calorie burn comarison

Eidajan
Eidajan Posts: 36
edited September 22 in Fitness and Exercise
I just worked out on my elliptical trainer for 50 minutes, with an average 10-11 calorie burn/minute. I recently bought a Schwinn HRM and was trying to compare the calorie burn. According to my elliptical I burnt 502 calories ( I did not wear the chest strap which I absolutely hate ), MFP website said I burnt 534 calories, but according to the HRM I burnt 663 calories. I was just going to go with something in between - 575 calories. It really is not that big of a deal but I have been reading on the forums here that one should eat at least some exercise calories. A difference of 160 calories then becomes significant. We also got the Kinect for Xbox and the Zumba game for it. My HRM says I burn 400 calories just with doing it for 20 minutes - I am not that good at it, but I do sweat and recognize that it is good exercise. Is the HRM really that accurate?

Replies

  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    it's the most accurate....IF YOU WEAR THE STRAP.


    how can your HRM get any info if you don't wear it?
  • AdamATGATT
    AdamATGATT Posts: 573 Member
    Yes, how did your HRM get a figure if you didn't wear the strap? Why do you not like it?

    The HRM will be the more accurate way to track.
  • Eidajan
    Eidajan Posts: 36
    MY HRM is the Schwinn model that does not come with a strap. It is a watch - the product info states that it calculates your calories burnt based on your heart rate. You put in your age and weight. I bought this model because I do not like the chest strap. You can set it to be a watch, but it has other modes such as calorie mode, timer mode etc. The company recommends periodically checking your heart rate while working out because the calories burnt is given based on your last heart rate reading. The strap I was referring to is the one that came with my elliptical trainer which I do not wear.
  • AdamATGATT
    AdamATGATT Posts: 573 Member
    Well, the strap based HRM's are more accurate than the watch style, as they get a constant heart rate...as opposed to the watch style which requires you to touch the unit for a short period of time to acquire your heart rate. It's only getting snap-shots...so it may miss your peak periods of activity, if you're not taking a reading during it.

    So...no. Your watch based HRM is not that accurate.
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
    Yes...the strap is annoying but if you want the most accurate read you need a HRM with one.
  • Eidajan
    Eidajan Posts: 36
    Thank you guys for your replies. You are right. Today i broke down and wore the strap that came with my elliptical trainer, and also wore my HRM watch. The heart rate on the HRM watch did correlate pretty closely with the elliptical. However the calorie burnt differed. I worked out for about 45 minutes. According to the elliptical I burnt about 450 calories - but the watch said 750. I find that a bit hard to believe. I thought that if anything it should be underestimating the calories, since I check my HR on it every 5 minutes or so - but 750 seems way off! I decided to go in-between and assume I burnt 500 cal. Obviously the 2 gadgets use different formulae to calculate the calorie burn - probably neither one is too accurate. I think I will just focus on the heart rate it gives me. Thanks again!
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