Body Bug and Heart Rate Monitor users, how much do you burn?

Jbli
Jbli Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
:noway: I just found out I couldn't do my normal routine of exercise for 4 weeks.:noway:
Not possible. "Only swim"....the doctor says :frown:

Nothing against swimming, but I don't know the rules about lap lanes, etc. Feel like when I do swim, I am not correct with my technique. Just feel awkward.:embarassed: and it is tough, especially without my music!

I LOVE exercising, mostly running and biking/spinning. Have a stress fracture on my hip and doc wants me to do NOTHING!

So I decide to wear my heart rate monitor ALL day long yesterday. I normally work out 6 times a week, burning an average of 600 calories at least in a given day. When I used to run, I could get 1200 burned. So my calorie intake was very nice!!!! I enjoy eating. If I can't "work-out", well, best cut out my intake of cals right, but after 24 solid hours, it says I burned 4015 calories. :huh:
HOW CAN THAT BE RIGHT????

Curious, how much is your average burn of calories on a regular day? No exercising.
I weigh 129 and am 5"6.5.

I know 4 weeks really isn't a lot, but after working so hard, I just A) don't want to loose my endurance and fitness level or B) want to stay sane. So, plan to swim, work on abs and arms somehow, and eat LESS. Not sure how much less.

HELP. Somebody. HELP.:sad:

Replies

  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
    "only swim"...

    that sounds like exercise to me.

    Not sure why the doc has said what they have as I don't know what is wrong, but I would say that they are generally very unkowledgable about exercise (otherwise they wouldn't prescribe pills all of the time!).

    Just my opinion of course.
  • shellbell525
    shellbell525 Posts: 80 Member
    I have tried the same thing with my heart rate monitor thinking I'd get a nice baseline for how much my daily burn is. I found out that heart rate monitors are not accurate for this type of measurement. To get a good reading you should look into a bodybugg or body media. They are tested for both exercise calories burns and for regular daily activity. Or of you don't want to spend the money or don't want to wait, there are thousands of calculators online that can give you a rough idea.
  • dsjohndrow
    dsjohndrow Posts: 1,820 Member
    The calories on here seem to be a little low. I use a Sportline HRM. I am a desk jockey by day and seem to be right around 2000 per day.

    I had a knee injury not long ago and it was 'no nothing' for a week. (may still need surgery) Our local YMCA has a rope machine that you can adjust the tension on , and a spinning/elliptical sort of machine. I just used it without using my legs. In the end you'll build some upper body stamina for sure.

    I love to run, and am sort of lost without it. Hang in there.
  • shellgib
    shellgib Posts: 196 Member
    i am 35 yo, 5'4'' and 123#, when I wore my Bodybugg i would ave about 1700-1800 on a very inactive day and 2000-2200 on an active day with workouts. not a whole lot!
  • blebreck
    blebreck Posts: 2
    Wow, 4015 calories on a rest day is high! I'll wear my heart rate monitor all day tomorrow and see what I get and post back.

    Have you tried calculating your BMR? Here's your results using the Harris-Benedict equation:

    BMR for Female = 655 + (9.6 x wt kg) + (1.8 x ht cm) - (4.7 x age)

    so using your numbers and 30 years old as a guess:

    BMR = 655 + (9.6 x 58.6364) + (1.8 x 168.91) - (4.7 x 30) = 1380.95

    Multiply that by 1.2 for sedentary lifestyle up to 1.9 for very active lifestyle for calculating TDEE. Anyway, a lot less than 4000!

    Your metabolism is supercharged?
  • janel814
    janel814 Posts: 88
    I own a body bugg and I love it!! The body bugg monitors/measures different things than a HRM, it is also made to be worn all day where as the HRM is only meant to be worn during exercise. On avg I can burn 2400-3000 cals each day depending on which workouts I do and how active I am at work. I have a desk job but I work in a different office than my main office which require me to take stairs. On my inactive days (wkends) I am less active and can burn 1800-2100 cals. I encourage researching and investing in a body bugg or its equiv, it helps a lot more than just an HRM or watching your diet. With a body bugg you can refrain from accidentally putting your body into starvation mode b/c you are getting a well rounded look at what your body is burning.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    :noway: I just found out I couldn't exercise for 4 weeks.:noway:
    Not possible. "Only swim"....the doctor says :frown:

    Nothing against swimming, but I don't know the rules about lap lanes, etc. Feel like when I do swim, I am not correct with my technique. Just feel awkward.:embarassed: and it is tough, especially without my music!

    I LOVE exercising, mostly running and biking/spinning. Have a stress fracture on my hip and doc wants me to do NOTHING!

    So I decide to wear my heart rate monitor ALL day long yesterday. I normally work out 6 times a week, burning an average of 600 calories at least in a given day. When I used to run, I could get 1200 burned. So my calorie intake was very nice!!!! I enjoy eating. If I can't "work-out", well, best cut out my intake of cals right, but after 24 solid hours, it says I burned 4015 calories. :huh:
    HOW CAN THAT BE RIGHT????

    Curious, how much is your average burn of calories on a regular day? No exercising.
    I weigh 129 and am 5"6.5.

    I know 4 weeks really isn't a lot, but after working so hard, I just A) don't want to loose my endurance and fitness level or B) want to stay sane. So, plan to swim, work on abs and arms somehow, and eat LESS. Not sure how much less.

    HELP. Somebody. HELP.:sad:

    First of all, a stress fracture of the hip is a serious condition. It can be frustrating to have to lay off exercise for awhile, but that's not nearly as frustrating as a hip replacement.

    I suspect you are in the "denial" stage of grief right now--that's pretty common. The fact is that you are going to lose some fitness. Not only do you have a layoff, but you are going to have to build up gradually after that. A stress fracture in your case is almost certainly due to overuse, so you are going to have to take an honest look at your training routine and consider some modifications.

    Swimming is the obvious choice as an alternate exercise. I don't usually recommend it for a short-term injury because it does take some time to build up endurance and stroke mechanics. In your case, however, there might be some benefits to making it a regular part of your routine. Lap swimming is an excellent conditioning exercise, and I suspect that full recovery is going to take a lot longer than you think.

    I would also recommend, if you haven't already, that you discuss your exercise issues in some detail with your doctor. Discuss your proposed alternatives as well. The restrictions may still end up being the same, but you want to make sure the doctor has taken your specific needs into consideration. It is important to let him/her know that you want to maintain some type of fitness and so he/she needs to be very specific about restrictions. Make sure you understand the severity of the injury--location, displaced or non-displaced, etc.

    And forget about using an HRM for tracking daily calories. They aren't designed for that and, as you have discovered, they provide ridiculously inaccurate figures under those conditions.

    Good luck

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