swimming calories. Will someone please help if you can???

sarahavery

so monday i went swimming, wore my ft4, and did 24 lengths (600m) pulling my 4 yr old on my back most of the way. then we had a 15 min play around so was in the pool for 55mins. HRM said 181 cals

Been again tonight minus my little one and did 40 lengths (1000m), took me 55 minutes again, no play swim, and HRM said 192. Which i didnt expect much difference even though i did more as i wasnt pulling my little one this time.

So logged my numbers into MFP and people are commenting that they think this is far too low for almost an hr of swiming. My HRM is brand new (less than a mnth old) and its been really accurate when at the gym as the Precor gym machines nearly always give me the same calorie burn.

Anyone know if just under 200 cals is right? or if my hrm is wrong?

lazatin

i did 100 minutes of swimming, playing with the kids and going down the slide and mine was 165 for 100 minutes. Your does not sound off.

Bella0608

I would go with your hrm hun!!

sarahavery

Thats what I thought Bella, as id heard Polar are one of the best. Someone on here said i should be closer to 500 cals???

I had fun but didnt feel like id burned anywhere near 500........

LauraMarie37

Wow that does seem low to me. I know when I have a hard swim I feel muscularly and cardiovasculalrly just as tired as when I do hard circuit training. I would be really surprised if that was correct and I'm really curious to see what other people with more knowledge will say about this.

sarahavery

could my HRM not be working right under water??

Bella0608

Thats what I thought Bella, as id heard Polar are one of the best. Someone on here said i should be closer to 500 cals???

I had fun but didnt feel like id burned anywhere near 500........

your hrm works it out from your stats so someone else could burn that!! everyone is different !!
its not always about burning loads off you need to have fun too!!

sarahavery

i had a ton of fun. didnt want to get out but they were having a aqua fit class on and i hadnt booked :sad: although i am going to book for next week i think...............possibly

i was happy with my 192...........and i have had 1295 cals eaten today so feel ive done ok

Bentrain

HRM do not work real good in the water. The water messes with the electrical readings from your body.

astrosnider

When I swim I usually do an hour of breast stroke laps. MFP lists the calorie burn for that as an amazing 712 calories, which seems on the high side to me. I would say if you are actually swimming for 55 minutes your calorie count should be higher. At the pool where I go I see a lot of people who do one lap then lean against the edge of the pool for about five minutes, then do another lap. To really burn those calories you need to do continual laps without stopping for as long as you can.

zakkthebear

what was your average heart rate?

lanie25

Contrary to popular thinking, swimming is not a great exercise for losing weight.

sarahavery

http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm ive checked this site and it appears to be fine and accurate. i did my laps continually not much stopping, just went slow i guess.

Still i am happy with a 200 cal burn compared with a zero cal burn. agreed??

Flyntiggr

Most HRM don't work well in water. The frequency they use to send your HR to the watch doesn't travel through the water, so you are only getting you HR reading when you are out of the water. There are a few that read and transmit in the water, but I don't think the FT4 is one of them. Read closely. It says it is wterproof, but I've learned that doesn't mean it works in water.

Flyntiggr

Oh, and to e clear, your HR WILL be lower while swimming. Has to do with horizontal position, the temp of the water, etc....

sarahavery

the water was cold in the pool..........