Polar loop - reviews? To buy or not ?

Chegs1978 · May 2014

How accurate is the calories burned on the loop when doing a session with the HRM?

I was at the gym this morning and it has my calories burned at 439 for the session, is that accurate?

I find it fairly accurate as in comparison to my prior HRM, Garmin and bodybugg. Meaning that for whatever activity I am doing the calories burned make sense and are consistent to that activity.

Thanks, I am struggling to lose more weight, possible due to me not believing in the calories burned on the loop and not eating enough.

jasonheyd · May 2014

Thanks, I am struggling to lose more weight, possible due to me not believing in the calories burned on the loop and not eating enough.

Not to derail the thread, but ...

I ran into a couple of plateaus that (I think) were finally broken by slightly increasing my calorie intake in line with my calorie burns, and I think part of it was related to "exchanging" fat for muscle as I increased the resistance training stuff.

That's something else to keep in mind if you're not losing... Depending on the type of exercise you're doing and how new you are to that exercise (or to exercise in general), you're likely to be building muscle and your muscles are likely to be retaining water as they repair themselves from the exertion. And if you're doing resistance training for the first time, that's going to be doubly (maybe not literally) true.

Chegs1978 · May 2014

Thanks, I am struggling to lose more weight, possible due to me not believing in the calories burned on the loop and not eating enough.

Not to derail the thread, but ...

I ran into a couple of plateaus that (I think) were finally broken by slightly increasing my calorie intake in line with my calorie burns, and I think part of it was related to "exchanging" fat for muscle as I increased the resistance training stuff.

That's something else to keep in mind if you're not losing... Depending on the type of exercise you're doing and how new you are to that exercise (or to exercise in general), you're likely to be building muscle and your muscles are likely to be retaining water as they repair themselves from the exertion. And if you're doing resistance training for the first time, that's going to be doubly (maybe not literally) true.

I was actually trying to read up about building muscle when trying to loose weight. I do 5 sessions per week and 3 include strength training, so in theory I may not be losing weight due to muscle gain?

heybales · May 2014

Thanks, I am struggling to lose more weight, possible due to me not believing in the calories burned on the loop and not eating enough.

Not to derail the thread, but ...

I ran into a couple of plateaus that (I think) were finally broken by slightly increasing my calorie intake in line with my calorie burns, and I think part of it was related to "exchanging" fat for muscle as I increased the resistance training stuff.

That's something else to keep in mind if you're not losing... Depending on the type of exercise you're doing and how new you are to that exercise (or to exercise in general), you're likely to be building muscle and your muscles are likely to be retaining water as they repair themselves from the exertion. And if you're doing resistance training for the first time, that's going to be doubly (maybe not literally) true.

I was actually trying to read up about building muscle when trying to loose weight. I do 5 sessions per week and 3 include strength training, so in theory I may not be losing weight due to muscle gain?

Sadly at best probably looking at almost a pound a month exchange or less.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/778012-potential-muscle-gain-lifting-and-metabolism-improvement

And sadly, you are LESS likely to be building muscle in a diet as you have less weight to lose.
Only time you'll gain muscle in a true deficit is at the start, after tapping out existing muscle for strength, and having plenty of fat to spare.

More likely this if your exercise has been creating even a bigger deficit to perhaps an already unreasonable deficit for amount to lose.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/reduced-metabolism-tdee-beyond-expected-from-weight-loss-616251

May be time for a diet break and eat what it says you burn for a week or two. Now that should allow increases on the bar.

jasonheyd · May 2014

Agreed with haybales.

Adding muscle is much slower than dropping fat, so it's likely a combination of the factors mentioned above.

You're likely increasing the strength / condition of the muscle that you have and retaining more water for muscle repair, but actually adding muscle in significant amounts requires excess fuel (calories) to build more muscle fiber.

That's very hard eating at a calorie deficit, although it's easier if you've got a lot of body fat to lose and it seems to be easier if you've never done strength training before, or if it's been a very long time (the so-called "newbie effect").

I've had pretty good success eating at a mild deficit (targeting 1/2-lb. per week loss) and making sure to eat more when I'm very active. My weight's been very slightly decreasing over time, and my LBM has been very slightly increasing over time.

Even at a slight deficit, that nets out to 2000-2500 calories a day on average, after adding calories from exercise burns. That's a lot more than most folks think of when they think "diet."

Chegs1978 · May 2014

Thanks for the info, very, very helpful.

Just to move back on topic and about the loop. I now use this for every session at the gym, I just need to know how people add this in the MyFitnessPal app? Is it just a case of adding 492 calories burned under the exercises section? Not sure if I should add the full 492 as not sure how accurate it is?

See photo.

heybales · May 2014

Thanks for the info, very, very helpful.

Just to move back on topic and about the loop. I now use this for every session at the gym, I just need to know how people add this in the MyFitnessPal app? Is it just a case of adding 492 calories burned under the exercises section? Not sure if I should add the full 492 as not sure how accurate it is?

See photo.

Well, 492 (assume totally accurate) is what you burned in total during that time. Considered gross burn. Well, at least if you sweat really bad. ha!

But a HRM, that device, database entry, treadmill, bike computer, ect, all report the same thing, total gross burn.

Not what you burned extra over what you would have burned anyway, considered NET burn. Because they don't know that. Removing RMR would be tad more accurate.

But because you are in a diet, you actually have a different value for every hour of your day already that you are expected to burn, and then your eating amount is based on that.

So you really want to log and eat back what you burned over what was already accounted for.

What is accounted for already?
MFP - Home - Goals - Calories burned from normal daily activity / 24 hrs = hourly burn already expected and accounted for.

Polar or whatever reported calorie burn minus that value per hour = what you burned above and beyond and eat back. Can take 15% deficit off of it too.

fyoung1111 · May 2014

Just to simplify by way of an example:

My Loop says I burned 2115 calories yesterday.

MFP has already credited me with 1,900 Calories burned from normal daily activities.

To keep up with everything in MFP, I would add a custom exercise for the 215 calorie difference.

Simple as that.

Based on a lot of testing I have done, I believe the Loop calorie estimates ar the best out there. Better than Fitbit, Garmin, Basis, Runkeeper, MapMyRide. I would trust them as presented.

amazurkiewicz · May 2014

I just purchased the Polar Loop and love the product but like others, am disappointed by its lack of integration with other apps. But that is really the only down side. I like the information that's available on the band and iphone app. The Polar Flow web page is not great, but not atrocious. I am getting used to it. It's too bad that it does not allow for tracking weight loss. Seeing a graph with calories burned and weight lost over time would be very motivating. Most importantly, the Loop also pairs with the Wahoo Blue HR heart rate monitor. I had already owned one, so was thrilled to discover that it works with the Loop.

Rlnieman · May 2014

I got my Loop in the mail yesterday, today is my first full day with it; I have a bunch of questions if anyone can help.

How is the goal calculated? I had to hit close to 17K steps to hit goal today. I'm overweight so could that be why I have a higher step goal than others I've seen? Not sure if it matters but I'm pretty short (4'11") so that could have an affect on the numbers too?

I'm still waiting on my heart rate monitor in the mail, but I'd like to use it for work outs when it comes in. Would it be better to sync the monitor to the loop or to the Polar Beat app , or would it depend on the type of work out I'm doing? I mostly do strength training and treadmill and/or swim laps, but would eventually like to take my runs outside when I can manage better.

Also I saw a mention of someone wanting to start a Polar Loop group here on MFP but couldn't find one. Would there be interest in starting one? It looks like there has to be at least 3 interested in joining before it can be created.

I think that's all for now, I'm sure I'll have more later as I learn how to use this better.

fyoung1111 · May 2014

Goal calculation is a mystery. The good news is that everything counts towards goal. The Loop really is an activity tracker not just a step tracker. 17K steps sound way to high. being overweight should not be a factor. Same for your short stature (cute).

I'd use the HRM with your loop. Don't bother for walking or running but for your weight-lifting, wear it. Sorry but your HRM won't work in the pool and swimming with the Loop runs down the battery incredibly fast.

You should start the Loop group yourself. It's a good way to accelerate your education about your tracker.

Rlnieman · May 2014

Thanks. I agree that number sounds high but I don't know how to change it.

I'll probably stay a group when I get home.

Also, I thought you could use the heart rate monitor in the pool. It says you can with something that transmits 5khz, what ever that is. Is there a way too find out if the loop or polar beat app could pick that up?

fyoung1111 · May 2014

I'm not sure what HRM you have on order but it probably does not matter. Your Loop and your phone are only capable of receiving BLE (AKA Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Smart, and Bluetooth 4.0) transmissions and those only travel an inch or two under water.

The 5.2khz GymLink transmission that the Polar H7 puts out along with BLE is meant for Gym equipment and cannot be used by your phone or your Loop.

As for your Goal question, I went back and looked at the very few days over the last couple of months were I ended up very close to 100%. This is what I found:

DATE

% of Goal

Steps

Active

Kcal
4-8

104

8,026