Timex Ironman Run Trainer HRM - Calorie Counter Accuracy?

hpynh2o

I got a Timex Ironman Run Trainer HRM for Christmas (thanks, mom and dad). Today it was nice enough outside to run. After just a 23 minute (two mile) run, the HRM says I burned over 500 calories. My avg heart rate was 163. My average speed is about 6mph. This seems like a lot of calories and I doubt it's accuracy. I certainly don't want to "eat back" all those calories if I didn't really burn them.

I've double checked: my age, sex and weight is accurately entered.

Questions.... Was this really a 500 calorie session? Is there a way to make the calculation more accurate?

Thanks,
John

engineman312

if its cold where you are, it can be a factor. you burn more when its cold, something about your lungs needing more energy to heat up the air. its actually the same reason you are still vulnerable to de-hydration in the winter.

i ran outside the other day for 45 minutes and burned about 800 calories. i run about an 9 min mile, so it sounds like yours is pretty on the money.

remember, its only an estimation. it takes into account all those things to determine how many calories you burn, but its only making a guess.

dad106

I got a Timex Ironman Run Trainer HRM for Christmas (thanks, mom and dad). Today it was nice enough outside to run. After just a 23 minute (two mile) run, the HRM says I burned over 500 calories. My avg heart rate was 163. My average speed is about 6mph. This seems like a lot of calories and I doubt it's accuracy. I certainly don't want to "eat back" all those calories if I didn't really burn them.

I've double checked: my age, sex and weight is accurately entered.

Questions.... Was this really a 500 calorie session? Is there a way to make the calculation more accurate?

Thanks,
John

Timex's I'm pretty sure don't let you enter sex or age.. just weight and max heart rate...at least thats what mine did. SInce it does not let you enter gender, it assumes you are a male.. and since you are a male, that calorie burn may or may not be an accurate estimation. When I had mine, for a treadmill walk at 3mph it told me I burned 580 calories in 30 minutes.. Um no, I think not!

As far as trying to make it more accurate, I really don't think there is a way. TImex's are known for being inaccurate when it comes to calories burned... so I would suggest returning it if you can, and getting a Polar, which is going to be more accurate for sure.

KBGirts

I have a Garmin. It says I burn about 130 cal per mile with an average heart rate of 140 or so. I hope mine is pretty accurate.... I would definitely think that 500 for two miles is WAY over.

hpynh2o

"Timex's I'm pretty sure don't let you enter sex or age.. just weight and max heart rate...at least thats what mine did. SInce it does not let you enter gender, it assumes you are a male..."

This one asks:

Birthdate
Gender
Weight
Height
Type of activity (running)

dad106

"Timex's I'm pretty sure don't let you enter sex or age.. just weight and max heart rate...at least thats what mine did. SInce it does not let you enter gender, it assumes you are a male..."

This one asks:

Birthdate
Gender
Weight
Height
Type of activity (running)

Interesting.. From what I've read, they normally don't take that much info.. but I guess it all depends on the model that you get.

I mean since you put in running, that may change the formula used for calculating calories a bit, and thats why it was so high.. but I'm not exactly sure.

I would try it out for a few more sessions and see what happens.

84jeepster

I agree with the above posters that it seems kinda high but you never know what hills and cold weather can do. Run the same course a few times and see how consistent it is. Or run the treadmill at that pace with some minor hills and compare the numbers. I have a polar ft4 and that is pretty close to MFP cals for my trail runs. I just bought wifey an ft7 but it hasn't arrived yet. I assume it will be more accurate than my ft4.

Josedavid

Hello,

I also got a Timex Ironman... when it comes to HRM you can find A LOT of different opinions. I will tell you mine.

I know, more or less, the calories i burn thanks to MFP. And... I inserted all the information in my HRM Timex Ironman Global Trainer. Of course you can insert gender, age, heigth and weight.. that's a very nice HRM.

I use to run 10Km at a pace of 5min09 or 5min15 per Km, which is not bad for a 118.5kg male 35 years old.

For me the HRM is accurate, i could not tell you if 85%, 92%, 100% accurate but accurate enough.

It really depends on how you keep your heart beat. For example. When i am training TRX i burn 550-650 cals in 55min, and during the training i go up to 125-130bpm and when resting between series i dont let my bpm go below 100bpm minimum so i do my resting time according to the bpm to get the best aerobic rate.

When running i dont pay so much attention to the bpm but yes to the distance and pace.

Anyway... dont get crazy about all the information you would find in this thread... you should know yourself and try to adapt the information to your goals.

Best Regards / Jose