What do you burn with your chest strap HRM?

CorinthiaB

I typically burn about 100-110 calories per mile doing Leslie Sansone and I am over 250. So, I am thinking your numbers are about right. I also burn around 450-500 calories at the gym on the elliptical and bike.

ALW65

I have a Polar HRM also (can't remember the model, but relatively high end and bought within the last year).

I didn't check what your weight is, but at just over 200 calories and 5'9" I burn about 240-280 on a Jillian Michaels 30 day shred video.

When I work out at the gym and do a light warm-up on the eliptical for 10 minutes and then work out HEAVY with the trainer (he's an arena football player who believes in "no pain, no gain" I think) I will burn up to 400 calories.

When I was doing couch to 5K program I'd burn around 250 calories in the 1/2 hour of alternating running/walking.

In the summer when I cut grass with my push mower for 1 1/2 hours and then do edging I find I can burn around 1000 calories if it's a hot day - sure do miss that weekly calorie burn and can't wait for summer to come back!

Based upon these numbers and your actual height/weight/level of fitness/heart rate while working out hopefully you can get some idea of how your monitor is doing capturing things

*edited to add that I'm pushing hard during these activites, breathing hard, and sweating a bunch

AnaVerasGettingFit

Make sure it's wet before u put it against u, and firmly planted to stay. Also, get a new battery just in case. It's obviously wrong. When my battery was weak my cals were way down.

KXanthos

Hi, everyone, I just got a Polar FT4 for Valentine's Day and tried it out yesterday for the first time doing Turbo Jam Cardio Party, 40 minute video, and my HRM said I burned 248 cals, I always figured MFP over calculated my burns ( it said I burned 1100 :ohwell: ) but I thought given my weight I would definitely be burning more than that 248 for an exercise like turbo jam. I later decided to exercise again, using 2 mile walk by Leslie Sansone,30 minutes, it said 134. ?? Now I didn't expect much from this one because I don't get real out of breath or even all that sweaty doing the 2 mile walks, but still 134, I have friends who log these same workouts using a HRM and they weigh under 200 and they burn around 300-400 something for 30 and 45 minute Leslie workouts. i did a taebo workout this morning for 43 minutes and it said 212 cals burned. I have the user info entered correctly, I wet the straps, it's nice and snug on me, so I don't get it? I mean if that's what I really burn then that's fine, but it just seems like from seeing others logs with HRMs that mine are real low numbers?

So I just want to know your opinions about this, and also wanna hear from others who use a HRM with a chest strap what exercises you do, for how long and what do you burn with them, and if you don't mind throwing your weight in there that would be awesome! I don't really wanna put my weight on here for everybody to see, but I will tell you I'm in the lower 300's for the purpose of getting your thoughts on this. I know everyone works out differently, and weight and gender and all that play a role in how much we burn, but could I have gotten a defective one, or could be there another reason why my numbers are so low when my weight is so high?

I went through the same thing just last week. MFP was telling me that I was burning over 400 calories for a 30 minute elliptical and I, sadly, learned that I was actually only burning about 180 calories.... :-(

On the positive side, I was probably over eating (my goal was always to eat back 50% of my workout calories) and now that I know what I'm actually burning, I also know that I'm not over eating to reach my goals.

tuffytuffy1

I weigh close to 170, and I'm 43 years old. I use a Polar FT4. I only burn about 400 calories or so in close to an hour of exercising, which includes 30 minutes of strenuous and fast-paced personal training, a brief high intensity warm-up on the treadmill (between 5 and 10 minutes), and a cool down walk uphill on the treadmill after my PT session (about 10 minutes).

Oh: also, I only burn 100 calories per mile of walking or running. So not very much at all.

rob_v

Interesting thread. I have a bit of the opposite happening. Before my HRM - I was always pretty consistent at about 100/cals per 10 mins as long as my HR was above 135.

The past week or so I started wearing it to the gym (I used to just wear it when I run or ride outside). But I found out that my HRM will sync up to the machines which is pretty cool.

So the first time I wore it I did a 75 min spin class - the bike said 760 cals - my HRM said 940 cals.
Then a few of the 60 mins classes - the bike said right around 600 the HRM said around 800.
Same w/ the treadmill - pretty consistent about 20% more on the HRM.
I usually just take the lower of the 2 to be safe.

Not sure which one is right.

sweetheart03622

What is your heart rate sitting at when you do these exercises? That's going to determine how hard you really are working.

Having said that, I'm male, 6'3" and 245lbs (176lb LBM) and I burn typically 600 in 30 mins on the elliptical (going very hard, heart rate averages 165-170 for the full 30 mins). Typically 300 for a 30 minute walk (2 miles), heart rate only like 125-135.

Obviously for a female it's going to be a lot lower but that doesn't sound right at all. Did you input your height/weight/gender and such into the FT4? Assuming you did, and assuming you're getting your heart rate up, you should be quite a bit higher.

This is what I don't get. I work very hard at Turbo Jam, and before doing some reading on THR zones and needing to stay in them or above for maximum calorie burn, I thought I needed to stay within my THRZ, which the top of it 165, during turbo jam I noticed I was staying right around 170, so I was even over the zone, so I lowered my intensity, and even with lowering my intensity, my HR was still mostly at 155-165 for the whole workout. All my info is correct, I wet the straps good, like I said if this is accurate then it's fine I'll deal with it, but I was always under the assumption the bigger you are the more you burn.

This isn't accurate then. There's something you're missing in the placement or the set-up. I'm 23, 5'7 and about 170 and if I do a workout and keep my HR at about 165 I average about 9 - 10 calories per minute. I would keep digging because this isn't right.

rhce40

my hrm usually has a lot higher vales than the machines. for example earlier this week i went 30 min on the elliptical, ~6.1 mph avg with an avg heart rate in the 170s and it said i burned 778. i am 5'10, 198lb and 20 y.o.

sweetheart03622

Interesting thread. I have a bit of the opposite happening. Before my HRM - I was always pretty consistent at about 100/cals per 10 mins as long as my HR was above 135.

The past week or so I started wearing it to the gym (I used to just wear it when I run or ride outside). But I found out that my HRM will sync up to the machines which is pretty cool.

So the first time I wore it I did a 75 min spin class - the bike said 760 cals - my HRM said 940 cals.
Then a few of the 60 mins classes - the bike said right around 600 the HRM said around 800.
Same w/ the treadmill - pretty consistent about 20% more on the HRM.
I usually just take the lower of the 2 to be safe.

Not sure which one is right.

This is something I've noticed as well in smaller people. If you're relatively lean, it seems like cardio equipment under estimates calorie burns. I have the same thing - treadmill will say 300 calories for a 3 mile run and my HRM will say about 425-450. I've had a lot of smaller people say the same thing as well.

petergalvin

This makes an interesting read. As I bought a HRM last week as well as a BP monitor. Have always been borderline on the high bp, even when 120lb heavier! Though resting pulse always mid/low 50's

Lime some many of you I am disappointed with the initial (truer) results. I guess we have just to get used to it, that being the harsh reality. So yes I was gutted also with the following......

Gym machine results
12 min Row
22 min Cycle
20 Fast Walk threadmill
Total 1001 calories
HRM returned 659 calories
currently weigh 280lb and hr ranges from 135 on the cycle and 160 on bike.

Now I always knew that the HRM will give a better, but lower result. But still this was a wakeup call. So would still like to follow this as the vast difference is a worry.

btw what is vo2 that I had to enter on the watch?

Thanks

Onwards and downwards :-)

sabrinafaith

weight is not the only factor when it comes to calorie burn. just because you weigh a certain weight doesn't mean you and someone the same weight burn the same amount of calories. I burn a lot of calories because i push myself as hard as possible. my heart rate for jillian michaels is usually above 160. I get to the point where bile is coming up. I am fit though, so i burn less than other people the same weight and it takes more to push myself that hard. just because you are moving doesn't mean you are giving it your all or sometimes its just not as difficult for your body as you perceive it to be.

marx4

I have the FT 40 with the chest strap. When I do Wii active sports, I also wear the leg and arm pulse monitors. Yeah, I pretty much look like an idiot with all of this crap strapped on me, thank goodness I'm at home, alone! The FT 40 synchs with the same heart rate as the Wii, but the calories FT 40 are higher than the Wii. I feel that it is most accurate with the burn.

Chrissie_R

i have the FT4 and burn around 500 calories for 60 minutes of out of breath exercise!

just2liveagain

Hi

I just got one too on Valentines day. I burned 180 cals 20 mins on crosstrainer, and the burned about 170 doing weights for 20 mins, but my heart rate stayed up pretty high. I did Jillians michaels 50 min Banish Fat dvd and was 480, right on track of MFP circuit allocation. Same on JM's killer buns, 35 mins about 280. I have found though my walks with my dog have burned more cals than i think burned 200 cals doing 30 mins, 180 cals doing 20 mins heart rate was at about 142, but not sure as a few times my monitor said my Heart rate was 200, which i really doubt it.

I am currious on what you put in your target zone. i think it might have been pre set but i fiddle with mine and now not sure what my min and max heart rate should be. Any ideas?? Mine is a polar FT4 too.

I didn't input my THRZ myself, it figured it for me based on my info I put in, but I checked several other sites and they all pretty much say the same thing, the only real way to know your true max HR is to have a stress test by a doctor, but the formula they all use is 220 (226 for women) - age, take that and times it by 60% to get the low end of THRZ and times it by 80% to get the high end of THRZ. So I did that and it was right on with what my polar set for my THR zone! But doing the more intense workouts like turbo jam, my heart rate is always right at the higher end.

NicolCook

See and I've been wondering the same thing because mine says I burn way more than I thought I did. I jogged for 20 minutes and it said I burned 350 calories... I usually take whatever the machines at the gym tell me and cut it in half, but my HRM says they were right on all along. I'm 193 and 5'8" I have always had a really high heart rate though, even resting, so IDK how accurate it really is or if I am just a freak of nature haha. As my doctor always tells me, my body does things that aren't supposed to be physically possible, but usually when I'm jogging even if I'm not super winded my HR is around 195...

Sounds like me! I always burn WAY more than the other people that I workout with. I burn 300+ doing 30DS for 30 mins. In 45 minutes of Zumba, I will burn 500-650. My heart rate is high the whole time I workout. I am 5'9", 160lbs.

GlassslippersAndFairyDust

did you wet the electrodes? I have a FT4 too and the other day I forgot to wet the electrodes on the strap and my calorie burn was really low.

BeverleyDunn

I have used an chest strap tonight wified to a new cross trainer and it recorded my calorie burn to be over a 40min period almost exactly the same as using the readings from the machines in the gym without chest strap. I'm 52 years old, 139llbs burned 301 cals and my heart rate maxed around 157-162.

med79

I got a Polar FT4 last summer and was also surprised with how little I was burning. I'm in the upper 200's and burn about what you are reporting that you burn. Severely disappointing to say the least.... oh well, maybe we just have awesome hearts. Aside from weighing too much my blood work comes back perfect and the doctor says I'm in excellent health. It's a good thing....just annoying when it comes to logging calories.

Olive32214

Great Topic and know where your coming from, just a question I'm not sure about.

I got the Polar F4 recently and say you exercise for 30mins and check the watch
should you be IN Zone for the full 30 mins, what way does that work.

just2liveagain

Thanks for the replies everyone! As I stated I do in fact have my info input correctly, and I do wet the electrodes, the strap is very snug it doesn't move anywhere, lol so I guess I will try it with a few more workouts and see what it says. I did give it my all doing turbo jam, but some of your answers have got me thinking if maybe even though I'm sweating and breathing heavily, if my body is in fact more used to that particular video than I am aware. I have more turbo jam videos, so I'm gonna try one that I don't do very often. I have been doing 2 cardio party ones pretty much daily for a few weeks, aside from the last 2 weeks when I couldn't exercise due to an injured ankle. I have so many dvds I can try that I don't do on a regular basis, so I will give some of them a try and see if my cals are a bit higher when doing something unfamiliar.

just2liveagain

Great Topic and know where your coming from, just a question I'm not sure about.

I got the Polar F4 recently and say you exercise for 30mins and check the watch
should you be IN Zone for the full 30 mins, what way does that work.

Granted I'm new to this whole HRM thing, lol but if I'm reading your question right, no I don't think you should be "in the zone" for the whole 30 minutes if the video is only 30 min long. For example my turbo jam workout video I exercised 44 minutes, but was only in the zone 33 minutes, so for a 30 minute video I would think around 20-23 maybe you'd be in the actual zone, accounting for warm and cool down within those 30 min in which you're HR is not up. Hope that helps, if not I'm sorry lol

SarahMorganP

I just got my Polar F7 last week and I have found that during my walks I burn a lot more than what MFP says. The HRM says I burn 145 calories for a 20min walk but MFP says 90. But the HRM says less when I do the elliptical. HRM says 200 for 20min on the elliptical but closer to 300 on the machine and here on MFP. I am glad that my calorie burns are higher while walking than I thought because that is what I do every day.

Olive32214

Great Topic and know where your coming from, just a question I'm not sure about.

I got the Polar F4 recently and say you exercise for 30mins and check the watch
should you be IN Zone for the full 30 mins, what way does that work.

Granted I'm new to this whole HRM thing, lol but if I'm reading your question right, no I don't think you should be "in the zone" for the whole 30 minutes if the video is only 30 min long. For example my turbo jam workout video I exercised 44 minutes, but was only in the zone 33 minutes, so for a 30 minute video I would think around 20-23 maybe you'd be in the actual zone, accounting for warm and cool down within those 30 min in which you're HR is not up. Hope that helps, if not I'm sorry lol

Yes that helps,but I'll give you more detail. I'm 5'7" and 255lbs and workout on Wii Zumba 2 at home. I do 2, 35mins,
1 in the morn and 1 in the late afternoon. My HRM reads 25mins IN ZONE for morning workout (which I reckon is right) but sometimes
I only get 18mins for the afternoon. Would that be because I'm not giving it the same as the morning. I'd appreciate any
thoughts and Thanks in advance....

niknanette

I have the ft4 and burn between 360-530 for cardio party. It depends how much effort I put in on any given day. But I only do that once or twice a week, I try to switch it up every day so I don't get bored. I weigh about 175.

just2liveagain

Great Topic and know where your coming from, just a question I'm not sure about.

I got the Polar F4 recently and say you exercise for 30mins and check the watch
should you be IN Zone for the full 30 mins, what way does that work.

Granted I'm new to this whole HRM thing, lol but if I'm reading your question right, no I don't think you should be "in the zone" for the whole 30 minutes if the video is only 30 min long. For example my turbo jam workout video I exercised 44 minutes, but was only in the zone 33 minutes, so for a 30 minute video I would think around 20-23 maybe you'd be in the actual zone, accounting for warm and cool down within those 30 min in which you're HR is not up. Hope that helps, if not I'm sorry lol

Yes that helps,but I'll give you more detail. I'm 5'7" and 255lbs and workout on Wii Zumba 2 at home. I do 2, 35mins,
1 in the morn and 1 in the late afternoon. My HRM reads 25mins IN ZONE for morning workout (which I reckon is right) but sometimes
I only get 18mins for the afternoon. Would that be because I'm not giving it the same as the morning. I'd appreciate any
thoughts and Thanks in advance....

I would think that is the reason why, maybe you can try glancing at your watch more often during the workout and see if your HR is displayed the whole time, and also check to see that you're in your zone. I know mine makes a beeping sounds when I go to and from the different levels of my THR but it's so soft I can't always hear the beep, so I'm looking at my watch every few minutes just to check and see that I'm still in the zone!

just2liveagain

I have the ft4 and burn between 360-530 for cardio party. It depends how much effort I put in on any given day. But I only do that once or twice a week, I try to switch it up every day so I don't get bored. I weigh about 175.

SEE! I weigh almost twice as much as you, I push myself very hard throughout the workout, and only 248 for 40 min. It must be that I am getting used to these 2 particular videos, now I gotta go exercise and test it out, it's driving me insane!

giggitygoo

Those numbers do seem a bit low. That's really odd.

I burn 350-400 usually for 60 minutes of intense work, and I'm sitting at around 110 right now.

I have a different HRM than you, but it took me a while to get the hang of it. My readings were quite low the fist few times, and then I started wearing it higher and the results changed.


I used to wear the strap under the bottom of my sports bra, more mid rib. I changed to wearing right under my boobs, like right under the bottom crease of my breasts, and got more accurate readings. Now, my sports bra is actually over the chest strap.

Probably a boobie over-share, but hopefully useful.

Kristinemomof3

I have an FT7 and also do Turbo Jam, that's about what I burn for that. I know, sometimes it seems one should burn more, but everyone is different.

LTRUITT3

I do Walk Away The Pounds faitfully, and today I burned 253 calories for the 2mile walk. But I do use weights while doing it and instead of walking at times I jog.

Getting a HRM is a huge eye opener compared to what machines and MFP says. Good luck to you.

jody664

I got a HRM for valentines day too (how romantic!). My problem was the opposite, I was burning far more calories then I was guesstimating.

Same here. My treadmill would say I burned 150 cal in 30 minutes, but with the HRM, it's closer 230-250. Today, I did 30 minutes on the Arc Trainer, and burned 256 calories in 30 minutes. My stats: 5'0", 187 lb, age 46.