Heart rate = amount of calories burnt?

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Jayj180894
Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does your heart rate contribute to how many calories you burn? I.E if you're on the treadmill and your heartbeat is 150 are you going to burn more calories if your heart rate is around 120 doing the same exercise and same intensity? I'm asking as I am on beta blockers which slow your heart rate down as I suffer with anxiety
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  • Jayj180894
    Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
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    ?? Anyone
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    yes, some go by anaerobic zones, however my h7 normally says at 170 im working to hard. 140-160 is nice fat loss burning
  • Jayj180894
    Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
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    That's annoying! It doesn't matter how hard I work it seems to stay at 120-130! Before I was on them it was 170-180
  • Jayj180894
    Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
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    Thank you! I was just a bit worried I am losing weight ATM but was wondering if I up my intensity more whether it would make a differnce. But thank you ☺
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Heart rate is an indicator of increased calorie burn, but it isn't one to one. When you burn calories you use more oxygen, so your heart has to increase the rate at which it pumps blood. But temperature is another thing that can increase your heart rate because you pump more blood to cool your body. On a cold day, your heart rate may stay lower, even though you are burning quite a few calories.

    The best indication of calorie burn is how much you are breathing. The more air you require to perform an activity the more calories you are burning. In fact, if you have a way to measure the volume of air you are exhaling you can calculate the number of calories you are burning.
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    I definitely burn more calories when my HR is higher. I'll burn 500ish calories in Orangetheory (where my heart rate can climb into the 170s) vs. 450 calories in spin (where I am a nice, steady 145-150 the whole time.) Same length of time class!
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    It's an indicator of how hard you are working, but lack of fitness (which a higher heart rate at the same activity will indicate) does not mean you are burning more. For something like walking or running I think weight and miles and time, plus incline, tell you more than heart rate. If you (hypothetically) could run 8 miles in an hour with your heart rate staying at 130, you'd still burn whatever someone of your weight burns doing that.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    Heart rate is used to guesstimate your calorie burn, but this can be altered (such as with meds), that doesn't negate or reduce the calorie burn that you are getting. I can artificially increase my heart rate using caffeine, that doesn't guarantee an increased calorie burn. Although it may give me the energy to go harder, faster, longer which would increase the burn.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Kind of sort of not really.

    Your heart rate is a factor of how hard you're working, and how hard you're working is a factor in determining your burn. BUT other factors influence your heart rate also, like your fitness level. And other factors influence your burn, like your size, gender.

    So ultimately: there is more to it.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    chloehallam180894 wrote: »
    Does your heart rate contribute to how many calories you burn? I.E if you're on the treadmill and your heartbeat is 150 are you going to burn more calories if your heart rate is around 120 doing the same exercise and same intensity? I'm asking as I am on beta blockers which slow your heart rate down as I suffer with anxiety

    There is no direct relationship between heart rate and calories burned...your heart rate is just used in an algorithm that also assumes a steady state aerobic event to give you an estimate of calories burned. If your HR was higher before beta blockers then your burns would actually be inflated...you're not working any harder, your heart is just beating faster.
  • alid8333
    alid8333 Posts: 233 Member
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    chloehallam180894 wrote: »
    Thank you! I was just a bit worried I am losing weight ATM but was wondering if I up my intensity more whether it would make a differnce. But thank you ☺

    I wouldn't stress over it. Just because your heart rate only gets up to 130 doesn't mean your not burning the same amount of calories you did before when your heart rate was in the 170's. It's the amount of effort your putting in.

    I would keep doing what your doing.


  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    chloehallam180894 wrote: »
    Does your heart rate contribute to how many calories you burn? I.E if you're on the treadmill and your heartbeat is 150 are you going to burn more calories if your heart rate is around 120 doing the same exercise and same intensity? I'm asking as I am on beta blockers which slow your heart rate down as I suffer with anxiety

    The first part is backwards. Your heart rate is your reaction to the work you're doing and the calories you're burning.

    I ski cross country. Skiing up hill is a lot of work (it burns a lot of calories quickly) and skiing down hill is basically rest time. But my highest heart rates are always when I ski down a big hill. Because my skills are only medium, I see the hill and think "oh poop!" and my fight or flight reaction spikes my heart rate. I'm not actually burning many calories at that point, even though my heart rate would make you think otherwise.

    You said you're on a treadmill. Most of your calories are being burned in your leg muscles, not in your heart.
  • Jayj180894
    Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
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    The first part is backwards. Your heart rate is your reaction to the work you're doing and the calories you're burning.
    I know this. That's why I am asking as I'm doing the same amount of work at the same intensity but my heart beat is lower. The treadmill was just an example
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited January 2017
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    chloehallam180894 wrote: »
    The first part is backwards. Your heart rate is your reaction to the work you're doing and the calories you're burning.
    I know this. That's why I am asking as I'm doing the same amount of work at the same intensity but my heart beat is lower. The treadmill was just an example

    Your calorie burn is the same for the same amount of work...nothing to do with your HR...that's what people are telling you. There is no direct relationship between HR and calories burned.

    I take a beta blocker as well for hypertension...
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
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    I am pretty sure the answer is no but I'm not a doctor. Calorie burn is a physics and thermodynamics equations.
    It takes X amount of energy (calories) to perform X amount of work (exercise). Your heart pumps and provides oxygen and nutrient rich blood to the muscles performing the work and the vessles take the waste blood away. You're heart rate will go up with exercise BUT the more efficient it becomes the fewer contractions or beats are needed to supply blood to the muscles performing the work. SO it is possible for your heart rate to go down but still burn the same number of calories.
  • Jayj180894
    Jayj180894 Posts: 286 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    chloehallam180894 wrote: »
    The first part is backwards. Your heart rate is your reaction to the work you're doing and the calories you're burning.
    I know this. That's why I am asking as I'm doing the same amount of work at the same intensity but my heart beat is lower. The treadmill was just an example

    Your calorie burn is the same for the same amount of work...nothing to do with your HR...that's what people are telling you. There is no direct relationship between HR and calories burned.

    I take a beta blocker as well for hypertension...

    Aye! I'm glad that's how it works lol
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
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    No, there are lots of things that can cause a spike in HR which but do not increase calories burnt (pressure response, fear, etc). As said above, HR is used as an indicator of calorific burn but it is not a primary indicator.
  • U2Bad1
    U2Bad1 Posts: 41 Member
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    Let me simplify this. You are on a beta blocker which lowers your heart rate. However, if you are concerned you are sabotaging your weight loss by taking a beta blocker then you don't need to worry.

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