Using Garmin Forerunner HRM

ranganayakee
ranganayakee Posts: 67 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I used my Garmin Forerunner with HRM for Insanity today morning and plugged in the parameters into this site - http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/ Turns out that I have burned about 600+ calories than my estimated 300 odd calories. It seemed a little dubious to me.


To keep it short, how best can I track the calories burnt doing Insanity using my good old Garmin Forerunner?

Replies

  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    sadly, none of the HRMs or other consumer devices are going to give you really accurate counts. Neither will the site you linked, to be honest. They're all estimates. The HRM data when calculated with your height, weight, and age *should* be more accurate than other methods... but still not perfect. Couple that with the fact that the online BMR/TDEE calculators are also wildly inaccurate, and you will start to see why trying to be precise on these things is an exercise in futility.

    Your best bet is to get your BMR measured, then use the HRM for expenditure calculations... but give yourself plenty of room for error. Eat enough to get all the nutrients you need, and create your deficit with exercise. If you end up burning more calories than you planned to (or thought you did based on HRM data, etc) that's fine. Your body will just get the extra calories it needs from your fat stores.

    Weight loss *is* a science, but we as consumers don't have the ability to properly measure the calories in versus out and apply the scientific method. We can only get close... making the whole thing a bit of an art as well. Adjust your deficit manually (slowly) until you find the desired rate of weight loss. Be sure to get enough nutrients: hit your macros every day. No magic devices, apps, or websites can tell you *exactly* how many calories you need to eat or *exactly* how many calories you are burning.

Categories