Garmin watch calorie counter- running calories?

estatitra
estatitra Posts: 80 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello,
I have a Garmin Triathlon watch, and I wear a HRM with it. My cycling calories seems to be accurate, but I am surprised about my running calories. I ran a 10k this morning,. I weigh 134lbs and I am 5 8" , 32 years old female. The watch tells me I burnt 404 calories for my 68 min 10k run ( I know terrible time!). Anyways, I looked up a website that gives you calories burnt based on average heart rate (152bpm) and it tells me my net calories burnt should be around 619. I am just wondering if anyone else has this problem with their HRM. I should say I sweat fair amount running so I wonder if that's causing the problem.
BTW-- This is not the first time it's happening, has happened with running before.

Replies

  • glreim21
    glreim21 Posts: 206 Member
    The sweat actually would be a benefit because you want a moist contact between the sensors and your body...maybe during your next run, manually take your heart rate periodically and compare it to the heart rate that your watch is showing. Also not sure if you are a male or female....I tuck the sensor and chest strap under my bra band to keep it in place , sometimes if the chest strap is moving around you can get inaccurate reading, or maybe time to tighten the chest strap?
  • JKDLady
    JKDLady Posts: 131 Member
    I find that this happens to me on occasion, usually when I'm overtraining. Some days you just don't get a good burn. It sounds like it doesn't happen all the time, so I would think my original statement is correct.

    What else could be going on? Are you tired, dehydrated, stressed? Is the weather cooler than normal? Did you reset your weight in Garmin?

    I've been there. I know how frustrating it can be to think you are working so hard and not get a high burn number, but I would take the number it gives you. Now, if it happens every time you run or with your biking I would suggest replacing the battery.

    Good job on the run this morning!
  • estatitra
    estatitra Posts: 80 Member
    Well, There is something that I don't get. HRM is supposed to calculate the calories burnt based on heart rate. So if based on my heart rate other legitimate websites are telling me (considering my height and weight and sex) that I should burn 619, I don't get what my watch's problem is. Now that I am looking on the analyze, it seems like for 40 seconds I ran with speed of 38km/h???!!!!
    I agree the sweat would help at some point but I wonder if the salt build up causing some disturbance.
  • eating4me
    eating4me Posts: 239 Member
    I agree with JKDlady; I also have days that I just don't burn as many calories...it is very frustrating sometimes, but I have manually checked my HR, just to be sure, at times, and I don't find any problem with my Garmin's accuracy. Be sure to wash the contacts off regularly, though, just to be sure you don't have a salt build-up interfering with the readings. And, I do find that when my HRM slips around, I lose some readings occasionally, so be sure it's fitting tight enough.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Yeah I was going to say, it sounds like it may not have had good readings throughout... if you look on your garmin connect activity tracker it will show if there are any anomalies. Sounds like there was a time it wasn't reading right.
  • estatitra
    estatitra Posts: 80 Member
    Thanks for the comments, I found this article VERY helpful and it makes sense to me:http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/calories-burned-during-exercise-it-s-the-intensity-not-the-heart-rate-that-counts-26524

Categories