So I've been burning a lot more calories than I expected

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ReallyBigJAWS
ReallyBigJAWS Posts: 26
in Fitness and Exercise
Since I haven't had anything to base my calorie burning I've been doing mostly cardio videos that give you a baseline of what the calories burned are if you follow it accordingly. Example is a 200 in 20 minute one I've been doing, pretty mild, bump doing more vigorous versions of it with a few minutes extra (say 5) So I figured maybe I'm burning an extra 50 or so cals.

Got my Polar F4 yesterday and used it tonight. Did the 20 minute work out, with the usual 5 minutes of extra and by the end of it, according to my monitor I had burned over 350 calories. My heart rate was at around 150 - 180 for the full duration.

It was pretty exciting to see.

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  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    It is highly unlikely that you are burning 350 calories in 20-25 minutes of exercise. That is a really high number, particularly for someone who is not overweight (your picture does not appear that you have a lot to lose and your ticker indicates 10lbs).

    Intervals affect the accuracy of HRMs.

    You can check out the info here

    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

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1044313-this-is-why-hrms-have-limited-use-for-tracking-calories
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    Eh that's not that weird. I burn about 800 cals running for just under an hour.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Eh that's not that weird. I burn about 800 cals running for just under an hour.

    Not exactly the same as doing a cardio video. I assume you are running 7-8 miles.
  • ReallyBigJAWS
    ReallyBigJAWS Posts: 26
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    Maybe mine is off then?
    I just did around 25 minutes of fairly intense cardio (no video, just exercises I've learned) and it said I burned 318 calories.

    From what I read before I even I even bought the HRM it says it tracks best with a steady state. Which I've been trying to stick to with my cardio now. I don't simply do HIIT type workouts anymore. I keep it going, most rest I get is roughly 10 - 15 seconds with some water when I'm feeling really exhausted, even then I'm still vigorously pacing back and forth, otherwise I'm pretty much maintaining my heart rate with constant cardio.

    The videos I use are just a basically a way to keep track/instructional. Like I said I do the workouts but with a more bump to them, and I try to avoid videos that make you take rests in between exercises (if they do I simply keep my heart rate up with buttkickers or something) or if the exercise is too light I'll replace it with something that can maintain my heart rate.

    Am I doing something wrong then? I.E: Does it not work with intense training? I don't mean hit or bursts, but a steady heavy-rate of cardio for 20 - 30 minutes.

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