HRM Calories

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ROBJ3411
ROBJ3411 Posts: 72 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just curious, How are you guys using your HRM to calculate calories burned?

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  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    What to do you mean by how are you using it? I strap mine on and go.. be it for cardio or weight lifting... Although with weight lifting you need to be careful as the calorie burn won't be as accurate as it would for cardio.
  • TKHappy
    TKHappy Posts: 659 Member
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    My HRM tells me how many calories I've burned! :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Just curious, How are you guys using your HRM to calculate calories burned?

    I have one that asks for all the required info to give the best estimate, and have correct info entered, and then that is what I figure I burned.
    Gender, age, weight, height, maxHR.

    I eat at maintenance and create my deficit through exercise, so if any workout goes over what is expected for burn for that workout, I eat the extra back.

    And before I had a HRM that would calculate with best stats, I used this site with the avg HR for the workout the Timex HRM told me I had.
    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    I wear a watch that receives HR data from a transmitter attached to my chest strap. I just toggle through the various screens and it tells me the number of calories burned. It knows my height, weight and HR and can reasonably estimate the intensity of my workout and the number of calories burned.
  • deniseearheart
    deniseearheart Posts: 919 Member
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    just got mine the other day and am starting use on it today :-) T minus 5 minutes
  • Dare2BThin
    Dare2BThin Posts: 211 Member
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    Mines tells me outright what I burn
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    My HRM calculates calories burned. I'd think a HRM would be kind of useless without that function, especially because a HRM with calorie counter is about $40

    If you want to calculate it yourself you can use this:

    http://www.calculatorpro.com/calculator/calories-burned-by-heart-rate/
  • charmingtrouble
    charmingtrouble Posts: 54 Member
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    I just bought a HRM so when I used it to figure out my average HR I forgot that it counts calories too and cleared the data after my workout :blushing: oops

    I googled and plugged my average into a couple calorie calculators

    I'll have to compare numbers after my next workout to see how consistent the they are:smile:
  • Justin_Simmons
    Justin_Simmons Posts: 25 Member
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    My hrm just ask for height and weight. so i deduct 25% off whatever it says
  • jenkinsjerry
    jenkinsjerry Posts: 99 Member
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    And the general consensus is, HRM are more accurate than say, MFP's database is. A quality HRM will measure your specific results, vs. an estimate. Without this level of scientific knowledge, accurate calorie counting will be challenging and not recommended. My most recent Polar HRM allows me to wear it in the pool, doing laps too. Besides weight training, I don't do a single exercise without wearing a HRM.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    And the general consensus is, HRM are more accurate than say, MFP's database is. A quality HRM will measure your specific results, vs. an estimate. Without this level of scientific knowledge, accurate calorie counting will be challenging and not recommended. My most recent Polar HRM allows me to wear it in the pool, doing laps too. Besides weight training, I don't do a single exercise without wearing a HRM.

    How about lawn mowing? I was surprised how perhaps 2 mph or slower pushing lawn mower was higher than walking incline 3.6 mph.
  • ROBJ3411
    ROBJ3411 Posts: 72 Member
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    Thanks all...I understand that most HRMs give a calories burned function, however these too have error. There are many factors Resting and Max Heart rate, BW,etc that all contribute to an accurate calories burned equation. I was just curious if any were doing the higher level math or going by what the HRM tells you.
  • babygurl48
    babygurl48 Posts: 1,236 Member
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    What to do you mean by how are you using it? I strap mine on and go.. be it for cardio or weight lifting... Although with weight lifting you need to be careful as the calorie burn won't be as accurate as it would for cardio.

    ^^^this
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Thanks all...I understand that most HRMs give a calories burned function, however these too have error. There are many factors Resting and Max Heart rate, BW,etc that all contribute to an accurate calories burned equation. I was just curious if any were doing the higher level math or going by what the HRM tells you.

    Accuracy depends on male or female, and getting the stats correct. Even Polar can be very off if female, guys luck-out, as usual.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/459580-polar-hrm-calorie-burn-estimate-accuracy-study

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