Garmin HR Monitor and Calorie burn

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meghanner
meghanner Posts: 180 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just got a Garmin 410 HR monitor and did one of my super challenging hill workouts. My average HR for 55min was 176bpm with a max of 187. I ran 5km and 2500ft of elevation. The calorie readout said I only burned 433 cals. I found this shocking. I've been WAY overestimating my numbers for years now. Anyone else have a similar experience ?

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  • donrdon
    donrdon Posts: 216 Member
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    Yea, I have a Garmin 610 and am seeing about the same numbers. Approximately 6miles, 60minutes and an average heart rate of 155 got me a reading of 515cal. If you were to punch in the time and aprox. speed of your run on this site you would see quite an inflated number of calories. I find the Garmin very consistent in the numbers it gives me. I'd recommend trusting in your 410. (better accuracy and better to under-estimate than over-estimate your calories)
  • trail_rnr
    trail_rnr Posts: 337 Member
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    Yep. And I think the 410 is one of those that "gets to know you" as well. The more efficient you are, the less you burn. Kind of sucks when you finish a hard workout and then see that low number, huh? I suspect you have it programmed for "life long athlete" in the setup (=more efficient, burn less).

    That said, it's really hard to get an accurate reading because the manufacturers of fitness equipment have to develop those formulas for the masses. Everyone is different. I've found that the burn calculated by my Garmin with HR strap (310XT) seems to be accurate enough for me to stay in maintenance. If I don't wear the HR strap it overestimates the burn.
  • meghanner
    meghanner Posts: 180 Member
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    Ya, I did program it for lifelong athlete. I may swap it and see what the difference is. That being said, it may have to wait a week or so before I can work myself up to do that workout again!

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