hrm reading. this cant be right, can it?

denisec26

so i finally got a HRM, used it today. ( comes with chest strap)

ive been doing the 30 day shred recently and zumba.

ok so MFP for 27 min circuit training (the shred) gives me like 200 something
HRM- gave me 310
a difference of 100 calories

i did the zumba cardio, same one ive been doing which gets you sweaty but its nothing crazy.
high impact aerobics -MFP-161
my HRM-282


thats insane! my HRM only takes your weight, not height or gender. i hope its accurate. ill see what it says for tomorrows calories but if its about the same, could i really be burning close to 600 calories, when MFP was more like 400, hence only eating back 400..maybe thats why its so hard to lose weight? plus ive been working out ALOT more and eating better and drinking more, and my weight hasnt budged at all.

kelley4123

which HRM did you get? I really want one! the burns from it sound awesome.... although if they dont take height and sex into it I'm not sure.....

Nataliethin81

Trust your HRM! As long as you put in all your stats, it should be totally accurate, especially with the chest strap.

Oops didn't read the last part. If it doesn't take into consideration your height and gender it may still be a bit off. In order to get a completely accurate reading you would need one that has weight, height, gender and age.

nab22

Your HRM counts the calories you used to be alive during your workout as well, which MFP already figures into your daily calorie burn (not from exercise) so if you don't subtract those from your "exercise" calories you're counting them twice. You should subtract 1-2 calories per minute of your workout from the number your HRM gives you (whether its 1 or 2 you should figure out by wearing your HRM when you're sitting around and see how many you burn per minute).

Onesnap

look online for calories burned during zumba. For my body weight it's over 500 calories for an hour intense class. I would use the HRM for cardio machines and use the web to log your calorie burn for various classes like Zumba.

up2me2lose20

I don't know what to say. Just that I just started using my HRM also. I have a Polar FT4 and I inputted my weight, height, gender...I think that's it. I think it's been fairly spot on with what the pre-sets on MFP are. My HRM gives me a few more calories burned than the MFP pre-sets, but not too many more that it seems "off" to me.

My chest strap is TIGHT. I mean it leaves a mark when I am done exercising. But I'm a cardiac patient and I know how sensitive those things can be. At Mayo when I have my stress/treadmill test done they actually sandpaper my chest, then put alcohol on those spots before they put the electrodes on me. I know those are much more technical than my HRM, but basically, they are reading my heart rate. I'm just saying that I'm surprised my HRM is as accurate as it seems to be. I know from my stress/treadmill tests at Mayo what my exercise HR typically is and this is about right.

I think it's kind of like other things---you get what you pay for. Unfortunately.

AHealthierRhonda

I find MFP to be very low in its exercise calories. I would go by the HRM. The HRM knows how hard you were pushing yourself and other factors that MFP can't know as they differ for everyone. FOr instance when I use the elliptical MFP cals burned are about 1/4-1/3 of what the machine tells me I burned! I go by the machine since it knows my incline, speed, levels of resistance,...Not sure where MFP gets its cals burned.

tabbilynn0402

I would do a test where you manually check your heart rate and see if it's consistent with what your HRM is getting. If it is, then yes, you're probably burning that many calories. Otherwise, it may not be reading your heart rate accurately. However, don't be surprised if it's right, because I read somewhere on this site once before that MFP tends to estimate on the low side of calories because they don't want to give you a false estimate that hinders your weight loss. If you're not eating all of your exercise calories, it shouldn't hinder your weight loss that much. Depending on what it says you burn on a regular basis compared what you're supposed to eat, being shy of only 200 calories or so should not hurt. It's if you start getting a deficit greater than 100 calories per day that can start to hinder you. Hope that makes sense. Good luck!!

up2me2lose20

Your HRM counts the calories you used to be alive during your workout as well, which MFP already figures into your daily calorie burn (not from exercise) so if you don't subtract those from your "exercise" calories you're counting them twice. You should subtract 1-2 calories per minute of your workout from the number your HRM gives you (whether its 1 or 2 you should figure out by wearing your HRM when you're sitting around and see how many you burn per minute).

Taking this into consideration, I'd say my HRM is exactly right. Hmmmm. so should I be deducting 1 calorie pre minute of exercise before recording it? I did sit with my HRM the first time I used it (while reading the instructions) and it was about 1 calorie per minute.

bikerbiz

Yes, the HRM sounds right...and will certainly be more accurate than the average in MFP database--your HRM is actually measuring something. Your heart rate was probably high up there, and getting a great workout. As you get used to it, and your body gets more efficient, you probably won't be burning as many calories, or maintaining as high a heart rate. The MFP calories vary widely because they are a big guesstimate.

denisec26

i bought a timex and it wasnt cheap. it wasnt 100 bucks but it was 30 either. i think with tax it was like 70 something. im afraid its off cause it only takes in my weight, and my target heart zone that i want to be in..u can set that depending on your needs. and it wil llet u know your average heart rate, highest, lowest, total time, cals..idk, it does a bunch of stuff. i sat there and before u even start working out it has to register your heart beats which looked pretty normal.

but ive never heard of having to subtract calories after your hrm tells u what u burned, that seems odd, why would everyone use them, if they have to sit there afterward and do math and figure out what they "really burned"

mislove68

I trust my HRM. I make sure to wet the connector everytime and have it on tight. From what i have learned from using my HRM for the past few months MFP cant take in effect how high your heart rate gets. You will burn more calories if its at 150 then if its at 110. As my cardio strength has gotten better my heart rate doesnt get as high.

I try to keep my heart rate at 152. You should read about heart rate zones. For me 152 is perfect mix of burning 50/50 calories from fat. If your heart rate is to high say 180 then you are burning lots of calories but calories from sugar not fat.

bizco

i bought a timex and it wasnt cheap. it wasnt 100 bucks but it was 30 either. i think with tax it was like 70 something. im afraid its off cause it only takes in my weight, and my target heart zone that i want to be in..u can set that depending on your needs. and it wil llet u know your average heart rate, highest, lowest, total time, cals..idk, it does a bunch of stuff. i sat there and before u even start working out it has to register your heart beats which looked pretty normal.

but ive never heard of having to subtract calories after your hrm tells u what u burned, that seems odd, why would everyone use them, if they have to sit there afterward and do math and figure out what they "really burned"

I also have a Timex HRM. During the HRM setup, in addition to entering your weight, you have to enter your maximum heart rate (220-age). It uses this as the basis to figure out calories burned. The math isn't difficult, don't be lazy. Go to My Home>>Goals and find your maintenance calories ("Calories burned during normal daily activity"). Reduce this number down to find the number of calories you burn per minute. Multiply the result by the number of minutes you worked out. Subtract this number from HRM's total calories burned.

For example, if your maintenance calories are 1600, you burn 1.11 calories per minute (1600/24/60). If your workout lasted 45 minutes, subtract 50 calories (1.11*45) from what the HRM shows.

denisec26

i bought a timex and it wasnt cheap. it wasnt 100 bucks but it was 30 either. i think with tax it was like 70 something. im afraid its off cause it only takes in my weight, and my target heart zone that i want to be in..u can set that depending on your needs. and it wil llet u know your average heart rate, highest, lowest, total time, cals..idk, it does a bunch of stuff. i sat there and before u even start working out it has to register your heart beats which looked pretty normal.

but ive never heard of having to subtract calories after your hrm tells u what u burned, that seems odd, why would everyone use them, if they have to sit there afterward and do math and figure out what they "really burned"

I also have a Timex HRM. During the HRM setup, in addition to entering your weight, you have to enter your maximum heart rate (220-age). It uses this as the basis to figure out calories burned. The math isn't difficult, don't be lazy. Go to My Home>>Goals and find your maintenance calories ("Calories burned during normal daily activity"). Reduce this number down to find the number of calories you burn per minute. Multiply the result by the number of minutes you worked out. Subtract this number from HRM's total calories burned.

For example, if your maintenance calories are 1600, you burn 1.11 calories per minute (1600/24/60). If your workout lasted 45 minutes, subtract 50 calories (1.11*45) from what the HRM shows.

none of that made sense to me. lol
i dont do technology or math...i dont understand, if everyone that uses a hrm had to sit down after they workout and say ok i burned 600 now i have to subtract and figurte out how much i really burned..i feel like noone would use a hrm, what the point?
im not lazy, and i didnt see that maxium heart rate thing in the watch but i'll look. but after that, your speaking gibberish to me.. so i go on MFP- see what my maintence cals are, how do i figure out what i burn every min? and then after i work out, lets say i burn 600 ( mind u, i do 2 different workouts, at 2 differemt times) i then have to take x amount of cals off?

Zombriana

i bought a timex and it wasnt cheap. it wasnt 100 bucks but it was 30 either. i think with tax it was like 70 something. im afraid its off cause it only takes in my weight, and my target heart zone that i want to be in..u can set that depending on your needs. and it wil llet u know your average heart rate, highest, lowest, total time, cals..idk, it does a bunch of stuff. i sat there and before u even start working out it has to register your heart beats which looked pretty normal.

but ive never heard of having to subtract calories after your hrm tells u what u burned, that seems odd, why would everyone use them, if they have to sit there afterward and do math and figure out what they "really burned"

I got a timex a week ago, it read my calories way too high, so i exchanged it and got the polar ft4. it reads a lot more reasonable.

I hear those who use the timex's cut the calories by 1/2 or 1/3 and track that.

denisec26

i did alot of research before i bought one, and only had good reviews for this one. i bought it at amazon, and i know everyone loves the polars but i cant afford one, i couldnt even afford this one but splurged cause i wanted 1 so bad. so i rather not return it, if i can afford a polar and might wind up buying another 1 thats even worse.

BeLightYear

After buying my GoWear Fit, I realized that my Timex (with chest strap, I got it at Amazon also) was almost doubling my calorie burn! Thankfully, I did not eat all my exercise calories then ~ best of luck!:flowerforyou: