Why you need a Heart Rate Monitor

jessicao1972

So I started with MFP on the 15th of July. When logging in my exercise the first few days (turbo jam) it came up that i burned around 550 calories. So I got a HRM (Polar FT4) and started using it immediately. The same workout (turbo jam) for me really only burns between 350 to 400 (depending on if i use hand weights, my intensitiy, etc.) My point being... if you are adding back in exercise calories (as you should be) the HRM is WORTH EVERY PENNY! then you know EXACTLY what you burned!

GOOD LUCK!

sandy729

I totally agree. I bought my FT60 last week...it was the best investment ever.

jimmie25

agreed!

msmandyjo

i've found I burn differently on each disc of turbo jam, that I've tried so far. Some I burn more than MFP says, and some less. So w/o my HRM, I'd be lost.

ANeWcRe8N

I totally agree.. Before getting a HRM I was using the MFP calculations and it would say I burned about 700-1000 a day with the workouts I was doing at that time. After getting a HRM I was shocked that I was really burning less... like half of what MFP said I was O_O so ya its good to have one.

stroutman81

My exercise is pretty static... meaning I do nearly the same stuff across the week. Therefore my energy expenditure is pretty static, relatively speaking. Therefore there's no need to fuddle with estimating energy expenditure, which is what you're doing with a HRM. If my weight isn't heading in the desired direction, I simply manipulate my calorie intake in the necessary direction and that gets the job done.

Nothing against HRM or tracking energy expenditure... I just choose not to get my hands dirty with all the neurotic tracking if I don't have to. Same goes for my clients.... I've a few who choose to track everything... intake and expended. But by and large, 90%+ do not.

Different strokes for different folks as long as you're heading in the desired direction, you're happy, and your path is maintainable.

You're right though, most people grossly overestimate the number of calories they're expending. And on the intake side of things, estimations are typically even worse!

SarahofTwins

Yes I agree! I bought the basic FT1 and its worked for me losing all my weight. Glad to see others use them :drinker:

ladylu11

I have the Polar FT4 and found the same thing. Also, the machines at the gym were giving far more credit for calories burned than I should have had also. Very enlightening.

taso42_DELETED

the HRM is WORTH EVERY PENNY! then you know EXACTLY what you burned!

HRMs are great. I would hate to be without mine. But let's not kid ourselves. The calorie burn from our HRMs is still an *estimate*; it's not an exact figure.

kunibob

My exercise is pretty static... meaning I do nearly the same stuff across the week. Therefore my energy expenditure is pretty static, relatively speaking. Therefore there's no need to fuddle with estimating energy expenditure, which is what you're doing with a HRM. If my weight isn't heading in the desired direction, I simply manipulate my calorie intake in the necessary direction and that gets the job done.

I'm in the same boat. I adjust my calories based on whether I'm still losing or not.

I'd LOVE to get an HRM one day -- particularly one with a GPS for tracking pace/etc. as well -- but I have other financial priorities at the moment. One day, I will have something more exact. In the meantime, so long as I'm still losing, I'm cool with guesstimating.

caristear

Calories burned definitely depends on your age and weight so the MFP tracker isn't acurate. When I got my HRM I actually found that I burned more than what MFP said!

willimh

They are well worth the investment. I love it because it takes the guess work out of the equation and MFP is very overestimated on the workout cals burned during and activity.

rs2361

I just got the Polar FT7 and used it for the first time today....for the 30 day shred MFP was telling me that I was burning upwards of 300 cals (and maybe I was the first time I did the shred), but with the HRM today, I only burnt 134 cal.

nyctraveler

I totally agree. I bought my FT60 last week...it was the best investment ever.

I love my ft60!

anubis609

the HRM is WORTH EVERY PENNY! then you know EXACTLY what you burned!

HRMs are great. I would hate to be without mine. But let's not kid ourselves. The calorie burn from our HRMs is still an *estimate*; it's not an exact figure.

Exactly. It's just a more accurate estimate.

jessicao1972

The HRM i have you enter your weight and age so it adjusts for that. i guess it depends on the model you get

ronda_gettinghealthy

well I am neurotic and I love love love my hrm...I feel a lot more comfortable eating my cals when I am more sure...so my vote...invest in a HRM--get the best you can afford....

stroutman81

My exercise is pretty static... meaning I do nearly the same stuff across the week. Therefore my energy expenditure is pretty static, relatively speaking. Therefore there's no need to fuddle with estimating energy expenditure, which is what you're doing with a HRM. If my weight isn't heading in the desired direction, I simply manipulate my calorie intake in the necessary direction and that gets the job done.

I'm in the same boat. I adjust my calories based on whether I'm still losing or not.

I'd LOVE to get an HRM one day -- particularly one with a GPS for tracking pace/etc. as well -- but I have other financial priorities at the moment. One day, I will have something more exact. In the meantime, so long as I'm still losing, I'm cool with guesstimating.

Heck, I have one and I never wear it. If I have something on my wrist, it's an ABC watch (altimeter/barometer/compass) when I'm mountaineering.

I guess in my experience people tend to become a slave to the numbers...so much so that they wind up looking over common sense things. But that doesn't seem to be the case around MFP, which is cool. I just wanted to offer up an alternative viewpoint though so others know tracking things to such a degree certainly isn't necessary.

Getting_Fit_4_Life

I agree!! I also went out and bought a Polar FT4 HRM. It's one of the best purchase I have made. Since I am trying to eat back my calories, I wanted to make sure that am not going way over my goal. Good luck to everyone!!

dkmarvin

Good discussion. Your body is a machine,albeit a very complex one. HRMs are one very good way to provide a readout for our instrumentation. I cycle. I got a bike computer. It did not have a HRM function. Felt great with my cylcing but could not tell what was really going on inside my "engine". So I got another bike computer that has a HRM function and computer software to record workout history. Many cycling trainers talk about using RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion). Guess what. You have to try to think about that while you are in the middle of doing the work and then try to remember it later. Sounds like "multi-tasking" and it is! Using a HRM is much more accurate, efficient, reliable and dependable. However, you need to use dollars to get a HRM. Here is my pitch: Would you buy a car without a speedometer? Of course not. So spend some of your good dollars to get a good HRM that works well for your most productive form of exercise, and listen to your body hum! You will learn a great deal and come to know where your danger limits are. Take care. Live long. Love strong and smile!

joejccva71

I use a bodymedia FIT instead but I now have a pretty good estimate of what my TDEE is every day based on my training as I'm like Steve in the sense that my training doesn't really deviate except for my 6 week deload week.

When I change from a cutting phase to a bulking phase and vice versa, I"ll wear it again to make sure I'm eating correctly.

taso42_DELETED

The HRM i have you enter your weight and age so it adjusts for that. i guess it depends on the model you get

Sure. Some also take VO2 max, max heart rate, fitness level, and probably other inputs as well. They can give a very close approximation of calorie burn for aerobic activity. But they do not, and do not claim to, give an *exact* calorie count. There are machines that cost tens of thousands of dollars that can measure calorie burn very closely, but even those I think have a small margin of error.

Sorry to be pedantic.

liftingbro

I'm sort of a stats Geek. I track all my calories and macros. I track my workouts down to the rep and second for cardio. I have a spreadsheet that does all the calculations and a forecast for my weekly weight loss.

I would order tracking accuracy this way:

Bodybugg/BMF>HRM>Estimate

You don't need a HRM or BB//BMF, but if you have no idea where to start or are a geek like me then they are cool.

stroutman81

I would order tracking accuracy this way:

Bodybugg/BMF>HRM>Estimate

And even there, the bodybugg has a large degree of error on an individual basis. Across populations it's quite good. But n=1 can be way off.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20386334

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17344495

Neat little product though. I've thought about picking up a couple for my weight loss clients to borrow. It can be quite telling.

juliapurpletoes

I'm a numbers nerd so I love my HRM, and i even wished I could have bought an even better one than the Polar FT4! Cause I love numbers and evidently for me that works!

THAT SAID - they are only a tool, not an exact. And, they do a great deal to educate folks about their bodies and ya gotta love that!

So thanks Steve and everyone else for all these great opinions - I love them all

emmabeckemeyer1

I am finding I am burning a lot more than what mfp is estimating!

jessicao1972

i guess my point was (okay, nothing is EXACT even my scale LOL) is that if you just go by the generic entries here you could be eating too many calories back PEACE!

taso42_DELETED

i guess my point was (okay, nothing is EXACT even my scale LOL) is that if you just go by the generic entries here you could be eating too many calories back PEACE!

Gotcha
I'm just a pain in the *kitten* and I take things too literally

:drinker: