How accurate are HRM?

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EmRobo
EmRobo Posts: 146 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just tested my new Polar FT7 today, when I put in 30mins of fast walking into MFP it says I burnt 140 calories and my HRM says I burnt 267 calories - of course it doesn't take into account pushing two children in a pushchair too.

I was just wondering in percentage how accurate HRM are?

Replies

  • CherryPie606
    CherryPie606 Posts: 44 Member
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    Bump
  • deedog007
    deedog007 Posts: 89 Member
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    If you have a Polar HRM with a chest strap, I would say that is more accurate. It actually calculates your HR while exercising, instead of giving you an average or what your HR should be.

    The HRM (Polar) is based on age, weight, height and heart beats. :)
  • yogibella
    yogibella Posts: 321 Member
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    I'd be interested in knowing this too!

    The ones with chest straps are more accurate than the ones without, I'm assuming?
  • deedog007
    deedog007 Posts: 89 Member
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    Yes, the chest strap HRM are the most accurate.. I found, the Polars are the best. They cost about $100 dollars and are worth every penny, they are like your personal trainer (designed for you).
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    HRM's when set up properly(age weight height gender and max heart rate) and used in the correct conditions(steady state cardio and not weight lifting or just lying around) are 80% accurate.

    When you alter max heart rate(most peoples are higher then what the HRM spits out) add in Vo2max and used in the same conditions, they can be up to 90% accurate.
  • EmRobo
    EmRobo Posts: 146 Member
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    Thanks for the replies. I brought a FT7 and its fab, and obviously giving me such a different reading to MFP. I use the chest strap with it, its quite good to see my heart rate go up and down when I move/slow down etc.

    Only tested it on walks so far. Going to zumba tonight, this is really where I want to see the difference on calories burnt
  • SandyMilton
    SandyMilton Posts: 130
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    Definitely the HRM - just remember as you lose the weight to adjust your weight settings in the HRM as well so it continues to be accurate :)
  • yogibella
    yogibella Posts: 321 Member
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    HRM's when set up properly(age weight height gender and max heart rate) and used in the correct conditions(steady state cardio and not weight lifting or just lying around) are 80% accurate.
    I guess it won't be too accurate for a yoga class? (some are continuous flow classes but you might be in a headstand for a while..??)
    Only tested it on walks so far. Going to zumba tonight, this is really where I want to see the difference on calories burnt
    yes, let us know how it goes!! I log my zumba class under general aerobics. Some recommend this site, which says you burn much more? http://www.zumbacalories.com/ I should just buy a HRM:D
  • madmickie
    madmickie Posts: 221 Member
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    HRMs are only accurate at measuring HR!

    Any estimate of calories burned is just that - a bit of maths based on your weight, age, sex and heart rate over time. No way of telling how accurate that estimate is as there are too many factors to take into consideration - your body fat, your fitness, how tired you are, how hydrated you are, what time of day it is, what you are doing, what the ambient temp is etc. etc.

    Other calculations are likely to be less accurate as they don't include heart rate. It would take a fair bit of science to estimate exactly what calories you are burning - so only thing you can do is use the same calculation for everything you do - at least that way it will be consistent.
  • EmRobo
    EmRobo Posts: 146 Member
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    well MFP tells me I burn approx 580 calories for one hour zumba, and my HRM says 840 - big difference!!
  • netchik
    netchik Posts: 587 Member
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    MFP's calorie burn is spot on for some activities, but completely out for others. For my husband, any cardio activity is almost the same as his HRM (He's very fit and 68kg). For me, (much MUCH MUCH heavier), it's accurate on low impact activities, but completely wrong for cardio (too high) and weights (too low). I use a bodybugg and a polar (chest strap) hrm together so I can usually tell which is most accurate.

    *I do this because Bodybugg is no good if you don't use your arms a lot, in a fast pace...
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    As other people have said, HRMs give an fairly accurate burn for cardio activity but not for daily activity - you can't wear it all day to get your TDEE for example. It also gives inaccurate readings for strength training when your heart rate will spike for short periods and when swimming as the chest strap does not transmit accurately to the display through water.
  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
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    Just tested my new Polar FT7 today, when I put in 30mins of fast walking into MFP it says I burnt 140 calories and my HRM says I burnt 267 calories - of course it doesn't take into account pushing two children in a pushchair too.

    I was just wondering in percentage how accurate HRM are?
    I think your HRM is more accurate than MFP's guesstimate. Plus as you say you were pushing a pushchair and MFP can't take that into account.

    I find walking gives me a better result on my HRM than MFP, yet with cycling it gives the opposite. I'd love to know how many calories I really burn while swimming, but despite the claims by Polar that their HRM is waterproof, they forget to mention that radio waves don't transmit well through water, so unless the wearlink was smart enough to store the HR info and then transmit it to the watch after my swim, which I know it doesn't do, then I'm scuppered.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    I think I they based all of the calorie estimates by testing on my identical twin, HRM, Garmin GPS watch (which uses speed and incline but not heart rate), Gym machines and MFP are all well within 10% difference - and have been consistently during my weight loss.

    The consensus is that HRM is the most accurate estimate during CV work but it is just an estimate
  • autiemommy
    autiemommy Posts: 238
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    The HRM is the most accurate ad i just upgraded to a polar from a nb with strap and i love it ... Your getting a consistent monitor of heart and ecaloric burn versus guesstimates.
  • kimmyj74
    kimmyj74 Posts: 223 Member
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    Only tested it on walks so far. Going to zumba tonight, this is really where I want to see the difference on calories burnt

    Interested in finding out the zumba calories.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    HRM's when set up properly(age weight height gender and max heart rate) and used in the correct conditions(steady state cardio and not weight lifting or just lying around) are 80% accurate.
    I guess it won't be too accurate for a yoga class? (some are continuous flow classes but you might be in a headstand for a while..??)

    I use my HRM for yoga.. but take it with a grain of salt because the room is 103 degrees, and extreme heat/cold can skew an HRM calorie reading.

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