Holy Heart Rate Monitor!

manjoharris
manjoharris Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started using a HRM and found that I am burning so many more calories than I thought I was! I think I need to start eating more!!:happy: I've been steadily losing about 1 lb. per week. I'm thinking if I increase my calories, I will see more weight loss?

It's a HRM that has a wrist watch and a chest strap, btw. I've seen those discussed on here quite a bit.

Replies

  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    Sorry to say, but increasing your calories will not result in more weight loss.
  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
    What are you using your HRM for?

    You could eat more but if you stay at the same level of activity and exercise you will see your weight loss get slower, stop or you may even gain.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Or, alternatively, you are using the HRM inappropriately and it is way over reporting your burn as a result.

    Keep in mind HRM's caloric burn calculators are tuned to be accurate only during steady-state cardio within a tight band of your aerobic range.

    If you were losing 1 pound a month steadily (assuming you have been doing so for many months) I'd just keep doing what you are doing.
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    Or, alternatively, you are using the HRM inappropriately and it is way over reporting your burn as a result.

    Keep in mind HRM's caloric burn calculators are tuned to be accurate only during steady-state cardio within a tight band of your aerobic range.

    If you were losing 1 pound a month steadily (assuming you have been doing so for many months) I'd just keep doing what you are doing.

    This. Whatever you're doing right now is working. If you eat more without exercising more, you won't see the same results. Technology is a great thing, but it's not perfect.
  • joansjourney
    joansjourney Posts: 110
    Or, alternatively, you are using the HRM inappropriately and it is way over reporting your burn as a result.

    Keep in mind HRM's caloric burn calculators are tuned to be accurate only during steady-state cardio within a tight band of your aerobic range.

    Just wondering how to use a HRM inappropriately? I'm kind of curious about this statement.

    OP- I do agree to keep doing what you are doing because you seem to be losing at a good rate and adding more calories may not be the answer.
  • canadianbooty
    canadianbooty Posts: 38
    Who started this eat more to lose more rumor? We should collectively stone them.
  • ckmama
    ckmama Posts: 1,668 Member
    Check out Go Kaleo Eat the food

    Its about loving yourself and nourishing your body and can at times be an extreme opposite to the 1200 calorie a day dieters life.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member


    Just wondering how to use a HRM inappropriately? I'm kind of curious about this statement.


    Easily - I see it done every day on here. They wear it all day, wear it for strength training, wear it for a stroll around the mall, any number of things it isn't made to track and therefore isn't accurate.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Or, alternatively, you are using the HRM inappropriately and it is way over reporting your burn as a result.

    Keep in mind HRM's caloric burn calculators are tuned to be accurate only during steady-state cardio within a tight band of your aerobic range.

    Just wondering how to use a HRM inappropriately? I'm kind of curious about this statement.

    OP- I do agree to keep doing what you are doing because you seem to be losing at a good rate and adding more calories may not be the answer.

    Using HRM inappropriately (for estimating calories):

    1. Using the calorie readings for activities other than steady-state cardio--e.g. lifting weights, HIIT, thermal stress, higher pct of arm work, etc.

    2. Not having the HRM set up properly--most frequently, this means that your true HR max is significantly higher than the default value in the HRM. If this is the case, the HRM assumes you are working at a much higher workload and thus burning more calories. This is by far the most frequent reason for HRM calorie inaccuracies (other than the fact that HRMs are inherently inaccurate to begin with).

    3. Using a model that is not programmed with accurate algorithms.

    Those are just a few reasons.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Who started this eat more to lose more rumor? We should collectively stone them.

    A whole group on this forum....but just like everything else, it has its context...
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    ah....I always wear my HRM for Insanity and other HIIT training...is this wrong?
  • joansjourney
    joansjourney Posts: 110


    Just wondering how to use a HRM inappropriately? I'm kind of curious about this statement.


    Easily - I see it done every day on here. They wear it all day, wear it for strength training, wear it for a stroll around the mall, any number of things it isn't made to track and therefore isn't accurate.

    All day or a stroll around the mall? lol Well I guess the stroll could be considered walking at a slow pace lol. I only wear mine during a workout and never thought of doing it another way so I guess that's why I was confused. Thanks!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    ah....I always wear my HRM for Insanity and other HIIT training...is this wrong?

    It ads another layer of inaccuracy. With interval type workouts, heart rate remains elevated, even though the work has stopped or slowed (recovery). The HRM continues to think you are working out at the level indicated by the higher HR. Now, yes, there is some "afterburn" from the work interval, but that varies widely and there is no way to capture that accurately with an HRM (or anything else short of a metabolic cart or chamber). The nature of the workout can also affect the accuracy. For example, a workout that had more arm work would burn fewer calories, even at the same average heart rate. Again, the HRM doesn't know the difference.

    Now, if you had your HRM set up properly -- reasonably accurate HRmax, accurate HRrest, and accurate(ish) VO2max, then the HRM calorie counts will be a little more in the ballpark and would give you a rough estimate to hang on to vs just making up a number. But, there really is too much random activity going on for that number to be precise.

    Bottom line: not a complete fabrication, but likely has some substantial error. May be better than nothing at all, but I would be judicious about how many of those calories you add back in, if you are following that plan.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    I use a Zephyr HRM strap which syncs with various apps on my phone. The first thing I did was run a fitness test which sets VO2 max. It's not as accurate as actual medical equipment would be, but it's certainly much closer than the basic algorithm set in a HRM watch/chest strap version. So that's one thing which could be off.

    But also, as has been pointed out, using the HRM for the wrong things can certainly lead to incorrect numbers.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
    Just wondering how to use a HRM inappropriately? I'm kind of curious about this statement.

    You can easily trick the HRM. Spend an hour relaxing in the sauna - there goes 1000 calories right there according to your HRM

    If only it was that easy!
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    ah....I always wear my HRM for Insanity and other HIIT training...is this wrong?

    Won't be accurate is all. How innacurate it is depends on how much your heartrate varies and how long you are in or out of your aerobic range.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Honestly the ultimate measure of how accurate your calorie counting and burn estimates are is you and your weight loss.

    If you have logged for months and months and months and are locked in to a pretty steady average loss of 1 pound a week for example nothing is more "accurate" than that because it is based on reality. I would not adjust something that is proven to work for you on the basis of what a watch tells you.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Or, alternatively, you are using the HRM inappropriately and it is way over reporting your burn as a result.

    Keep in mind HRM's caloric burn calculators are tuned to be accurate only during steady-state cardio within a tight band of your aerobic range.

    Just wondering how to use a HRM inappropriately? I'm kind of curious about this statement.

    OP- I do agree to keep doing what you are doing because you seem to be losing at a good rate and adding more calories may not be the answer.

    He explained it pretty well I thought. Using one to wear around all day and think you are going to get an accurate calorie burn is an incorrect way to use it. Wearing it while weight lifting would also be incorrect. It is most accurate above 120 bpm and for steady state cardio. Also, the calorie burn that the HRM will actually display will be inflated, most likely. The best way to calculate your burns is to use an online calculator that allows you calculate your gross burn and then your net. Your net burn is the number that shows how much extra you burned during your cardio.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I have a polar F4 that I bought a while ago. I still use it now and again but more to just see if my fitness is improving (ie lower heartrate for similar exercise) than for the calorie count. I really don't trust the calorie counting for HRMs. I think they are basically only accurate for a very very narrow range of bpm and only if you hold that steady for full duration.

    For example when I do the P90X Plyometric routine, is is basically HIIT, after 55 minutes of that it tells me I have burned 980 calories. Yeah...bullsh*t. I'd guess more like 500 so that is what I record it as. Thing is that is what I would have guessed even if I hadn't had the HRM so the HRM did nothing for me.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    I have a polar F4 that I bought a while ago. I still use it now and again but more to just see if my fitness is improving (ie lower heartrate for similar exercise) than for the calorie count. I really don't trust the calorie counting for HRMs. I think they are basically only accurate for a very very narrow range of bpm and only if you hold that steady for full duration.

    For example when I do the P90X Plyometric routine, is is basically HIIT, after 55 minutes of that it tells me I have burned 980 calories. Yeah...bullsh*t. I'd guess more like 500 so that is what I record it as. Thing is that is what I would have guessed even if I hadn't had the HRM so the HRM did nothing for me.

    I guess mine was closer to reality...my 40 min insanity said I burned around 350 calories, same or lower than my running, but not much lower. I burned around 380 for a 4 mile run < 40 min.

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