I just got a Polar f6 HRM; help/questions

Magenta15

Still figuring out it's in and outs...

if I wore it for 24 hrs on a day where i am not excercising, then this would be my TDEE - right?
I did this and it was just under 4000 cals (3879 something to that effect) is this right?
doesn't this seem WAY too high considering that MFP puts my BMR at 1701 and TDEE at 2130 (which i know are still only approximations) did I do something wrong?

I am 27/f/210 lbs if that helps, and 5'6"

I also wore it for just an hour doing nothing (watching tv, putting supper on)... and I had 162 cals (which if you x 24 hours does match up with the number above just about)
-so does that mean when I work out, say I go to spin class and it says I burned 700 cals that hour, I would subtract the 162 to give me an approximate excercise cals of 538 to log in my diary???

I bought it with the purpose of hoping to be a bit more accurate with logging excercise so i don't over eat cals based on the estimations on here, and also to learn where my target heart rate and all that jazz is when i am working out...


any help/insight on these numbers and how to get the best use out of my HRM would be much appreciated! :flowerforyou:

parvati

I got a polar F6 for valentines day!! YAY!
So i totally can't help you out with your question, but figured i would share....
I haven't worn it all day...i wore it for an hour while i did nothing really and burned 150 cals in an hour...
I wore it for my workout today & my cross trainer normally tells me that i burn 450 calories in an hour...i actually only burned 230 (pretty glad i wasn't eationg those excersise calories!!!!!)
I did 30 minutes of weights & burned 206 calories...i had been documenting it as 200 so that was very accurate.
When i did 30 minutes on the treadmill.... my treadmill always says i burn 300 cals in 30 minutes & i actually only burned 250.

I do not know any of the opther features yet....but i do know that i am burning 700 calories from my daily excercise when i thought i was burning 950. Its a start!!! CAn't wait to figure out more....please share if you find a new trick...lol

ambercole

your BMR is the calories that you would burn if you did nothing but lay in bed all day. I also have the polar F6 and I figured mine out by putting it on right before bed, then set my alarm for 8 hours later and when I woke up I multiplied the calories that I had burned by three to get my daily BMR.

Magenta15

your BMR is the calories that you would burn if you did nothing but lay in bed all day. I also have the polar F6 and I figured mine out by putting it on right before bed, then set my alarm for 8 hours later and when I woke up I multiplied the calories that I had burned by three to get my daily BMR.

right this I understand, so I should be correct when i am saying that the number I got wearing it for 24 hours is my TDEE...n'est pas??? :bigsmile:

l_slade

I am interested in that question as well. I got my watch a few weeks ago and wondered if wearing it all day gives me the accurate amount of burned calories

Magenta15

I got a polar F6 for valentines day!! YAY!
So i totally can't help you out with your question, but figured i would share....
I haven't worn it all day...i wore it for an hour while i did nothing really and burned 150 cals in an hour...
I wore it for my workout today & my cross trainer normally tells me that i burn 450 calories in an hour...i actually only burned 230 (pretty glad i wasn't eationg those excersise calories!!!!!)
I did 30 minutes of weights & burned 206 calories...i had been documenting it as 200 so that was very accurate.
When i did 30 minutes on the treadmill.... my treadmill always says i burn 300 cals in 30 minutes & i actually only burned 250.

I do not know any of the opther features yet....but i do know that i am burning 700 calories from my daily excercise when i thought i was burning 950. Its a start!!! CAn't wait to figure out more....please share if you find a new trick...lol

I will do! lol glad to see your 1 hour of nothingness wasn't much different from mine
I think I will also do as mentioned above and where it just for sleep and see what that gets me too
thanks for the add!:flowerforyou:

pannellkat

Tax return time and finally going to invest in an HRM but I am torn between that and the body bugg - Does a HRM tell you what calories you burned by doing nothing or simple activities of life?
I thought it only calculated calorie burn when you get up to a certain heart rate? Is it really accurate for doing nothing?

gpies

From my understanding, the HRM's are typically to be used during exercise periods (rather than all day) to give you the most accurate information on your workout. Because your body does burn at even periods of rest, it is best to use the amounts calculated during the duration of your workout. (I believe bodybugg may be a bit different however). My actual calories burned were also less than what I expected for some of the workouts I had been doing. It was frustrating at first, but now I realize what I have to do to get my heart and body working efficiently enough to burn more. I also find it difficult to then "eat" those calories. It is all a work in progress I suppose

Magenta15

to add to my info above, i wore it for just sleeping as well last night, 6 hours = 750 cals x 4 = 3000
so still thinking that can't be right? BMR of 3000 and TDEE of almost 4000, can that even be remotely right?

FrenchMob

A BMR of 3000 is definitely wrong, unless of course your a 250 lbs bodybuilder with 5% fat, then it might be plausible.

I believe you're using the HRM in a way it wasn't meant to be used, hence the bad readings. The algorithms are probably setup for the intent of wearing it during exercise, and again, they are far from 100% accurate in that department also.

aerobicgirl

i bought one and with onw insanity workout i burned 450 cal which was good. but i want to start running once the weather is better, just as a stress reliever..

acakeforawife

Agree with RVachon -- the Polar F6 is NOT meant to be worn all day! It only gives 'accurate' readings for activity. (And even then, there is still a margin of error.) Use the BMR that MFP gives you, and use the HRM only to calculate your actual exercise calories. I have found this to be a pretty accurate way of doing things (at least for me -- down 80lbs now! )

Magenta15

Agree with RVachon -- the Polar F6 is NOT meant to be worn all day! It only gives 'accurate' readings for activity. (And even then, there is still a margin of error.) Use the BMR that MFP gives you, and use the HRM only to calculate your actual exercise calories. I have found this to be a pretty accurate way of doing things (at least for me -- down 80lbs now! )

ok seen. bad me lol....SO.... when wearing it for a workout, so for instance I just did 30 min of eeliptical on my lunch break and it told me 320 cals...do i log all 320 excercise cals, or should i be subtracting an approximation of what i would normally be burning for that half hour ????

I know i know i tend to make these things more complicated for myself:ohwell:

thumper44

ok seen. bad me lol....SO.... when wearing it for a workout, so for instance I just did 30 min of eeliptical on my lunch break and it told me 320 cals...do i log all 320 excercise cals, or should i be subtracting an approximation of what i would normally be burning for that half hour ????

I know i know i tend to make these things more complicated for myself:ohwell:

I've had a Polar F6 for almost 1 year now - Works great.

I can't speak for everyone, but most people including myself, just take the Calories burned on the HRM -
The amount that you would want to subtract isn't very much, and most don't worry about it.
For yours (1701/24 per hour / 2 for 30 mins) = 35 calories


Note: I've burned twice the calories that my Wii tells me.
It will say I burned 200 and my HRM said I burned 400 cals. I'm burning 750-800 calories in an hour.
Of course I'm believing my HRM, as it knows how hard I'm working out, and what my max heartbeat was.

Added Note:
Make sure all your settings are correct.
Sex, age, weight, height.
Also, max Heartrate, rested heartrate and VO2.

Anybody had any luck in transferring the data to the Polartrainer website?

Magenta15

ok seen. bad me lol....SO.... when wearing it for a workout, so for instance I just did 30 min of eeliptical on my lunch break and it told me 320 cals...do i log all 320 excercise cals, or should i be subtracting an approximation of what i would normally be burning for that half hour ????

I know i know i tend to make these things more complicated for myself:ohwell:

I've had a Polar F6 for almost 1 year now - Works great.

I can't speak for everyone, but most people including myself, just take the Calories burned on the HRM -
The amount that you would want to subtract isn't very much, and most don't worry about it.

I've burned twice the calories that my Wii tells me.
It will say I burned 200 and my HRM said I burned 400 cals. I'm burning 750-800 calories in an hour.

Of course I'm believing my HRM, as it knows how hard I'm working out, and what my max heartbeat was.

awesome! thanks!

AwMyLoLo

I wish they would give you a better explanation of what they do in the books that come with them! I just got a Timex HRM and am still trying to figure it out.

The only think I know is - Yes, subtract what you would typically burn in the amount of time that you exercised. Ie: HRM says 600 cals burned enter it 450.

I would really like more input on this also.

acakeforawife

My general approach, on the question of whether to count the full calories reported on the HRM or to minus what I would have burned in that hour anyway, is this:

I go with the 'as is' calories if I've been working out for less than one hour, and if it's one hour or more, I do minus a few calories (usually 50 per hour).

hope that helps!

Magenta15

My general approach, on the question of whether to count the full calories reported on the HRM or to minus what I would have burned in that hour anyway, is this:

I go with the 'as is' calories if I've been working out for less than one hour, and if it's one hour or more, I do minus a few calories (usually 50 per hour).

hope that helps!

Thanks!