Extended Workout Calories - Help!

Aliciaaah

Okay guys, what do you think..

Every Friday I do gymnastics. This is like, stretching, handstands, back handsprings, front handsprings, trying to learn/get my front flips, things like that. I'll dabble around and practice things I know, and then also try for things I want to get. I stay there for about 3-4 hours but I'm not just training the whole time. I'll take breathers, sometimes I'll just stand there and watch the others do their tricks, I'll take a break to eat a snack, etc. (Think about it like playing a pickup game and shooting hoops or playing catch outside for 4 hours with a friend, active and training, but not overly vigorous the whole time)

When I wear my HRM the whole time it says I burn anywhere from 500-900 calories. Today it said 925, which is the most it's ever said. That's a whole buttload.

Sometimes I pause my HRM during longer breaks, and sometimes the transmitter thing clicks out and I don't notice for a while, so it won't read my heart rate and I'll have to stop it and start it again to get it to work.

Up until now I've been logging whatever my HRM says I burned minus my TDEE for those hours, but it still seems overly high, and it's a lot of calories to eat back.

My lowest resting heart rate is somewhere around 50, and if I'm just standing around it'll sit somewhere around 80-90. During a light walk it gets up to maybe 105, and the highest I can get it up these days is about 170. That being said, when I look down, at any time my heart rate will be somewhere between 97 and 150.

What would you do as far as logging and eating back?

Mokey41

I'd only log the time it says you were in the "fat burning zone" because if you're just standing around those calories aren't accurate. HRM's are set mathematically to only be correct at an elevated HR.

Aliciaaah

I'd only log the time it says you were in the "fat burning zone" because if you're just standing around those calories aren't accurate. HRM's are set mathematically to only be correct at an elevated HR.

Well, because the "fat burning zone" is actually a somewhat low range, it says that I was in that zone for 1 hour 47 minutes, and in the fitness zone for 30 minutes. The whole session was 2 hours 17 minutes. So it all adds up that I was in the fat burn zone or higher the whole time.

Today's session I had a HR report that said 210 cals burned for 1 hour 8 minutes (this session didn't read a lot of my heart rate cuz the transmitter popped off) and another report right after that was 715 calories for 2 hours 17 minutes.

Aliciaaah

Bump - anyone else?

DopeItUp

There's no way to know. The HRM is only going to measure steady state cardio somewhat accurately. I'd take the amount of time you have an elevated heart rate ("fitness zone" or whatever you called it) and enter that under gymnastics and you'd probably have a rough estimate.

It doesn't really matter anyway, judge it by your weight loss. If you're set to lose 1lb a week and you're only losing .5, you're probably overestimating the workout calories. Adjust accordingly.