BodyMedia Accuracy with Biking

dakotababy

I just went on a fairly intense bike ride, and when I got home to load my bodymedia info, it showed not so impressive numbers. It actually shows the same intensity as me just at home cleaning.

Is this normal? Is my bodymedia just off all the time, or just while biking? (this would explain my 3 month plateau I have been on)

electriq

I find that MFP tends to overestimate calories burnt for many forms of exercise, especially the lower intensity ones. My guess would be that the estimate is incorrect for cleaning the house and is more accurate for your bike riding, although that may also be a bit overestimated. The best way to find out is to get a heart rate monitor. You can pick up a fairly cheap one through Amazon - I have the polar ft4 it sucks in that there is no way to transfer the data from the watch to the computer other than manually, but it works just fine if you only want to know how much you burnt. Failing this I would be cautious of going by MFP calorie burnt estimates especially for anything that is low impact, I tend not to log that form of exercise at all

dakotababy

I find that MFP tends to overestimate calories burnt for many forms of exercise, especially the lower intensity ones. My guess would be that the estimate is incorrect for cleaning the house and is more accurate for your bike riding, although that may also be a bit overestimated. The best way to find out is to get a heart rate monitor. You can pick up a fairly cheap one through Amazon - I have the polar ft4 it sucks in that there is no way to transfer the data from the watch to the computer other than manually, but it works just fine if you only want to know how much you burnt. Failing this I would be cautious of going by MFP calorie burnt estimates especially for anything that is low impact, I tend not to log that form of exercise at all

...Right...I dont use MFP estimates at all. I am basing this off of the number my bodymedia LINK is providing me.

DavPul

Forget intensity. What did it show you for the calories burned?

blenoir2

I chose the bodymedia device because a study done at University of Iowa exercise physiology department found it to be the most accurate of all the monitors worn continuously. Their studies were conducted on treadmills and stationary bikes. I don't understand exactly how the calculations work, but weight bearing exercise (cleaning house) would require more calorie expenditure than non-weight bearing (bike) depending on intensity, of course.

PikaKnight

Forget intensity. What did it show you for the calories burned?

^This.

I don't really get up in "intensity" on my BMF when I do strength training, but it still registers the effort/burn.