Heart rate monitor help please?

BlueEyedMomma88

Ok so I need some advice for those with HRM.. I took a 60 minute walk with my kids(ran part of the way too, and I was pushing a double stroller with a 35 pound child and a 20 pound child) and we went up an hills and stuff.. Is it really possible I really burned 928 in 60 minutes?! Seems a lil high to me but I dont think my HRM would lie.. Please lemme know if u think that seems right.. THANKS!!

nooshmeister

It does seem fairly high but HRM usually calculates the calories from your heart rate during exercise, your current weight and the time you spend exercising. The higher your weight and your heart rate are, the more calories you burn.
When I first started exercising I was burning over 850 calories with running close to 1 hours but now that I'm lighter, I only burn closer to 700.
What heart rate monitor do you have? The Polars and the Garmins are very accurate. Generally speaking a HRM is far more accurate than using time and distance measures. You must be hitting fairly high heart rates.

Hope that helps a little

Noosh

ecaz

I had that problem yesterday. I did a Drums Alive class - 60 mins of dancing around and beating on an exercise ball and my HRM said 993 calories. I thought that was high too, but the HRM is supposed to be the best way to tell how many calories you are burning. Then today I did Level 1 of the 30 day shred and it said 391 cals, which seemed more in line. I'd be interested to know what other peoples experiences are with thier HRM.

becalee26

I am kinda having that problem too. Normally I would have guessed that I just burnt 270cals but I just got an HRM and I burnt 730. I am wonderingt if this is why I haven't bee loosing weight. I am burning way more than I though so haven't been eating enough with 1200 cals. Now I am worried that if I follow my HRM I will eat too much. Ahhh loosing weight is more complicated than I thought!

rileysowner

I had that problem yesterday. I did a Drums Alive class - 60 mins of dancing around and beating on an exercise ball and my HRM said 993 calories. I thought that was high too, but the HRM is supposed to be the best way to tell how many calories you are burning. Then today I did Level 1 of the 30 day shred and it said 391 cals, which seemed more in line. I'd be interested to know what other peoples experiences are with thier HRM.

How long is a session of 30 day shred?

BlueEyedMomma88

I had that problem yesterday. I did a Drums Alive class - 60 mins of dancing around and beating on an exercise ball and my HRM said 993 calories. I thought that was high too, but the HRM is supposed to be the best way to tell how many calories you are burning. Then today I did Level 1 of the 30 day shred and it said 391 cals, which seemed more in line. I'd be interested to know what other peoples experiences are with thier HRM.

How long is a session of 30 day shred?

Only 20 minutes..

rileysowner

Remember even Heart Rate Monitors are not that good at figuring out calories burned. They to have their weaknesses. A good article on this is here - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

There are many people more knowledgeable then me who say they all over estimate calories burned. Add to this our tendency to assume that because the HRM says that many calories burned we believe it, even if there is no basis for doing so. A good example is with HRM with no chest strap. It has not got the continuous heart rate information to really know how much you are exerting yourself. If you happen to do an on demand reading when your heart rate is really high but then in drops to something more reasonable it will calculate based on that extremely high heart rate and be completely wrong. Similarly if it is at a point where your heart rate is low. So while the HRM reports calories, the number without a chest strap is meaningless.

There is no one enforcing how accurate the calorie calculation numbers from your HRM are, so you have to decided how much you want to trust them when higher calories burned numbers may mean better sales.

LeAnn_Mae

I have a Timex HRM and it over estimates calories by about twice as much. :grumble:

BlueEyedMomma88

I have a Timex HRM and it over estimates calories by about twice as much. :grumble:

Thats what I have too.. I have the Times road trainer one.. How do u know it over estimates?

LeAnn_Mae

Thats what I have too.. I have the Times road trainer one.. How do u know it over estimates?

Well I don't know for sure but it tells me I burn 1300 calories in a hour of cardio and every other website (MFP and FitDay) tell me it's about half that. So I guess I really don't know for sure but I read some reviews of the Timex HRM and there were a lot of complaints about it over estimating calories.