HRM vs MFP

heaverchell

So I got my HRM (Polar FT4) last week and have been using it every time I exercise. I knew that the #'s it told me would be different than here and when doing my 30 Day Shred it was. I am not able to go to the gym so my exercise is my DVD's and I try to walk 3-5 miles everyday pushing my 6 month old in his stoller. I know that when I log my walks under "walking pushing stroller" it can not account for the area that I am at which has hills or any other factors.

So I went for my walk today and did 5 miles pushing my little one. It was 107 minutes to finish. I looked it up on MFP and for my time it said I burned 400 calories. Of course today I had my HRM on and when I was done it said I burn 927 calories. I did have my hills to push the stroller up and it was kinda windy so I had to push against that. A few times it told me my heart rate was too high.

So my question is...has anyone else noticed that big of a difference? I don't want to cheat myself but that just seems like a lot of calories. Now I am still on the bigger size (200 lbs) and all my setting on my HRM are correct. So should I just roll with what the HRM says?

dad106

Polar HRM's are one of the most accurate estimating brands out there.. so I'd go with.

The more you weigh and the higher your heart rate is, the more you are going to burn.

You also walked for close to 2 hrs.. and thats a lot!

skierxjes

Different things give a big difference from MFP to my HRM. Some are way higher, some are way lower. I think it all depends on who first entered it into the system.

wildkatt7

It is likely somewhere between the two... I usually enter what MFP says even if I know I likely burned more than what it says. better to over estimate on food and underestimate on exercises... end the end, if your hungry, eat something healthy and be sure your NET says at least 1200 - that way if you underestimated too much on exercise then you will still be fine with regard to not eating too much or too little food.

goldfinger88

I'd go with the HRM because I assume it's set to your age, weight, etc so is personalized. Moreover, it knew how hard your heart was working and could judge your burn far better than this website. That's a big difference but I'd tend to go with the HRM in your case. If you find you're using it and not losing, then you might want to go with the website numbers to be on the safe side.

tickletickle

wow!!! such a difference aye, think i need one!!!! I just walked on the farm with 2 toddlers in my pram, up steep hills and running in flat spots, the closest i could get was 194 cals on here, and that was using the running pushing wheelchair option, would love to know what it actually was.
Ive been told the same from a few people and that those ones are good.

NikkiConroy

I think that if you're sure the settings are correct on the monitor (i.e. weight, height, sex and age) then I would record the HRM number.
During the 30 Day shred I burn around 200 calories and I walk a ton like you (not pushing a stroller though:) For 5 miles--my friend and I walk dogs through the woods at a very quick pace. We've brought other people and they don't keep up! I usually burn about 500-600 calories

---

I'm 133 pounds and have the same HRM as you do.
The thing I wonder about with the monitor is that when I use my treadmill on a 15% incline (high as it goes) and walk at a 3.5-3.6 pace my treadmill says I burn off WAY more. My weight height sex and age are plugged in as well. For every 600 calories my treadmill says I burn the HRM says 500:(

heaverchell

That's for all the replys. I did double check the settings and it is correct for me across the board. I know I will burn more now with my size than I will later when I am smaller. Since I got my HRM I have used it to log all exercise because it knows what I am doing more than anything.

Thanks again

carolina_r

I think your HRM is the way to go! MFP can only estimate...it doesn't know how hard you were actually pushing, but your HRM does! For those of us without an HRM, MFP gives us something to go by - it is better than nothing.

Sounds like a great workout you had there!!

kodijhill

go to sparkpeople it lets you track your walk geographically and it gives you the hcoices to enter your weight and how long that took you and see if it changes but yea sparkpeople.com