HELP! Got my HRM - Major confusion ensues

maurierose

Okay, so my HRM came yesterday. Got an Acumen Basix WS.

Here are the problems I already see:

1. The only "Profile" information you can enter is your AGE. That's it. Not weight, height, fitness level... seems to me it can't be very accurate with just that, can it?? I assume as it's a women's HRM it already calculates that I am a woman.

2. There is the ability to enter different "Exercise Levels" - these in turn calculate different calories burned while wearing the chest strap/wrist watch. I had it set at a "5" for "moderate" last night, and wore the monitor constantly.... it said I burned 4,596 calories from 3pm to 1am. Noooowaaay, especially as several hours of that were spent SLEEPING.

I changed my "exercise level" to a "1" (very lowest effort possible to enter on the watch) So far, for the last hour and a half of constant wear, it says I've burned 224 calories. 15 minutes of that was spent speed walking.

How in the heck do I know how many calories I am actually burning???

3. It also has the ability to enter a heart-rate target zone in BPM; how do I know what to set that as for the minimum/maximum BPM for exercise?

It has the ability to set a countdown time for the target rate as well, and pauses when you're not at the correct "heart rate zone" (for example, I set it for 20 minutes, stayed at the supposed "In Zone Level" for 5 minutes, it now shows I have 15 minutes left to go on my "zone target". How many minutes should I shoot for to be in my "zone" (whatever that is?)? I am out of shape and have some leg/hip related issues to work around.

Can anyone help?

It's been less than 24 hours and I'm already regretting my decision to buy this one... when I saw "ability to set up your own personal profile" I assumed it would allow me to input height/weight/age/sex/activity level, etc. Now I know better. URRRGGHHHH :explode: Did I buy something totally useless?

I can't return it as I bought it on ebay..... joy oh joy. :sad:

spiralgirl71

Oh no. I just ordered one and it's due to be delivered today. I orderd : Acumen EON Basix ES WP Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch.

Is this the same one you are having problems with?

BrenNew

Okay, so my HRM came yesterday. Got an Acumen Basix WS.

Here are the problems I already see:

1. The only "Profile" information you can enter is your AGE. That's it. Not weight, height, fitness level... seems to me it can't be very accurate with just that, can it?? I assume as it's a women's HRM it already calculates that I am a woman.

2. There is the ability to enter different "Exercise Levels" - these in turn calculate different calories burned while wearing the chest strap/wrist watch. I had it set at a "5" for "moderate" last night, and wore the monitor constantly.... it said I burned 4,596 calories from 3pm to 1am. Noooowaaay, especially as several hours of that were spent SLEEPING.

I changed my "exercise level" to a "1" (very lowest effort possible to enter on the watch) So far, for the last hour and a half of constant wear, it says I've burned 224 calories. 15 minutes of that was spent speed walking.

How in the heck do I know how many calories I am actually burning???

3. It also has the ability to enter a heart-rate target zone in BPM; how do I know what to set that as for the minimum/maximum BPM for exercise?

It has the ability to set a countdown time for the target rate as well, and pauses when you're not at the correct "heart rate zone" (for example, I set it for 20 minutes, stayed at the supposed "In Zone Level" for 5 minutes, it now shows I have 15 minutes left to go on my "zone target". How many minutes should I shoot for to be in my "zone" (whatever that is?)? I am out of shape and have some leg/hip related issues to work around.

Can anyone help?

It's been less than 24 hours and I'm already regretting my decision to buy this one... when I saw "ability to set up your own personal profile" I assumed it would allow me to input height/weight/age/sex/activity level, etc. Now I know better. URRRGGHHHH :explode: Did I buy something totally useless?

I can't return it as I bought it on ebay..... joy oh joy. :sad:

If it's any help to you, I got a different kind, and can't figure THAT one out either! One day it told me I'd burned like 147 calories jogging for a half hour, the next it said I'd burned over 240 in 20 minutes! I think I'm just gonna give up. I'm glad my husband spent HIS money on it, and not me with mine! :laugh:

zebras

I got a Timex, and it took my age, etc. It was pretty easy to figure out, though I didn't think to test it while I was sleeping.

Azdak

Send it back if you can. This is a toy, not a serious workout tool.

In the manual it has a disclaimer that the calorie counts are just rough estimates. There is a reason why it is 1/2 the cost of a Polar F4--it takes time and research to develop somewhat reliable software for counting calories. A smaller company doesn't have the resources so they come up with something quick and dirty to make it seem equivalent.

According to the manual, you are expected to change the Exercise index number before each workout (and they even recommend underestimating it).

There is no way you can adjust this to be a useful device. Send it back, cut your losses, and get something real.

Two things you should not skimp on IMO: #1 shoes and #2 a heart rate monitor. Doesn't mean you need a fancy programmable one--the F4 is fine for around $90. Considering how often you will use it, it's actually pretty cheap.

spiralgirl71

I found this formula online. To determine your resting heart rate, take your pulse for one minute in the morning before getting out of bed. From there:

206.9 - (0.67 x age) = Max Heart Rate (MaxHR)
MaxHR - (resting heart rate) = Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)
HRR x 50% = training range %
training range % + resting heart rate = low end of THR zone


This is what I'm going to use to set my HRM (which just came today). Hope this helps.

maurierose

Oh no. I just ordered one and it's due to be delivered today. I orderd : Acumen EON Basix ES WP Women's Heart Rate Monitor Watch.

Is this the same one you are having problems with?

Yep, unfortunately that's the EXACT same one. :frown: Thanks for the formula

maurierose

Send it back if you can. This is a toy, not a serious workout tool.

In the manual it has a disclaimer that the calorie counts are just rough estimates. There is a reason why it is 1/2 the cost of a Polar F4--it takes time and research to develop somewhat reliable software for counting calories. A smaller company doesn't have the resources so they come up with something quick and dirty to make it seem equivalent.

According to the manual, you are expected to change the Exercise index number before each workout (and they even recommend underestimating it).

There is no way you can adjust this to be a useful device. Send it back, cut your losses, and get something real.

Two things you should not skimp on IMO: #1 shoes and #2 a heart rate monitor. Doesn't mean you need a fancy programmable one--the F4 is fine for around $90. Considering how often you will use it, it's actually pretty cheap.

Yep, seems like it IS just a toy... I can't send it back (ebay purchase stated no returns), but maybe I can do something else with it. Guess a Polar is going on my christmas list. :ohwell: I HATE waiting that long. Maybe I can figure something else out sooner. lol

maurierose

BrenNew, what kind did you get? (so I can avoid that, too!! lol) Sorry yours didn't work, that SUCKS no matter whose money it was! :ohwell: On the positive note, you're almost to your goal, way to go!!!!!!! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

Zebras - How do you like yours now that you've worked with it for a while? Have you compared the calories burnt to machines in a gym, etc?

Thank you for the help and feedback, everyone. I sure appreciate it :flowerforyou:

spiralgirl71

Mine arrived yesterday and I am keeping it. I need to keep it until I can afford the Polar F11 model that I want. The calorie estimates I got last night are close to what I was using before (based on weight/activity charts) so there is no huge difference there for me. I will underestimate the exercise index number more drastically tonight and see what happens with the calorie burn counts. I will also be changing the exercise index number as well as the in-zone goal counter for each workout.

It's nice to know that my heart rate is in the right zone. I'm in a pinch but this will work for me. I agree to never skimp on shoes and the hrm though. I was just too impatient to wait until I could get a better one. This monitor is not even comparable to the Polar brand but it does work.

zebras

Maurie:

I've only been able to use it once so far. I did 15 minutes on a bike that I didn't have set up to properly record the calories. Then I went back to my unit and did Gold's Gym on my Wii and I came pretty close to the estimated calories the program said. I will be able to work out again tonight, if the treadmill is available (our gym only has 4 pieces of equipment!), I will definitely be curious as to how the calorie count compares, also want to try it with Wii Fit and My Fitness Coach to see how well i'm burning calories. If anything even if it isn't too accurate it will motivate me to go through all my workout games and DVDs to see which one is most effective. I will keep you posted!

BrenNew

BrenNew, what kind did you get? (so I can avoid that, too!! lol) Sorry yours didn't work, that SUCKS no matter whose money it was! :ohwell: On the positive note, you're almost to your goal, way to go!!!!!!! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

Zebras - How do you like yours now that you've worked with it for a while? Have you compared the calories burnt to machines in a gym, etc?

Thank you for the help and feedback, everyone. I sure appreciate it :flowerforyou:

I got the Pro-Form Precision XT. I'm just not sure it's reading right, since it gives me such varied numbers for the same darned exercises! :grumble:
Tomorrow I'm going to mow my lawn, which should definitely be over 200 calories burned I'd think, but the darned thing will probably say 115 (or so) OR, 800 and something! :grumble:

zebras

Maurie:

I used my Timex heart montitor for 60 minutes on a Precor treadmill tonight. As far as the heart rates they tracked within 1-3 beats of each other the whole time. However, the HRM gave me credit for slightly over 800 calories burned for the 60 minutes and the treadmill said about 430. A big difference. Anyone chime in hear to tell me which they think is more accurate. I'm 5'2" and 219 lbs 44 year old female.

Thanks!