Accurate Workout Calorie Burn

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_EndGame_
_EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
OK, so I have a Polar Ft4 HRM I use to keep track of my calories burned. I have had it for about 6 months now, and I use it mainly whilst swimming.

Recently, I came across a thread on another site, which was written by somebody who claimed to have been an Olympic swimmer, and they taught a swim class. She claimed that the average height and weight male, would burn around 600 calories an hour swimming. This estimation reflects the calorie burn I would get from MFP (which I usually find severely overestimates calorie burns) which is why I stick with my HRM, but my HRM will usually only give me a calorie burn of around 300-350 calories per hour, and I weigh 295lbs! I started at 404lbs, so I am losing weight, but I'm just not sure on what I am ACTUALLY burning!

Is there any pro's out there, that could shed some light on what the best way to measure my calorie burn is? My HRM seems OK for all other forms of exercise, but not swimming. According to MFP and other exercise calculators, I would burn twice as much as my HRM tells me I'm burning, so I really don't know what to believe!

My height is 5'9, my weight is 295lbs, just incase anybody wanted to try work out some kind of estimates!

Replies

  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
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    Just to add, the intensity of my swims is quite good. I usually swim my mile within the 45-50 minute bracket, I swim fast and powerful (I'm a good swimmer, had a couple of the lifeguards at where I go tell me I should volunteer to help teach the adult swim classes)

    I just thought I better add that, so people know I'm not just floating around in the pool, putting minimum effort in. I usually stay in the pool for around 90 minutes, sometimes longer.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    That is going to substantially depend on your level of effort and really, the distance you are covering more than time. For example, I cycle a lot...if I hit a good 15 miles in an hour I'll burn right around 600 calories give or take...but sometimes I'm going at a slower pace...say 10 - 12 miles per hour...or I'm hitting stop lights, etc which prevent me from reaching my full 15 miles in an hour...in which case my burn over that same period of time would be around 400 - 500 calories.

    It's really not so much a function of time as it is moving mass across X distance.

    At any rate, if you're estimating for the purpose of eating back exercise calories as per MFP, I'd keep it conservative
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Options
    That is going to substantially depend on your level of effort and really, the distance you are covering more than time. For example, I cycle a lot...if I hit a good 15 miles in an hour I'll burn right around 600 calories give or take...but sometimes I'm going at a slower pace...say 10 - 12 miles per hour...or I'm hitting stop lights, etc which prevent me from reaching my full 15 miles in an hour...in which case my burn over that same period of time would be around 400 - 500 calories.

    It's really not so much a function of time as it is moving mass across X distance.

    At any rate, if you're estimating for the purpose of eating back exercise calories as per MFP, I'd keep it conservative

    I do keep it conservative, that's why I go with my HRM burn reading, even though I think it's wrong. Where my HRM will tell me I burned 400 calories, MFP will tell me I burned in excess of 900 calories! And I like to eat exercise calories back (most of them) I just wish I knew a way of getting a close estimate!
  • nytrifisoul
    nytrifisoul Posts: 500 Member
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    Go with what your HRM tells you. But make sure you are inputting the correct info into your HRM. If you want second, third opinions you could take your average heart rate for that hour of exercise and input that into some of the online heart rate calculators and see what they tell you aswell.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Options
    Go with what your HRM tells you. But make sure you are inputting the correct info into your HRM. If you want second, third opinions you could take your average heart rate for that hour of exercise and input that into some of the online heart rate calculators and see what they tell you aswell.

    Indeed. Well, I think I am going to get an upgraded HRM watch from Polar. I've noticed that whilst swimming, it sometimes loses the signal between the transmitter and the watch. Sometimes when I swim my length, it doesn't update until I stop for a few seconds at the end of each length, so I'm not entirely sure whether its even recording the right BPM! Sometimes I feel I spend too much time messing around with the HRM, which interferes with my workout.
  • nytrifisoul
    nytrifisoul Posts: 500 Member
    Options
    Go with what your HRM tells you. But make sure you are inputting the correct info into your HRM. If you want second, third opinions you could take your average heart rate for that hour of exercise and input that into some of the online heart rate calculators and see what they tell you aswell.

    Indeed. Well, I think I am going to get an upgraded HRM watch from Polar. I've noticed that whilst swimming, it sometimes loses the signal between the transmitter and the watch. Sometimes when I swim my length, it doesn't update until I stop for a few seconds at the end of each length, so I'm not entirely sure whether its even recording the right BPM! Sometimes I feel I spend too much time messing around with the HRM, which interferes with my workout.

    I use a Suunto t3c with the memory belt docking station to log my calories burned during swimming sessions. Suunto logs in real time. Im not familiar with Polar. Did not like that the batterys were not user replaceable. Went with Suunto and was happy ever since.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Options
    Go with what your HRM tells you. But make sure you are inputting the correct info into your HRM. If you want second, third opinions you could take your average heart rate for that hour of exercise and input that into some of the online heart rate calculators and see what they tell you aswell.

    Indeed. Well, I think I am going to get an upgraded HRM watch from Polar. I've noticed that whilst swimming, it sometimes loses the signal between the transmitter and the watch. Sometimes when I swim my length, it doesn't update until I stop for a few seconds at the end of each length, so I'm not entirely sure whether its even recording the right BPM! Sometimes I feel I spend too much time messing around with the HRM, which interferes with my workout.

    I use a Suunto t3c with the memory belt docking station to log my calories burned during swimming sessions. Suunto logs in real time. Im not familiar with Polar. Did not like that the batterys were not user replaceable. Went with Suunto and was happy ever since.

    Suunto t3c, I'll check that out, not heard of it before, but I'm in the UK, it might not have been hyped up - I'll check Amazon.

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