Heart Rate Monitors

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caralhill
caralhill Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
I finally bought my own HRM yesterday and now I don't know what machine to trust. The elliptical I always run on at my gym said I burnt 110 calories in 10 minutes, but my HRM said 170. My heart rate read the same on both machines, so I don't know where there was such a huge difference. I'd love to be able to believe my HRM, but I'm not sure how it gets an accurate read if it doesn't know my weight and age.

Replies

  • caralhill
    caralhill Posts: 7
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    I finally bought my own HRM yesterday and now I don't know what machine to trust. The elliptical I always run on at my gym said I burnt 110 calories in 10 minutes, but my HRM said 170. My heart rate read the same on both machines, so I don't know where there was such a huge difference. I'd love to be able to believe my HRM, but I'm not sure how it gets an accurate read if it doesn't know my weight and age.
  • jowily
    jowily Posts: 189 Member
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    You are right - either needs to know your weight and height and age and such - the heart rate burns calorie rates differently at different weights...so whatever you are reading from (whether machine or HRM) needs to know your specifics.
  • a3johns4
    a3johns4 Posts: 2
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    it all depends on what heart rate monitor you got. Did you get that one has a watch to go with it? I love my polar watch and heart rate monitor. You enter in your age, weight, height, so it knows you! Then you can trust it to tell you how many calories you're burning, because its gaged towards your body. The polar company has been really great about replacing the watch if any problems come up, and you can find them for cheaper on EBAY (with the warrenty). I would defintly recommend it, its highly worth it!
  • paynetopia
    paynetopia Posts: 7
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    I did a ton of research before finally going with the HRM's my wife and I use ($50.00 at Super Walm-Mart). If you are going get a heart rate monitor that you can depend on to give you accuracy you need/HAVE to get one that you enter your Age, Gender, Height, and Weight. With those entered in it can give you an incredible workout without too much or too little strain on your body (believe it or not you do not have to kill yourself to get in shape or lose weight). Actually, by straining your body too much you actually end up burning less fat and tearing or damaging muscle putting off exercising for days. Also, you cannot depend on those watches that do not get continuous heart rate monitoring for accuracy. If they do not use a chest strap they probably aren't that accurate. Those that do not have a chest strap and say just touch or one touch are considered non-continuous and you really need to be holding the watch constantly during the exercise to get an accurate reading.

    I hope this helps!!!
  • yogagurl
    yogagurl Posts: 2
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    How do you know what HRM to get? The Body Bugg would be my first choice, but it is WAY too expensive.
    The polar has been a thought, but I really need something for the entire day. So I know exactly what I am burning. That way I can eat according to my needs. ( Not desires... ) Blarg!

    Any suggestions?
  • paynetopia
    paynetopia Posts: 7
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    I know it is confusing since there are literally millions of reviews, but it all comes down to:
    Comfort (both chest strap and watch), Accuracy (does it allow to input profiles so you can put in gender, weight, height), Features (do you want just a HRM? / a watch?/ stopwatch?/GPS?/pedometer?) and finally price. You need to seriously think about what is important to you. Do not get one without a chest strap. The non-continuous HRM's are not accurate unless you hold them the entire time. They are great if you are on a walk and want to know where your heart rate is, but it will not give you an accurate approximation of calories burned. Polar is a well-known, well-built brand with a great warranty. That is why a lot of people go with them. (You do have to have Polar replace your watch battery which a friend finds annoying.) Finally, in the end, my wife and I went with a couple of watches from Super Wal-Mart which were Sportline brand. They are more widely known for their pedometers, but I liked the look and feel of their watches, setup was easy and we use them ALL THE TIME!! We have taken them on hikes, exercising in the morning and I wear mine just day to day (without the chest strap), because it is a comfortable and stylish digital watch. The unique thing about ours that we liked is it is both a continuous (with chest strap) AND non-continuous (without chest strap) HRM. So we can wear them on walks without the chest strap just to see where our heart rate is and pick up the pace to get it a little higher.

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