IS MFP or HRM more accurate ?

Babieseverywhere

We are lucky enough to have bought an Zephyr HxM Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor and tried it out today.

My C25K run on a treadmill, consists of me walking very briskly for 16 minutes (3 MPH) and running for 15 minutes (4MPH)

Current weight 227 lbs

According to MFP I have burnt around 200 calories, where as the heart monitor said 520 calories !

Which is right ?

taso42

If someone at a carnival eyeballed you and guessed your weight, and then you stepped on the scale, which number do you think would be more accurate?

2knoxs

would love tosee some answers on this one, as I am doing c25k, and wonder all the time if Im logging close to what I actually burn. I do not have a HRM...yet.

Gilbrod

HRM.

SergeantSunshine_reused

If someone at a carnival eyeballed you and guessed your weight, and then you stepped on the scale, which number do you think would be more accurate?

Love this

MrsH06

HRM.

ShrinkingNinja

If someone at a carnival eyeballed you and guessed your weight, and then you stepped on the scale, which number do you think would be more accurate?

^^Awesome^^

The HRM of course is more accurate. MFP is a guess.

KristinaD3

Your HRM is right. I don't go by the entries on MFP because they are someone elses.

Boo67

HRM!

leomom72

200 cals is too low for that much exercise..its usually low anyways, so go with the hrm..good luck

BigDaddyBRC

HRM with a chest strap...so long as your settings are accurate.

greeneyes82

I trust my HRM more because MFP is kind of in the general amount by weight of different people. The HRM is actually going by my heart rate & how much effort I'm putting into it.

greeneyes82

HRM with a chest strap...so long as your settings are accurate.

Agreed!

dad106

HRM.. but only if it takes your age, weight, height and gender into account.. If it doesn't, then MFP would prob. be safer.

Babieseverywhere

If someone at a carnival eyeballed you and guessed your weight, and then you stepped on the scale, which number do you think would be more accurate?

LOL, love this post.

Wow, bit of a difference in calories, guess I better alter my exercise calories upwards !

Jeepinmom4

Its been said but ill vote HRM also...I was shocked when I got my hrm,it was way diffrent than what mfp said!

SmartFunGorgeous

My stupid HRM doesn't calculate calories, so it was a complete waste of money. Lesson learned. But I wonder of my phone C25K app, or MFP, which is the more accurate?

ETA: if anyone is interested in guessing!

_Khaleesi_

HRM with a chest strap...so long as your settings are accurate.

Agreed!

Yep!

Babieseverywhere

I'll have to try a Kettleworx workout and see what I get on my HRM. Last kettlebell workout I put it under MFP Strength training and for 20 minutes of sweat and tears had 77 calories burn which I thought looked low. I'll look forward to seeing what Zephyr says

Babieseverywhere

HRM.. but only if it takes your age, weight, height and gender into account.. If it doesn't, then MFP would prob. be safer.

It does take my age, weight and gender into account and it has a chest strap. I'll have to remember to alter my weight as it changes.

LorinaLynn

We are lucky enough to have bought an Zephyr HxM Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor and tried it out today.

My C25K run on a treadmill, consists of me walking very briskly for 16 minutes (3 MPH) and running for 15 minutes (4MPH)

Current weight 227 lbs

According to MFP I have burnt around 200 calories, where as the heart monitor said 520 calories !

Which is right ?

I would say... neither. Probably a little more than 200, but less than 520.

You covered almost two miles. I'd find it very hard to believe that you burnt ~260 calories per mile, unless you had the incline on the treadmill cranked up to the ceiling.

Babieseverywhere

You covered almost two miles. I'd find it very hard to believe that you burnt ~260 calories per mile, unless you had the incline on the treadmill cranked up to the ceiling.

LOL, just 2% incline. Mmm, have to look into this further.

ChrisIn757

A HRM is by far the better choice cause its monitoring REAL numbers that are associated with your body. Depending on how high tech your HRM is it can measure your pulse, how much you are sweating, etc. If you have taken the time to enter your weight, age, etc into it you are getting a much more accurate picture of what YOUR body is doing. Whereas if you put just a length of time of your work out into a website, it is a guess based on the "average heart rate" of what you are burning. I'd imagine they probably estimate low as well, to encourage you to work out more.

If you have access to a piece of work out equipment (treadmill, stationary bike, etc) with a built in HRM, you can see the difference that I am talking about. While the excercise equipment will usually keep a pretty accurate check of your HR, your calorie burn will be WAY different because the HRM knows more about you.

DopeItUp

Tough call. I don't have any experience with the Zephyr HRM so I can't say for sure.

But for comparison, I am a male and am 6'3" and about 260lbs. I do 2 miles @ ~4mph every day for the last few months. I burn ~300calories. I'd say given that you are much smaller and female, 200-250 is a pretty good number. 500+ sounds ridiculous.

I got my 300 calories by averaging out a couple different calculators (including MFP), including my pedometer. I feel that is a fairly accurate number since I eat those calories back and lose pretty much exactly my expected amount every week for months now. I just got a new HRM (polar FT60) and am curious to see what that gives me. My old cheap Timex ($50) would give me crazy figures, 600+ per 30 minute walk for example. No way that's even possible.

DopeItUp

Tough call. I don't have any experience with the Zephyr HRM so I can't say for sure.

But for comparison, I am a male and am 6'3" and about 260lbs. I do 2 miles @ ~4mph every day for the last few months. I burn ~300calories. I'd say given that you are much smaller and female, 200-250 is a pretty good number. 500+ sounds ridiculous.

I got my 300 calories by averaging out a couple different calculators (including MFP), including my pedometer. I feel that is a fairly accurate number since I eat those calories back and lose pretty much exactly my expected amount every week for months now. I just got a new HRM (polar FT60) and am curious to see what that gives me. My old cheap Timex ($50) would give me crazy figures, 600+ per 30 minute walk for example. No way that's even possible.

Tried out my Polar FT60 today, wow it's very close to what I expect. Did 30 mins on the elliptical, came out to 513 calories. MFP calculated 527. Pretty good!