HRM wierdness

jfinnivan

We have two Polar HRMs in my family. I have the FT4, and my wife has the FT40. She is consistently getting lower calorie numbers than I do, which I would expect because men generally burn more than women do. However, the difference we're seeing seems really high to me. This past weekend we did a 6 mile mixed walk/run. It took us 90 minutes. Her HRM calorie burn number was 533 calories, and mine was 807. We both weigh the same, we're the same height, and the same age, and the max heart rate is very close. During the walk, her average heart rate was higher than mine. Is a 300 calorie difference reasonable just based upon gender? I called Polar, and they said that everybody is different, and the numbers will be different.
I'm planning on taking her FT40, putting my settings in, and seeing if it's different from the FT4, but I wanted get some opinions here from people who know more than I do.
I've been considering getting a BodyMedia FIT for her just to have more confidence in the calorie numbers, but who is to say it's any better? Any opinions?

jrich1

I would say this is normal, men do burn a lot more calories than women do.

FrenchMob

It appears it could be legit. Using this website I inputted identical numbers for the variables and switching between male & female, the difference was almost 400 cals.

http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

kunibob

Sounds reasonable to me. When my husband and I do the same 30 minute workout, I burn barely over 100 calories and he burns nearly 300, according to the same HRM.

It's entirely unfair. :mad:

jseeke

I think it is accurate.
I know it is a big difference, but men generally have more muscle mass and that burnes more calories. I am wondering if you both have around the same body fat vs. muscle ratio.

I would take her monitor and use it on you and take your monitor and use it on her when you go out for a similiar 6 mile walk/run. See what the numbers are then.

dewgirl321

Your height and weight are the same, but what about body fat? Assuming you have more lean muscle mass, the numbers would be accurate. A real eye-opener regarding the difference in calorie burn depending on body composition!

jfinnivan

I'm definitely leaner than her. I've reached my goal weight and am concentrating on building more muscle. She has a ways to go still. It's frustrating for her to see my numbers vs hers. She's accepted the difference, though, and is working really hard.