Accuracy of Calories burned Using HRM

oeagleo

I have a Polar FT7 HRM, that shows the calories that were burned during an exercise session, and I'm assuming it's calculated from the heartrate vs. body weight, time, etc. I'd like to know just how accurate these devices really are. I believe they're more accurate than either the treadmill, or MFP, but an hour of weight training says that I've burned (varies) between 600-700 calories. I'm good with that, but wonder is that an accurate calculation?
Does anyone know exactly HOW these devices calculate calorie burn?
THanks
Steve

eduardoschoen

I would like to know as well. I have the Polar RS300X. I did the Calorie Point and Cardio Point metabolic assessments at Lifetime Fitness to find out my BMR and various thresholds (aerobic, anaerobic, etc). After the test, the technician set-up my watch to match my test results. I have noticed that the calorie burn using my watch at times is less than the burned calories calculation in MFP. However, at this point in my program I am leaning towards being conservative.

chivalryder

I've read that there is a variation of up to 8% at low activity, and 16% at more intense activity.

This test was done on an elite athlete where they knew his exact Max HR (not calculated) and had him hooked up to a bunch of medical devices.

Now, is it more accurate them MFP's system? you betcha.

Can you get any more accurate for using while working out? Not unless you want to fork out a ridiculous amount of cash. Even then, I'm not sure if it's possible.

Keep in mind, then numbers you start with before you even do any exercise is just an estimate. Your BMR is an estimate, multiplying it by 1.2 is just an estimate. The idea is to get within the ballpark for how much you should be eating. I wouldn't worry about the little numbers.

dad106

HRM's when used correctly(IE all info and steady state cardio) are going to be 80% accurate.

Unfortunately, they are not accurate for strength training at all because there are just too many variables to predict while lifting. Plus when you do arm work, it makes it look like your heart rate is higher because of the pressure of lifting.. and that will also skew the numbers.

You can log it, but I wouldn't eat all of them back.. I'd only eat back a portion unless you were really hungry.

greedygirl118

I don't know the answer, but I wore my HRM for the first time the other day, and the calories burned almost exactly corresponded to the MFP calculator, which I thought was pretty amazing!