trusting your heart rate monitor

MEFME
MEFME Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a decent timex heart rate monitor and it's calibrated to my weight and height. Can I trust how many calories it says I burn?

Replies

  • snazzyjazzy21
    snazzyjazzy21 Posts: 1,298 Member
    I don't. It will always give me at least 200cals more than MFP. I know how hard I'm working and if I'm honest with myself, I know I'm not burning 500cals in 30 minutes by jogging.
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
    It depends on what you are doing. Check the instructions. Some will say they are not designed for certain activities. I think weight lifting is one of them.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    I have a Polar FT4 HRM, it comes with a chest strap and a transmitter, and it's deadly accurate.

    MFP overestimates calories burned, my HRM gives a calorie burn reading that's usually a 100 or so below what MFP estimates.

    Get a HRM that comes with a chest strap and transmitter, then you'll get a far more accurate reading.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    Does it let you input VO2max? It's much more trustworthy if that setting is correct.

    Meh....all methods are estimates. Use the best tools you have available and then adjust according to if you are losing the amount of weight that you should be by the numbers. That's your best bet.

    Also, the HRM is only accurate for aerobic exercise (walking, running, cycling) and is not at all accurate for weightlifting, yoga, etc. Just throwing that out there.
  • MEFME
    MEFME Posts: 16 Member
    It depends on what you are doing. Check the instructions. Some will say they are not designed for certain activities. I think weight lifting is one of them.


    I'll do that thanks
  • MEFME
    MEFME Posts: 16 Member
    I have a Polar FT4 HRM, it comes with a chest strap and a transmitter, and it's deadly accurate.

    MFP overestimates calories burned, my HRM gives a calorie burn reading that's usually a 100 or so below what MFP estimates.

    Get a HRM that comes with a chest strap and transmitter, then you'll get a far more accurate reading.


    Indeed, I do have a chest strap.
  • chell53
    chell53 Posts: 352 Member
    I have a Polar FT4 with a chest strap and I trust it completely. I know just how much I should burn when I do certain tapes and it is pretty accurate. Sorry don't know much about the Timex one....
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
    Short answer is, "no." Heart rate is one way of understanding how many additional calories you're burning through exercise. But if you put it on and sit on the couch, guess what? It's going to show calories burned. You wouldn't add those to your daily burn, would you?

    If you're going to eat back those calories burned during exercise, just pay attention to what is going on with your body. Not losing as fast as you planned, cut back on a percentage of the exercise calories. Losing too fast, then up the percent. I eat back about 80% of the calories my HRM shows and so far, that has kept me at the same weight. When I'm ready to cut weight again, I'll probably drop down to eating only 60% of those calories back.

    Monitor, measure, adjust, monitor, measure, adjust...
  • anaconda469
    anaconda469 Posts: 3,479 Member
    I currently have the New Balance Life Trainer HRM. All I can say is it is junk and I paid 79.00 for it. I have on order a Polar FT4 with chest strap because I walk, hike and bike alot now. Just today, after touching the little button at every stop, it said I burned 775 calories on a 6.5 mile incline/decline ride. NOT! I took the difference between MapMyRide and my HRM and came up with a more respectable 475 or so. I can hardly wait til my Polar gets here. All of this math is giving me a headache and I do not ever use MFP calculations as they are so whack.
  • blackcloud13
    blackcloud13 Posts: 654 Member
    I don't trust mine at all - well at least no the calorie burns. It always seem to come up with huge over-estimates. My theory is it effectively "double counts" by adding in calories you burn doing nothing. So, I reckon you could sleep for three hours and have your HRM tell you you just burned 250 cals!
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
    Sometimes I'll come away from a workout with three different different estimates (HRM, Fitbit and machine readout) ... sometimes there are close, other times they are SO very different. It's hard to know which one is closest to correct. Even if I'm not 100% trusting of the calories burned, I do find the feedback about heart rate during the workout to be good information, it's been interesting to note which activities get my heart rate up and how quickly it drops back down.

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