Apps and Activity Tracking

besee_2000

I'm very much a numbers person and love gadgets. I currently have a Polar H7 heart rate monitor chest strap and an Apple Watch. I know WOD's and other workouts are hard to monitor unless its running or cycling, but doesn't make me any less interested in tracking. I want to chart out my heart rate but also get a guessimate of calories burned like the straight HRM watches. Also looking for it to sync properly with Apple's activity monitor. (Nothing is more frustrating than to go all out on a WOD and you only have 40 active calories burned in an hour.)

Is there any app people would recommend? I currently have Endomondo but getting a little frustrated with its syncing.

moe0303

Being a numbers guy, I can sympathize with you. Tracking calories burned in a wod is really tricky because each individual could be going at a different pace. So, you kind of have to assess your own intensity and activity level and figure your calories off of that. I made a calculator a while ago that was based off of the Compendium of Physical Activities which lists activities and their Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) values. CrossFit is not an activity on the Compendium, but I added two entries for it which I based off of other exercises (Jumping Rope and Circuit Training with Vigorous intensity). In the end, it's always just an estimate, but numbers can sometimes supply you with a point of reference. Here's a link to the calculator if you're interested: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YbEexb8IvXv1m9Z6irkwrBggxOg9b8GKdrLA0mKDVE8/edit#gid=0

It's just a spreadsheet in GoogleDocs.

besee_2000

Thank you moe for your spreadsheet. I always have to remind myself its about doing the best you can for yourself instead of getting stuck with numbers. It was much easier when I would just run. I'll have to play around with this little calculator. I love spreadsheets!

moe0303

besee_2000 wrote: »

I love spreadsheets!

LOL, I thought I was the only one. It used to be a little more robust with the ability to add several activities and have it total everything up, but with it being a public sheet, people kept messing up the formulas. So I figured it would be best to keep it simple. If you want to do the calculation for your self it is:

Weight (in pounds) x Time (in minutes) x MET value x .008 = Calories burned.

I estimated that the highest intensity CF workouts (CrossFit2 on the list) would be close to the highest activities which is about 12 METs. I figured most of everything else (CrossFit1) would fall into vigorous circuit training category so I gave it that MET value, 8. So you can adjust your estimation by using the formula above and plugging in a different MET value between 12 and 8.