Heart rate monitoring question

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scottishhighlander
scottishhighlander Posts: 56
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi mfp's,
So I have been using my polar ft60 for the first time today.

I had it on all the time I was in the gym, it says i burned 1200 calories for the hour I was in, around 45 of this was fairly intense cardio. My question is should I have paused it for the 15 mins "resting" or continue to monitor and record as part of my workout? I'm thinking I should keep it going as my heart rate is still reasonably high and must still be burning calories right?

Info/help is appreciated

Thanks
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Replies

  • RockChick1984
    RockChick1984 Posts: 239
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    it wouldn't matter really as you have to subtract your BMR from the end total on your HRM anyway do ya not?
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
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    Yep i agree with you till your heart rate is normal again i deem that as exercise!!
  • littlebuddy84
    littlebuddy84 Posts: 1,000 Member
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    I do I let it continue untill my heart rate is at 90 or so
  • clkuchtyn
    clkuchtyn Posts: 193 Member
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    Bump. Wondering this myself.
  • scottishhighlander
    scottishhighlander Posts: 56
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    it wouldn't matter really as you have to subtract your BMR from the end total on your HRM anyway do ya not?

    Not 100% sure what you mean.
    When setting up the monitor you enter all the usual stuff height weight age sex etc and do a fitness test to determine your max heart rate.
    My question really is should I pause after say working out on the elliptical machine, and restart after a few minutes when I start the next machine, or keep it going till I decide to go home?
  • RockChick1984
    RockChick1984 Posts: 239
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    As in your body burns calories anyway even when not doing anything to keep the body functioning, therefore you have to deduct this number of cals to get a true reading of what you have burnt during exercise
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,424 Member
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    I never subtract my existence calories from my workout time-figure there's enough stuff I do during the day that I don't account for in my sedentary life and that's also why I don't eat back every last exercise calorie I burn.

    I would keep your HRM running while you are changing machines or workouts. I turn mine on as soon as I start stretching/warming up and turn it off when my heart rate is back down to around 100 even though that's no where near my resting rate. Sometimes that's when I leave a class if we have a good cool down sometimes it's when I sit down in the car after leaving the gym!
  • scottishhighlander
    scottishhighlander Posts: 56
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    My bmr according to mfp is around 3000 cals, my target cals is 2000, exercise today 1200, actual food intake is 2800, so net is 1600. What do I deduct from what?
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,424 Member
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    What she is suggesting is you figure out how many calories you burn each minute of the day if you were in a coma (BMR/24/60) and multiply that number by the number of minutes you exercised and subtract THAT number from your calories burned total. The idea being that you didn't really burn that many calories because you would have burned SOME just be existing. Feel free to do it if you want but not everybody does that and it hasn't hurt me any.
  • scottishhighlander
    scottishhighlander Posts: 56
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    I never subtract my existence calories from my workout time-figure there's enough stuff I do during the day that I don't account for in my sedentary life and that's also why I don't eat back every last exercise calorie I burn.

    I would keep your HRM running while you are changing machines or workouts. I turn mine on as soon as I start stretching/warming up and turn it off when my heart rate is back down to around 100 even though that's no where near my resting rate. Sometimes that's when I leave a class if we have a good cool down sometimes it's when I sit down in the car after leaving the gym!

    I thought my logic sounded sensible and I'm glad a few others do the same, which is good to know.
  • scottishhighlander
    scottishhighlander Posts: 56
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    What she is suggesting is you figure out how many calories you burn each minute of the day if you were in a coma (BMR/24/60) and multiply that number by the number of minutes you exercised and subtract THAT number from your calories burned total. The idea being that you didn't really burn that many calories because you would have burned SOME just be existing. Feel free to do it if you want but not everybody does that and it hasn't hurt me any.

    Ah ok, I get it now. So instead of 1200 burned it could be 1000 for example I.e 200 just for existing that hour.
    I guess that could be ok but how accurate all these numbers are in the first place?
    A rough guide is fine for me I think. At least for now.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
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    I'd never even heard of subtracting your BMR until a couple of weeks ago. I've never done it. I turn mine on when I start warm-up and turn it off when cooldown is done, even if my hr is still a little high. I just figure that's bonus. Would definitely leave it running as long as it's not a 30 minute rest. :smile:
  • wigal23
    wigal23 Posts: 363 Member
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    What she is suggesting is you figure out how many calories you burn each minute of the day if you were in a coma (BMR/24/60) and multiply that number by the number of minutes you exercised and subtract THAT number from your calories burned total. The idea being that you didn't really burn that many calories because you would have burned SOME just be existing. Feel free to do it if you want but not everybody does that and it hasn't hurt me any.

    Ah ok, I get it now. So instead of 1200 burned it could be 1000 for example I.e 200 just for existing that hour.
    I guess that could be ok but how accurate all these numbers are in the first place?
    A rough guide is fine for me I think. At least for now.

    My guess is that your BMR is already calculated by your HRM. That is why it requests all of your basic information. If you were using the #'s at the gym that are generic, that might be a bit different. Great burn by the way!
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    Your HRM should stop tracking calorie burn once you get outside of the heartrate zone range. Give it a try, go high or low and see if it moves.
  • scottishhighlander
    scottishhighlander Posts: 56
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    Your HRM should stop tracking calorie burn once you get outside of the heartrate zone range. Give it a try, go high or low and see if it moves.

    Ok thanks, will check that tomorrow
  • Toni_Q
    Toni_Q Posts: 7
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    I know a bit how Polar test their products and design the calorie burn algorythms and I can say that their accuracy is good. HRM is not using the BMR-values and subtracting it for you from the workouts. You have to do the subtraction by yourself if you want to know the real workout burn. You can test this by just wearing the hrm while resting and you'll see that you're burning calories all the time. I don't know if your hrm model can track calorie burn on low heart rates, but you can try.
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,424 Member
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    Yeah, mine will track calories burned even if I'm sitting at the computer. I have a Polar f4 and had an older model polar ice before this that continued to track calories if it was on.
  • princessjarvis
    princessjarvis Posts: 97
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    Hiyaaa,

    I use a HRM and i never deduct from my BMR. and i also leave mine ticking until I walk down the stairs after my workout. :happy:
  • scottishhighlander
    scottishhighlander Posts: 56
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    Hi, did the exact same thing today, seems to be a sensible approach!
  • kit_katty
    kit_katty Posts: 994 Member
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    To me, if you're still losing weight, I wouldn't change how you record. Just my personal opinion.

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