Garmin watch calories burned.
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MNLittleFinn wrote: »Garmin is the lowest for the numbers, as compared to Strava and others on the same data. That being said, I use the Garmin numbers for my calories burned so I can know I'm not overestimating burn.
I don't find this in my experience. Garmin calorie data varies widely between similar workouts, while Strava is pretty consistent (especially on the bike). I've seen a comparison of calculations against watt meter data (which is accurate) and Strava was remarkably closer than Garmin. Strava has a ton of data from other riders using wattage to extrapolate from. I find the running estimates to be a bit more suspect, particularly when I don't use the HR monitor.0 -
Vladimirnapkin wrote: »MNLittleFinn wrote: »Garmin is the lowest for the numbers, as compared to Strava and others on the same data. That being said, I use the Garmin numbers for my calories burned so I can know I'm not overestimating burn.
I don't find this in my experience. Garmin calorie data varies widely between similar workouts, while Strava is pretty consistent (especially on the bike). I've seen a comparison of calculations against watt meter data (which is accurate) and Strava was remarkably closer than Garmin. Strava has a ton of data from other riders using wattage to extrapolate from. I find the running estimates to be a bit more suspect, particularly when I don't use the HR monitor.
Garmin will have calorie burns differ by 15-20 calories a mile during the same run for me. Same HR, same cadence and maybe only a few seconds different in the mile times. On this screen shot you can see how wild it calculates for me at least. I'm 180 lbs and i'd estimate i'd burn 125-130 calories a mile. 3 highlighted miles have almost identical HR/Pace/Cadence and the calorie burn is off by 15. The first couple of miles my HR monitor wasn't making a good connection so it had some HR spikes but the average is pretty solid throughout.
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@5512bf That's a wild range! Here's yesterday's run on Garmin:
Strava puts the calorie count at 929.
This morning's bike ride, Garmin shows 261 and Strava 301.
More troubling, is if we compare two virtually identical rides (same course ~25 miles, almost identical pace, same time of day) Garmin shows 551C on one day and 354C on the other. On the other hand, Strava was 762C & 764C.
This is why I use Strava for my calorie calculations.
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I have lost faith in Garmin's calorie numbers since I upgraded from my FR 305 to the FR 220, both with HR strap. Like @5512bf I see wide variations for the same pace/HR/cadence. I was 212 at the time of the race so the net burn should be about 134 cals and the gross burn should be 159. I don't know if Garmin is telling us gross or net.
When I ran my marathon in May I saw some really crazy numbers. For the first 20 miles when my pace was fairly constant Garmin shows anywhere from 155 to 126 calories/hr, generally trending downward. I have several mile splits of around 8:52 (+/- 10 seconds) where my calories burned are 149, 150, 117, 130, 118, 111. hmmmm..
The really crazy part happens in the last 6 miles as my quads lit up while my HR and pace started dropping.
My overall pace was 9:22 but my last 9 full mile splits were:
Pace HR Calories
9:02 152 111
9:04 151 100
9:11 151 109
9:33 146 88
9:29 146 72
9:33 142 50
9:42 143 50
10:27 142 56
10:16 144 71
There is no way my calorie burn dropped to 50/mile!
I had a 11 mile run Sunday and my average Garmin calorie burn was 100 cals, varying from 122 to 74 calories per mile.
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Decades ago, I took quantitative analysis chemistry, and we talked about accuracy versus precision. I don't know which system is more "accurate" for running calories, but I find the Strava results to be more precise (I.e., consistent) which gives me the feeling that it's more correct.
I had similar issues with Garmin calories being all over the map so I stopped using it. I think Strava is very accurate with cycling and pretty close with running. You might be happier using the Strava results for MFP.0 -
Vladimirnapkin wrote: »You might be happier using the Strava results for MFP.
I think Strava is on the other extreme. Where Garmin credited me with 1100 calories for my 11 mile run Sunday, Strava credited me with 2100. Using the 0.63 factor, I get 1500 calories.
Considering my main goal at the moment is losing weight, I'll stick with Garmin even though I believe it to be low.1 -
I think Strava is on the other extreme. Where Garmin credited me with 1100 calories for my 11 mile run Sunday, Strava credited me with 2100 [/quote]
That's amazing!0 -
I have stopped paying attention to my Garmin calorie burn, it overestimates how much I burn during a run! Did a 13 mile run yesterday and has me down as burning almost 1800 kcal, i'm 5'2 and 144lbs so no way! Should be around 1300 or less0
