i don't have a hrm

mattquit

I don't have a heart rate monitor and i was wondering if mfp overestimates the calories in exercising? please respond

misskerouac

I think it might vary person to person. But for me it over estimates for the elliptical but underestimates for treadmill.

kyrstensmom

The calorie burns on MFP are averages, so will be low for some people and high for others. I have found them to be high for me, but I don't generally eat back my exercise calories, so I don't worry about it much.

Le_Joy

Some are too high and some are too low.

adjones5

MFP underestimates my calorie burns

Moriarty_697

I've found them to be close but a little on the high side. I generally don't eat exercise calories so I don't get too worried about it, either.

Lindz2323

I just got an HRM for Christmas, only used it for 3 days so far but from what I can tell MFP overestimates all my workouts so far.. not always by much more than say 40-50 calories more for a half hour of elliptical than my HRM says but still a difference.

chickybuns

I have a bodybugg, and it seems to be close on most exercises such as cycling, circuit training, walking, running. But overestimates on Turbo Fire/Jam.

momtozmc

My 4.86 mile run today....

HRM - 787 calories burned
runkeeper.com (gps) - 635 calories burned
mfp - 643 calories burned
http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi - 573 calories burned

All depends... I average them out sometimes...

rileysowner

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. There is not a blanket answer. I have had times when my HRM is higher than MFP and times when it is lower and still other times when it is pretty much the same.

mattquit

thank you for all the answers.

Kel3369

HI! Please excuse my ignorance in this area but how do you tell how many calories you have burned from your heart rate monitor? I just got one for Christmas and all I thought I could do with it is monitor my heart rate for the range that would help me burn fat most effectively. Thanks!

hirensthenameliftinsthegame

coming from someone getting their personal trainer certification(hopefully soon), heart rate is not a very good way to calculate calorie expenditure. it is like a crap shoot to be honest, but there are certain things it can tell you, for example any signs of overtraining can be picked up from keeping the same workout, but seeing increases in heart rate due to overtraining in a period of a week you can usually guage it. you can also measure your vo2 max, which is directly relevant to your energy expenditure(calories burned). you can also test to see whether your fitness program is helping your body become more efficient and stronger.

however all of the above stated requires documentation every single day, every single workout, and the variables of workout have to be constant. If you are a beginner, then the best thing is to not worry about heart rate unless you have a heart condition, and also if your on blood pressure medications. I have one that i invested $400 on but i barely use it, maybe once in a year or so, because I find it to be too distracting, and i have learned to look out for signs.

Hope that helped!
(coming from 3-4 years of serious training experience, and certification knowledge)