Question about heartrate monitors and calories burned

myztic

I just got my heart rate monitor yesterday. It's a polar ft60 and so far I'm loving it but I'm confused with regard to calories burned. It says in a 40 minute elliptical session I'm burning about 300 calories whereas I think the machine says somewhere around 260. Which one is correct? Also what about the calories I would have burned sitting around doing nothing? Am I supposed to subtract that from the calories it shows? How do I figure out the calories I would have burned? Thanks!!

omid990

you're heart rate monitor is much more accurate than the machine so i would go with that number.

yes, you do have to subtract your bmr calories. in order to do that, calculate your bmr. there's a calculator under the tools section. thats the calories your body to do basic body functions. divide that number by 24. whatever this number is now, subtract it from your total calories burned for every hour of exercise.

Azdak

Your heart rate monitor is not necessarily more accurate than the machine. In any case, the difference between 300 and 260 is inconsequential. You can try to make sure your setup is as accurate as possible, but, overall, your accuracy will not be any better than that.

When it comes to calories expended, HRMs are not precision devices, even though they are often the best alternative. You just have to make sure you have the correct expectations.

If you want to subtract "resting" calories from exercise calories, multiply your body weight in kg x 1.0. That's your calories per hour at rest. Divide that number by 60 to get calories/min and then by the number of exercise minutes to estimate the "resting" component. That number is going to be fairly small, so most people don't bother doing the extra calculation to keep track of "net" exercise calories.

To get the most out of your HRM, you need to have the most accurate info in the setup. As you are using your FT60, make sure you compare your HR at the different training levels to your feelings of perceived exertion. If it feels really easy, or if your HR seems high at a comfortable level, you should manually increase your Max Heart Rate in the setup.

Also, make sure you do the little fitness test programmed into the watch. If you use machines by top manufacturers (Life Fitness, Precor), I would also try doing one of the submaximal fitness tests included in their programs and compare that number to the one the Polar determines from the rest HR fitness test. That will help give you the most accuracy in the calorie readouts.