HRM question

missbirrell
missbirrell Posts: 133
in Health and Weight Loss
Looking for some advice. I get all my exercise from swimming. I am wondering, how much does MFP overestimate, generally? I've been wondering if it's worth getting a HRM to use while swimming. If that's a sensible idea, can anyone recommend me one? Preferably one that won't break the bank!

Replies

  • anewlife1980
    anewlife1980 Posts: 225 Member
    I have a Polar F7 & find it way more accurate then the MFP database or my elliptical, esp for the elliptical, there is a drastic diff (ie: elliptical would say I burned 450 cals but HRM says 200ish). For walking though I find 90% of the time its pretty close to the data base. However because this holds all your data (height, weight, age & hr) its more accurate then a machine that has nothing to base your burn on. But this is my first time having one so I honestly have no way to know if its accurate or not but I know a ton of people who use them & love them & its better then nothing at all. I got mine almost a year ago on clearance bc at the time Polar had just released their FT series, mine was reg 159.99 plus tax & I got it for 89.99 plus tax.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    It's actually hard to find an HRM that is accurate for swimming - I just searched that the other day when someone posed the same question. You are probably better off just finding a website that calculates calories to get a more accurate idea of calorie burn while swimming - that is if you are looking to buy it specifically for swimming.

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calories_burned.htm < I used this knowing that MFP estimates higher calorie burn and the difference was about 115 calories for my 50 minute fast paced walk (glad I know this now or MFP would have had me thinking I had spare calories where I didn't).
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,421 Member
    I used my Polar in the pool, even took it scuba diving. It's rated water resistant to 30M (90 feet). About $80 I think.

    Only problem with swimming is you need to get the band really tight to keep a seal with your skin while moving through the water. Some people use a medical tape to tape it to their torso. I wasn't that concerned.

    You don't really need one. Just pick a number from an average of a variety of calculators and stick to it. If you aren't seeing results, adjust.

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