HRM and Calories Burned

Jess__I__Can
Jess__I__Can Posts: 307 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am thinking about getting a HRM but I have some questions.

Can the the HRM determine that my elevated heartrate is due to exercise and not anger, fear, anxiety, arousal, etc.?

Does an elevated heartrate due to anger, fear, anxiety, arousal, etc. burn more calories than just doing nothing?

Replies

  • IllustratedxGirl
    IllustratedxGirl Posts: 240 Member
    No, a heart rate monitor doesn't know why your heart rate is elevated.

    I'm not expert, but I'm pretty sure being angry or stressed doesn't burn calories.. Or at least not enough to count
  • Jess__I__Can
    Jess__I__Can Posts: 307 Member
    Those were my guesses as well. Just makes me wonder how accurate the HRM / calories burned could be...
  • poetgirl115
    poetgirl115 Posts: 45 Member
    Well, start by not wearing it when fighting and/or stressing! lol I only wear mine during exercise because the calories your body naturally burns a day shouldn't be counted along with the "extra" calories from exercise that you burn. I have an FT7 HRM, and I love it.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    A HRM only counts heart beats. You tell it what you're doing ... run, cycling, swimming, etc. Based on the activity you tell the device you're doing it plugs your information into a formula to provide an estimated calculation of your calories burned.
  • IllustratedxGirl
    IllustratedxGirl Posts: 240 Member
    They aren't entirely accurate... And I keep that in mind when I set my calories goals and log everything.

    For example, my BMR is about 1450 (also, keep in mind this number isn't accurate as I got it off the internet and not from any kind of metabolism test with a doctor for my specific body)... So I set my calorie goals to net at 1350 to give me some buffer. If I wear my HRM and burn 550 calories in a rowing class... Then I have to keep in mind that about 65 of that is from my BMR and not the exercise. For that reason I keep my caloric intake at about 100 less than my BMR to give room for a few hours of exercising a day

    Additionally, even the calories on the back of prepackaged food can't possibly be accurate..

    All we have are rough guesses and we can try to be as accurate a possible

    My method works very well for my, and I lost 4% body fat in 3 months.

    Also, the way I do things is pretty aggressive and probably not advised for most. I have found what works for me.. You will need to find what works for you!
  • Jess__I__Can
    Jess__I__Can Posts: 307 Member
    Very helpful - I thought they were worn all the time. Glad I didnt buy one and wear it all the time LOL
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    Very helpful - I thought they were worn all the time. Glad I didnt buy one and wear it all the time LOL

    You can wear one all the time but it won't calculate calories burned accurately. Figure out what information about your diet and exercise you want to track then buy the right tool to track that data point. To track intake, a food scale. To track all day activity, an activity tracker. To track steady state cardio, a HRM. To track distances, a GPS.

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