HRM readings? Help!

fontinathefox

Hello all

I've just been for a run and used my HRM - it's a cheaper one, without a chest strap and I know they're not as good, but I can't afford an expensive one at the moment. Anyway, it's got two different settings - one where it estimates your calories burned if the exercise has been at an even pace, and another where you put in the exercise level yourself. I ran/walked intermittently for 20 minutes this morning and out of interest, I thought I'd see what different readings it would give. Well, one was 161 calories and one was only 97! Then I walked home for 6 minutes to cool down and again did two readings - one at 59 and one at 36! Which do you reckon is more accurate. I've gone for the lower total just so I don't overeat for the rest of the day, but I just wasn't sure what to do.

Thanks a lot

Pebble321

You're just going to have to make an estimate - you might find it helpful to plot your run (runkeeper.com or mapmyrun) and see how many km/miles you did in the time, once you know your speed it's easier to get a sense of how many cals.
As a guide, I tend to estimate 10 cals/minute for moderate running and 5 cals/minute for brisk walking. If I'm getting numbers way off those then I would wonder how correct they are. Of course, we're all different, those are the numbers that work for me (5'4", 156 pounds, female).
Don't sweat it too much, everything is an estimate (even with an expensive HRM!) - pick a number or a method and go for it.

fontinathefox

Thanks for that. I do map my runs and that one was 1.89 miles (so not massively long, I know). That done in 23 minutes works out at an average of...just under 5 miles an hour. So what do I do next?? I'm new to this, I'm still very confused! If it helps, I'm 5'6" and about 152 pounds.

Thanks again!

dad106

Honestly, I would just disregard the HRM all together.. no matter what the setting is.

The ones without a chest strap are going to be no where near accurate at estimating because it's not getting a continuous heart rate.. which is why the variation is so big. It only gets a heart rate when you touch it and then uses that heart rate until you touch it again.. so it will think that your at 90 lets say for that whole walk/run, when you are really going up/down up/down.

I'd use MFP for now until you can afford a HRM with a strap.

fontinathefox

The only problem with using MFP is that I don't run continuously (I have exercise-induced asthma, so can't) so I do 2 minutes running, 1-1.5 minutes rest, 2 minutes run etc - how would I input this somewhat correctly into MFP?

Thanks for replying

dad106

The only problem with using MFP is that I don't run continuously (I have exercise-induced asthma, so can't) so I do 2 minutes running, 1-1.5 minutes rest, 2 minutes run etc - how would I input this somewhat correctly into MFP?

Thanks for replying

You can create your own exercise and then MFP goes from there.

Or try searching the data base for interval running.. I'm sure someone has done it before.

kaned_ferret

as for affordability, if you don't mind the idea of a second hand hrm, go look on ebay - I got a polar f4 for £5 delivered! It was being sold as spares or repairs as the chest strap had stopped working, the watch was fine. 5 minutes engineering wizardry (looking on youtube for a "how to" vid, and cracking open the unit to change the battery) and I had it working

fontinathefox

You can create your own exercise and then MFP goes from there.

Or try searching the data base for interval running.. I'm sure someone has done it before.

Would you believe it, there isn't actually an entry for interval running in the database! So how would I go about creating my own exercise in this case? Sorry for all the questions, I really appreciate the help.

And kaned_ferret, I'll have a look on ebay - thank you!