I think my HRM may be fooling me, but I am not sure...

onemeanman
onemeanman Posts: 14
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I have been thinking about this for a couple days. Tell me what you think.

Premise: You use a HRM to track your cardio burns

Assume that I tried an experiment and just was laying on the couch watching TV for an hour while wearing my HRM….at the end of the hour I look at my HRM and it tells me that I burned 400 calories for the hour of TV watching. Now I don’t log those calories burned, because I am not exercising and I figure those calories are set up in my budgeted daily allowance.

Now assume that I get my *kitten* off the couch and go to the gym and get on the elliptical machine and I push it hard and the HRM says that I burned 1000 calories in an hour. I log this as cardio and receive an additional 1000 calories for my daily allowance.

If I’m the kind of guy who eats back his calories (and I am), do I eat 1000 back or the net 600 burned by the exercise (Exercise burn - laying around burn)?

Replies

  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    The HRM is not set up to measure activity in an anaerobic state. So it was not accurate while you were just sitting on the couch. However, the HRM does NOT exclude your BMR calories (well, some higher end models do, but most people don't spend $300 for one). So, use a chart to figure out your daily BMR, divide it by 24, and subtract that amount from each hour of your workout. Personally, I don't bother unless I work out for an hour or more. So for my 45 minute workout, I don't worry about subtracting my BMR calories.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    400 calories/hour for laying on the couch doesn't sound right. I burn about 1 calorie/minute at rest (.8 at goal weight), so 60ish an hour. Granted, your male but still. If you lay on the couch for 24 hours can you burn 9600 calories? (That would be so awesome.)
  • Jelleebean
    Jelleebean Posts: 212
    check the batteries. i had the same issue with mine last year. told me i burned almost 600 in a 35 minute walk, and another time it told me i burned 100 on that same walk a couple of days later. check the battery in the chest piece, and in the wrist piece. could be either, could be both.

    just a thought.
  • onemeanman
    onemeanman Posts: 14
    bump
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Mine matches exactly my heart rate as measured by gym equipment but tells me I burn far more calories than the gym equipment says I burned, so I don't trust it anymore. The gym equipment has me put in my weight and age, unlike my HRM. However, my HRM is as cheap as they come. Yours might be more accurate when you work out. I still record it on MFP, but I have stopped eating back all the exercise calories it says I burned unless I feel dizzy or extremely hungry.
  • normalme
    normalme Posts: 6
    Mine is the opposite and says that I have burned half of what the gym machines do, but it also puts my MHR at 220+ when I'm doing insanity, but I haven't died yet and it still says that I burn only like 300 cals an hour, I guess because it takes it from the average HR and the stretching sections of the workout bring that average down? Whatever it is, it's irritating as except for doing crazy style jumping jacks and completely ignoring stretching and thus injuring myself, I can't really push myself anymore if that really is my MHR (which i doubt). Luckily I'm addicted to endorphines and insanity improves my performance in other activities, otherwise for 300 calories I really wouldn't put myself through it.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    bump

    Are you looking for someone to say 'eat back 1000'? :happy:

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