impact of heart rate monitors?

mrmarius

for those of you that use them how have they improved your workouts or calorie logging?

npryor100

Yes! They take the guess work out of exercising. I know exactly how many calories I burned.
I can also see the impact of doing interval training and burning more calories throughout the day as a result of my raised metabolism

4lafz

Love mine! You can see how off the MFP numbers are! Well - to be fair - some of them are close to what I burn. I love knowing what I am actually burning for my height, weight, age and sex! If you are thinking of getting one - make sure it is programmable for this information and has a chest strap (for accuracy and ease of tracking).

emorym

I get more accurate calorie counts. As my training has progressed the numbers are lower. I have lost weight and become more efficient. If I went with the average I would think I had more calories available to eat. Plus I like knowing these numbers and tracking them over time.

krystie99

I loooooooove mine! Makes me give food a second thought thinking "I need to do bootcamp for a hour to eat this!?!?"

cef957

I have a better idea of the actual calories that I burn.

BridgetteFLA

I have a New Balance one, I think it definitely helps. For instance I do the same daily bike ride with my dogs for 30 minutes and it certainly varies how many calories I burn from day to day, depending if I go a bit faster or slower or have to stop more times to let them go pee etc. I think it helps so you don't have a false sense of calorie burn. It also motivates me at the gym knowing if I am in my target hare rate, I want to keep going at that level because I know I am really burning and making good use of my valuable time. I'm sure it is not 100% accurate but way better than guessing as I did when I first started MFP. Some times it won’t take my heart rate but I just try again in a minute or so and it works. For around $30 you can get one and I think money well spent.

This is the one I have...

http://www.kohls.com/upgrade/webstore/product_page.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=845524892563023&amp;FOLDER<>folder_id=2534374753207308&amp;searchTerm=haert+rate&amp;bmUID=1290031361346

CoryIda

Honestly, the biggest difference is that I don't have to guess about the calories. MFP is pretty accurate on most exercises (within 10-15 calories either way from what my HRM says) but there are others where it doesn't even compare. The biggest one - walking - in part because different bodies have to work at different levels to go at the same speed. I have found that I burn almost twice as many calories walking as what MFP said. I don't think the HRM actually helps me with my workout, but it does help me keep track of how hard I am really working.