HRM chest strap necessary?

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Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'm looking into buying a hrm. I prefer a watch only with no chest strap. There are some continuous read watches, one is Polar RS100. I want to be able to wear it when I'm not exercising too. Why? Because I just want to know about calories burned and hr during my daily activities.

    Since you are interested in accuracy, forget wearing it all day. HRM formula's for calorie burn are only valid in steady-state aerobic exercise, meaning HR between about 90-160 generally.
    Anything outside that is very inaccurate, and useless info.
    That means daily activity on the low end, and weight lifting or HIIT which is anaerobic exercise on the high end.

    Here is calculator based on study that Polar sponsored, with link to study for that reference.
    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I have the Boddybug they are made to wear all day! They work great! i have had about 3 family memembers use them as well in the past. They are tested and are 95% accurate!

    Accurate for daily non-exercise activities. Not exercise.

    This study is on the Sensewear, the maker of BodyMedia and BodyBugg.

    And since you still don't select what type of activity a workout is - they have not applied specific algorithms. They have them though!

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15126727

    When a generalized proprietary algorithm was applied to the data, the SenseWear Pro Armband significantly underestimated total energy expenditure by 14.9 +/- 17.5 kcal (6.9 +/- 8.5%) during walking exercise, 32.4 +/- 18.8 kcal (28.9 +/- 13.5%) during cycle ergometry, 28.2 +/- 20.3 kcal (17.7 +/- 11.8%) during stepping exercise, and overestimated total energy expenditure by 21.7 +/- 8.7 kcal (29.3 +/- 13.8%) during arm ergometer exercise (P < or = 0.001).
  • MissKTMc
    MissKTMc Posts: 49
    HRMs aren't accurate (strap or no strap types) for all day wear. If you're looking for that kind of feedback look into a bodybugg, bodymedia or fitbit device.

    If you're completely against a chest strap to get a HRM that is pretty accurate you're going have to invest more that $65. In that price range if you're going to get any accuracy get one with a chest strap. For most people, myself included, the chest strap is hardly noticeable after a short time of wear.

    Totally agree with the bodymedia idea!! I'm an exercise scientist currently working in energy expenditure measurement and I use the bodymedia SenseWear Pro 3 armbands! There is a new model out which looks even better (my dept just can't afford them)
  • MissKTMc
    MissKTMc Posts: 49
    I have the Boddybug they are made to wear all day! They work great! i have had about 3 family memembers use them as well in the past. They are tested and are 95% accurate!

    Accurate for daily non-exercise activities. Not exercise.

    This study is on the Sensewear, the maker of BodyMedia and BodyBugg.

    And since you still don't select what type of activity a workout is - they have not applied specific algorithms. They have them though!

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15126727

    When a generalized proprietary algorithm was applied to the data, the SenseWear Pro Armband significantly underestimated total energy expenditure by 14.9 +/- 17.5 kcal (6.9 +/- 8.5%) during walking exercise, 32.4 +/- 18.8 kcal (28.9 +/- 13.5%) during cycle ergometry, 28.2 +/- 20.3 kcal (17.7 +/- 11.8%) during stepping exercise, and overestimated total energy expenditure by 21.7 +/- 8.7 kcal (29.3 +/- 13.8%) during arm ergometer exercise (P < or = 0.001).

    As you can see form my post above, I work with SenseWear on a daily basis. When you open the analysis package you can select activity types based on timestamped activities. The algorithm applied from there is based on the Ainsworth tables, so it's as accurate as the information you supply!!
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    YES /.endthread

    :laugh: :drinker:
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Cardio-Sports-Bra/dp/B001RIIITE Bra with HRM sensor built in
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I have the Boddybug they are made to wear all day! They work great! i have had about 3 family memembers use them as well in the past. They are tested and are 95% accurate!

    Accurate for daily non-exercise activities. Not exercise.

    This study is on the Sensewear, the maker of BodyMedia and BodyBugg.

    And since you still don't select what type of activity a workout is - they have not applied specific algorithms. They have them though!

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15126727

    When a generalized proprietary algorithm was applied to the data, the SenseWear Pro Armband significantly underestimated total energy expenditure by 14.9 +/- 17.5 kcal (6.9 +/- 8.5%) during walking exercise, 32.4 +/- 18.8 kcal (28.9 +/- 13.5%) during cycle ergometry, 28.2 +/- 20.3 kcal (17.7 +/- 11.8%) during stepping exercise, and overestimated total energy expenditure by 21.7 +/- 8.7 kcal (29.3 +/- 13.8%) during arm ergometer exercise (P < or = 0.001).

    As you can see form my post above, I work with SenseWear on a daily basis. When you open the analysis package you can select activity types based on timestamped activities. The algorithm applied from there is based on the Ainsworth tables, so it's as accurate as the information you supply!!

    Wow, too bad the BodyMedia and BodyBugg don't allow you to do that. Why won't they bring that to the other units, since it's really a matter of the website anyway just analying the data?

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