Best HRM to track lifting cals

Glampinupdoll
Glampinupdoll Posts: 234 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys! I know there are a few threads with different reviews on HRM. I am looking for someone who has one and uses to track cals burned during lifting. I plan to use for cardio as well, just curious what you have and how you like it? Looking to stay under $150 preferably under $100. If you could find your HRM on amazon and provide a link that would be awesome too :) thanks guys!!
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Replies

  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    HRM's are designed for steady state cardio and not as reliable for tracking calorie burns during weight lifting.. I use mine to monitor heart rate and rest time between sets but don't use the calorie burn number.... i have established a rough guesstimate for my calorie burn from lifting.... Best of Luck
  • Glampinupdoll
    Glampinupdoll Posts: 234 Member
    HRM's are designed for steady state cardio and not as reliable for tracking calorie burns during weight lifting.. I use mine to monitor heart rate and rest time between sets but don't use the calorie burn number.... i have established a rough guesstimate for my calorie burn from lifting.... Best of Luck

    Thanks! Ok so anyone else reading keep in mind I'm looking for an estimate and what you have found to "work" best at tracking those strength workouts.
  • Jen21878
    Jen21878 Posts: 40 Member
    I use a Polar FT4 - more for cardio than lifiting but I do wear while I lift....I love my Polar and you can grab one for about $65-ish on Amazon! :)
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Hey guys! I know there are a few threads with different reviews on HRM. I am looking for someone who has one and uses to track cals burned during lifting. I plan to use for cardio as well, just curious what you have and how you like it? Looking to stay under $150 preferably under $100. If you could find your HRM on amazon and provide a link that would be awesome too :) thanks guys!!

    HRMs are not to be used to track calories burned while lifting. The correlation between heart rate and calorie burn holds for steady state cardio only. There is no reliable relationship between heart rate and calorie burn while lifting; even if there were, HRMs are not calibrated for it.

    HRMs are known to vastly overestimate calories burned while lifting.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    None. Why spend $150 for a guess at best when you can calculate BRM or TDEE and take 20% off that and not worry about tracking "burned" calories. Take some of the stress out of weight loss and definitely save the $150 for groceries or something much more useful.
  • Glampinupdoll
    Glampinupdoll Posts: 234 Member
    Hey guys! I know there are a few threads with different reviews on HRM. I am looking for someone who has one and uses to track cals burned during lifting. I plan to use for cardio as well, just curious what you have and how you like it? Looking to stay under $150 preferably under $100. If you could find your HRM on amazon and provide a link that would be awesome too :) thanks guys!!

    HRMs are not to be used to track calories burned while lifting. The correlation between heart rate and calorie burn holds for steady state cardio only. There is no reliable relationship between heart rate and calorie burn while lifting; even if there were, HRMs are not calibrated for it.

    HRMs are known to vastly overestimate calories burned while lifting.

    Are there any other devices out there that may work for tracking strength?
  • salsera_barbie
    salsera_barbie Posts: 270 Member
    HRM's are designed for steady state cardio and not as reliable for tracking calorie burns during weight lifting.. I use mine to monitor heart rate and rest time between sets but don't use the calorie burn number.... i have established a rough guesstimate for my calorie burn from lifting.... Best of Luck

    Not sure why people say this. I use mine during lifting and subtract my BMR. I tested this once and used the HRM for 5 minutes and basically my calorie burn was my BMR for those 5 minutes.
  • Glampinupdoll
    Glampinupdoll Posts: 234 Member
    None. Why spend $150 for a guess at best when you can calculate BRM or TDEE and take 20% off that and not worry about tracking "burned" calories. Take some of the stress out of weight loss and definitely save the $150 for groceries or something much more useful.

    I do TDEE -20% I guess I was just more curious than actually needing the data to record for my weightloss. Thank you :)
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    None. Why spend $150 for a guess at best when you can calculate BRM or TDEE and take 20% off that and not worry about tracking "burned" calories. Take some of the stress out of weight loss and definitely save the $150 for groceries or something much more useful.

    That's not really an argument. Why use a measurement device when you can just blindly guess?

    The problem here is that the measurement device doesn't measure what the OP wants it to measure. If it did, it would be infinitely better than using some online calculator to guesstimate what your calorie burn might be.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Hey guys! I know there are a few threads with different reviews on HRM. I am looking for someone who has one and uses to track cals burned during lifting. I plan to use for cardio as well, just curious what you have and how you like it? Looking to stay under $150 preferably under $100. If you could find your HRM on amazon and provide a link that would be awesome too :) thanks guys!!

    HRMs are not to be used to track calories burned while lifting. The correlation between heart rate and calorie burn holds for steady state cardio only. There is no reliable relationship between heart rate and calorie burn while lifting; even if there were, HRMs are not calibrated for it.

    HRMs are known to vastly overestimate calories burned while lifting.

    Are there any other devices out there that may work for tracking strength?

    I track strength by how much weight I have the barbell ;)

    There are really no devices out there that can accurately track calories burned during a lifting session. Personally, I take what my Fitbit estimates (which isn't much) and add about 50-75 calories per hour of weightlifting.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1044313-this-is-why-hrms-have-limited-use-for-tracking-calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    HRM's are designed for steady state cardio and not as reliable for tracking calorie burns during weight lifting.. I use mine to monitor heart rate and rest time between sets but don't use the calorie burn number.... i have established a rough guesstimate for my calorie burn from lifting.... Best of Luck

    Not sure why people say this. I use mine during lifting and subtract my BMR. I tested this once and used the HRM for 5 minutes and basically my calorie burn was my BMR for those 5 minutes.

    Probably because of the underlying science behind the device and communications from the companies themselves.

    Not sure how your test in any way validates their use for it as there isn't really a standard against which you're comparing it, but even if it did, it would be more coincidence than proof.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Hey guys! I know there are a few threads with different reviews on HRM. I am looking for someone who has one and uses to track cals burned during lifting. I plan to use for cardio as well, just curious what you have and how you like it? Looking to stay under $150 preferably under $100. If you could find your HRM on amazon and provide a link that would be awesome too :) thanks guys!!

    HRMs are not to be used to track calories burned while lifting. The correlation between heart rate and calorie burn holds for steady state cardio only. There is no reliable relationship between heart rate and calorie burn while lifting; even if there were, HRMs are not calibrated for it.

    HRMs are known to vastly overestimate calories burned while lifting.

    Are there any other devices out there that may work for tracking strength?

    I track strength by how much weight I have the barbell ;)

    There are really no devices out there that can accurately track calories burned during a lifting session. Personally, I take what my Fitbit estimates (which isn't much) and add about 50-75 calories per hour of weightlifting.

    I agree in regards to tracking weight training improvements by how you are progressing weight wise, not calorie burn wise.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,313 Member
    Since I eat at TDEE minus I don't really worry about calories burned for what i eat. I do like it for a gauge of my intensity. In light of that, I use my HRM during weight lifting, not as a way to decide how much to eat, but to have an estimate of the intensity of the workout.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    HRM's are designed for steady state cardio and not as reliable for tracking calorie burns during weight lifting.. I use mine to monitor heart rate and rest time between sets but don't use the calorie burn number.... i have established a rough guesstimate for my calorie burn from lifting.... Best of Luck

    Not sure why people say this. I use mine during lifting and subtract my BMR. I tested this once and used the HRM for 5 minutes and basically my calorie burn was my BMR for those 5 minutes.

    I've gotten mine to give me a 600-800 calorie burn several times for an hour. If that were true, I'd be losing like crazy, but it isn't. It's more a 200-300 cal burn. Check out the links I posted and as Jof said - even the HRM companies tell you it is for stead fast cardio, not weight training.

    And I'd warn those against using it during certain high intensity exercises as Insanity and P90X. The burns tend to come out higher than they actually are.
  • Wrxsti23
    Wrxsti23 Posts: 62
    I bought this Polar H7 from Amazon for $57. I use the DigiFit App and select Weight Lifting.

    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bluetooth-Smart-Heart-Sensor/dp/B007S088F4

    ALSO: The app allow you to pause the workout or go into recovery mode. This allows it to not calculate any calories burned between breaks.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    None. Why spend $150 for a guess at best when you can calculate BRM or TDEE and take 20% off that and not worry about tracking "burned" calories. Take some of the stress out of weight loss and definitely save the $150 for groceries or something much more useful.

    That's not really an argument. Why use a measurement device when you can just blindly guess?

    The problem here is that the measurement device doesn't measure what the OP wants it to measure. If it did, it would be infinitely better than using some online calculator to guesstimate what your calorie burn might be.

    All calorie calculation is a swag or guess, it's not precise. Not the measurement used by MFP, not BMR, not TDEE, not even the calories listed on a Nutrition Facts label; it's ALL a guess or swag. My point is why use a "measuring instrument" that is not accurate? Would you want to use a tape measure that indicates what you're measuring is 12-inches when in actuality what you're measuring is really only 4-inches? How the hell does that help you? It doesn't... Using MFP's calculation with an HMR is too much guessing and too much damn work to be honest. Though BMR and TDEE are also a slight guess, the range of error is less and it's less time consuming to manage and leaves you more time for other more fun or more important stuff in your life AND it doesn't cost you $150 for a measurement tool that doesn't measure correctly! How's that?
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Since I eat at TDEE minus I don't really worry about calories burned for what i eat. I do like it for a gauge of my intensity. In light of that, I use my HRM during weight lifting, not as a way to decide how much to eat, but to have an estimate of the intensity of the workout.

    Often HR response to lifting is completely unrelated to "intensity", so the HRM is really an imprecise tool in that area as well. For example, an overhead lift at 10-12 RM for some people could elicit a higher heart rate than 5 RM squat, although the squat would be much more "intense".
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    HRM's are designed for steady state cardio and not as reliable for tracking calorie burns during weight lifting.. I use mine to monitor heart rate and rest time between sets but don't use the calorie burn number.... i have established a rough guesstimate for my calorie burn from lifting.... Best of Luck

    Not sure why people say this. I use mine during lifting and subtract my BMR. I tested this once and used the HRM for 5 minutes and basically my calorie burn was my BMR for those 5 minutes.

    I wear my heart rate monitor while I lift but only for tracking my down time between sets... Some workouts I rest 2 minutes (lifting heavy) between sets but then other times I rest 30-40 seconds between sets (lighter weight more reps). The point for me anyway is my heart rate may be pushing 140-150 during deads but within 30 seconds of my 2 minute rest I look at it again and my heart rate is 95-100 (sometimes even lower) the HRM is not designed to calculate those kind of spikes in heart rate... It is an estimate even at regular steady state cardio but much less of an estimate lifting...

    An example on Back and Abs day yesterday when I finished my 60 minute workout my heart rate monitor indicated a burn of 820 calories, I logged an hour of lifting at 450 calories. I have been at this for quite awhile and have guesstimated my calorie burn at around 75 calories every 10 minutes during lifting sessions...
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    This might help you

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

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