HR strap. It's for running but can be used for any activity using the HR monitor and the calorie burn is based on that. Anyway, I did a cardio kickboxing class today for an hour and burned 471 cals; my status feed says I ran for x amt of minutes at x min/mile to burn the 471 cals. It's like it's finding a MFP activity that matches the calories burned and posts that instead of "Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment" or something like that. It also is way off for my runs in general (time distance pace ) although the calorie part is always correct. Obviously the important part is that the calories are correct however wondering if anyone knows if there's a way for it to not do this.
I don't have a Forerunner, but I have had my vivofit with HR for the past year. Here are my thoughts
1) It wont come over from Garmin as kickboxing unless there is a glitch and somehow the sync to MFP doesn't occur until well after you rename it
2) Calorie adjustments are for non-activities.
3) Without a GPS you have to calibrate your steps for better accuracy. Find a known distance, run it and enter your steps. Same for walking if you think it is off. There is a way to do this on Garmin Connect within your profile settings
4) I had no problem losing weight using the HR calories provided from kickboxing class
5) The calorie calculation will be different when you use the HR strap versus when you don't. For many people, its higher with the HR strap.
Hope that helps
Right, I know th e calorie adjust men is for the fitbit and what not , I'm just surprised it doesn't come accross as "Garmin Run" or something like that if its "synced" seems like it should. I was using the HR strap and went back into Garmin Connect to see the HR. Ave 149 with frequent spikes into the 160's to 170's , so I used a calorie calculator using the ave HR and time and came up with a pretty similar number to what he Garmin gave me. Of course it also thought I went 2.5 miles lol. I want to be able to use it for things other than running, if possible.
I ran 8 miles this morning. It came across as a run (posted by Garmin connect or whatever it says). All the rest of steps I take today outside of that run will come over as a Garmin calorie adjustment. anything that shows up as an activity in Garmin Connect should come over but it will just look like a slow pace run. that is because Garmin creates the activity by default as a run and it gets synced to MFP before you can really change it into what it is (which you can, and add notes etc for graphical views and setting goals such as for the year you want to burn 50000 calories doing kickboxing)
You can use it for other things. The problem is that it doesn't show up right in MFP but it does in Garmin. Garmin has great reports to track all your activities. MFP is to show your friends what you did. Some people just identify under the MFP posting what they did.
The equipment I use is ANT+ compatible so I just take it from the machine, enter it in MFP and it flows through to Garmin
For kickboxing, I realized that the MFP category was fairly close when I excluded the 15min warmup/down so I just used that and it flowed through to Garmin
Then Garmin just works everything out (deductions, etc) and sends the remainder back to MFP as a calorie adjustment.0 -
I have no opinion on the calories burned portion of your question - other than it all is an estimate.
On how it syncs from Garmin - yes, it does look for somewhat of a match and then adjusts. For instance, if I run 10 miles at a 9:05 mile pace, it will sync that I ran 91 minutes at a 10 min/mile pace - and then adjust the calories to what the watch said I burned. It will not sync over as a 9 min/mile pace until it is under 9 min/mile. Since it is coming from Garmin, MFP must assume it is running. I know some people who will turn off the sync and then use the calories but enter their exercise as what they did. If you try to correct it with the sync on- sometimes MFP gets confused and doubles your exercise calories.0 -
mommarnurse wrote: »20yearsyounger wrote: »
they moved it into the new app. See if you have this under user settings.
Did you have to custom set yours? Mines blank under the walking stride and running stride areas. (Gives me the option to set custom)
Sorry I didn't see this. Yes, I custom set mine. Garmin tries to guess based on your sex, height etc, but it didn't seem right to me. I just used the gps in my phone to get a distance while counting steps for walking, running is running, and change it based on that.0 -
mommarnurse wrote: »so I used a calorie calculator using the ave HR and time and came up with a pretty similar number to what he Garmin gave me.
So by using two different methods of basing a calorie estimation on HR you're making the assumption that your input data, HR, is a meaningful proxy.
You've identified that it's not steady state, as you're fluctuating, so your HR doesn't act as a suitable proxy. Work done, or calories expended, is a function of mass and distance. Your HR can indicate how oxygen is supplied to the system to allow you to burn the chemical energy stored.
That said you're still only talking 400 or so calories, so the level of error isn't huge in the grand scheme of things.
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I had a similar issue with MFP when synced with Garmin connect when I entered the activity manually.0
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Keep in mind that the Vivofit and Forerunner are completely different products. Also, depending on which Forerunner you have and which HRM (and how up to date your firmware is in both), the 'steps' will be calculated differently.
My personal opinion is to guesstimate the calories you burn during a class and adjust as necessary (if you lose more or less then expected you can adjust up or down).
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Keep in mind that the Vivofit and Forerunner are completely different products. Also, depending on which Forerunner you have and which HRM (and how up to date your firmware is in both), the 'steps' will be calculated differently.
My personal opinion is to guesstimate the calories you burn during a class and adjust as necessary (if you lose more or less then expected you can adjust up or down).
I agree.
One thing that does seem to be happening though is that Garmin seems to be pushing their calculations to be cloud based for many of their products. I have heard instances of numbers being different on devices versus what ends up being calculated in Connect. This was early this year though, things seemed to have changed vastly since then. I have gone running with friends having more advanced devices and we have compared. I just opted never to upgrade because I havent changed my battery in a year, and if I have to put stuff down to charge it, I will forget to put it back on.0 -
20yearsyounger wrote: »Keep in mind that the Vivofit and Forerunner are completely different products. Also, depending on which Forerunner you have and which HRM (and how up to date your firmware is in both), the 'steps' will be calculated differently.
My personal opinion is to guesstimate the calories you burn during a class and adjust as necessary (if you lose more or less then expected you can adjust up or down).
I agree.
One thing that does seem to be happening though is that Garmin seems to be pushing their calculations to be cloud based for many of their products. I have heard instances of numbers being different on devices versus what ends up being calculated in Connect. This was early this year though, things seemed to have changed vastly since then. I have gone running with friends having more advanced devices and we have compared. I just opted never to upgrade because I havent changed my battery in a year, and if I have to put stuff down to charge it, I will forget to put it back on.
Hmm. I've only had mine about 7 weeks but I've not noticed a difference in calories from connect to MFP , at least that's the same0
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