Calories burned based on heart rate?

aquariusvsworld

I'm really new to all this but I'm wondering if this is possible and even accurate?

jennybearlv

No, but if that's the only tool I have it's the one I use. In my opinion it's more accurate than a general activity that has no way of knowing how hard I was working.

aquariusvsworld

I didn't think so but it was worth asking lol. I feel so skeptical of what the elliptical tells me and what my HRM tells me in regards to calories burned. Based on some other threads it's pretty clear there is never a 100% accurate reading in that regards. I guess I'll stick to what the machine says and only eat back a percentage of those calories.

sijomial

Depends what you mean by accurate, but not really. HR is used as a proxy for oxygen uptake as that's difficult to measure outside of a lab environment.

It's generally a rough average for steady state moderate intensity cardio.
Which is OK if you happen to have an average exercise HR and are doing moderate intensity steady state cardio.

If you are unfit, otherwise have a non-average HR, doing interval training, doing non-cardio exercise then it's a pretty random guesstimate.

Really the best way to make an estimate depends on what your exercise actually is.

aquariusvsworld

sijomial wrote: »

Depends what you mean by accurate, but not really. HR is used as a proxy for oxygen uptake as that's difficult to measure outside of a lab environment.

It's generally a rough average for steady state moderate intensity cardio.
Which is OK if you happen to have an average exercise HR and are doing moderate intensity steady state cardio.

If you are unfit, otherwise have a non-average HR, doing interval training, doing non-cardio exercise then it's a pretty random guesstimate.

Really the best way to make an estimate depends on what your exercise actually is.

I prefer the elliptical so that is generally what I do my cardio on. For example on Thursday I did 2.55 miles on 31 minutes. I put in my weight and age the machine estimated that I burnt total 318. My HR during this was between 175-180 a majority of that time. It was a new level of intensity I was trying but was skeptical I even burned that many calories. My HRM was reading the same HR as the machine sensors, but it spit out with 625 calories burned. Out of curiosity I searched google on the subject and it suggested a few "calculators" I input my in age weight height and heart rate and time and it spit out 380 calories burned. Just trying to find a guideline on this so that I'm not eating back excessive calories I didn't burn to begin with

sijomial

Distance on an elliptical is an artificial construct - there's no actual distance covered.

625 calories in 31 minutes is ludicrous frankly. Half that would be a pretty good fitness level.
Something is very wrong with your HRM calorie estimates.

A suggestion....
If you have access to a power meter equipped indoor bike or a Concept2 rower do half an hour and see what you are capable off. Using power to produce an estimate is far more accurate and will give you an idea of what you are capable of.

(http://www.concept2.co.uk/indoor-rowers/training/calculators/calorie-calculator)

jennybearlv

aquariusvsworld wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Depends what you mean by accurate, but not really. HR is used as a proxy for oxygen uptake as that's difficult to measure outside of a lab environment.

It's generally a rough average for steady state moderate intensity cardio.
Which is OK if you happen to have an average exercise HR and are doing moderate intensity steady state cardio.

If you are unfit, otherwise have a non-average HR, doing interval training, doing non-cardio exercise then it's a pretty random guesstimate.

Really the best way to make an estimate depends on what your exercise actually is.

I prefer the elliptical so that is generally what I do my cardio on. For example on Thursday I did 2.55 miles on 31 minutes. I put in my weight and age the machine estimated that I burnt total 318. My HR during this was between 175-180 a majority of that time. It was a new level of intensity I was trying but was skeptical I even burned that many calories. My HRM was reading the same HR as the machine sensors, but it spit out with 625 calories burned. Out of curiosity I searched google on the subject and it suggested a few "calculators" I input my in age weight height and heart rate and time and it spit out 380 calories burned. Just trying to find a guideline on this so that I'm not eating back excessive calories I didn't burn to begin with

That HR burn does seem high. It would take me an hour to get a burn estimate over 600 calories using HR or GPS. I'm 215 lbs.

aquariusvsworld

jennybearlv wrote: »

aquariusvsworld wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Depends what you mean by accurate, but not really. HR is used as a proxy for oxygen uptake as that's difficult to measure outside of a lab environment.

It's generally a rough average for steady state moderate intensity cardio.
Which is OK if you happen to have an average exercise HR and are doing moderate intensity steady state cardio.

If you are unfit, otherwise have a non-average HR, doing interval training, doing non-cardio exercise then it's a pretty random guesstimate.

Really the best way to make an estimate depends on what your exercise actually is.

I prefer the elliptical so that is generally what I do my cardio on. For example on Thursday I did 2.55 miles on 31 minutes. I put in my weight and age the machine estimated that I burnt total 318. My HR during this was between 175-180 a majority of that time. It was a new level of intensity I was trying but was skeptical I even burned that many calories. My HRM was reading the same HR as the machine sensors, but it spit out with 625 calories burned. Out of curiosity I searched google on the subject and it suggested a few "calculators" I input my in age weight height and heart rate and time and it spit out 380 calories burned. Just trying to find a guideline on this so that I'm not eating back excessive calories I didn't burn to begin with

That HR burn does seem high. It would take me an hour to get a burn estimate over 600 calories using HR or GPS. I'm 215 lbs.

Agreed it's going in the trash it can't be trusted.

I'll definitely check out the bikes at my gym and see if they're what you're suggesting.