exercise calorie counter/ hrm monitor

hadham72
hadham72 Posts: 5 Member
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi. I have recently bought one of those watch/chest strap heart rate monitors in order to measure calories burnt whilst exercising, Wondered how accurate it really its? I walk to work from my train station every morning and thats a 30 min walk at prob 3 to 3.5 miles per hour - MFP says that should be 175 calories, but my HRM monitor says approx 350 each day. In the gym a 30 min work out - the machines add up to about 350 calories, but the HRM monitor says approx 600. I am a new to all this and not sure whixch to believe or enter into MFP as my calories exercised. Any help / advice welcome !

Replies

  • drvvork
    drvvork Posts: 1,162
    I'm interested in this also... :flowerforyou:
  • stacy992
    stacy992 Posts: 8 Member
    I am very interested as well, but let me say congratulations DVork on your weight loss, every time I see a post and the weight loss it really inspires me.. Though I am pregnant I was overweight before this so I am really looking forward to having the baby and getting back on track.!:smile:
  • drvvork
    drvvork Posts: 1,162
    I am very interested as well, but let me say congratulations DVork on your weight loss, every time I see a post and the weight loss it really inspires me.. Though I am pregnant I was overweight before this so I am really looking forward to having the baby and getting back on track.!:smile:

    Thank you... it's been a downhill battle :laugh: but it's been much easier using MFP and the great people! :bigsmile:
  • ActSingMom
    ActSingMom Posts: 32 Member
    What kind of monitor? Does it know your weight? Is your weight programmed in correctly? Do you wear the chest strap walking to the train? 350 sounds about right for a 30 min. walk @ 3.5. Is your 600 count after doing weights as well? How much time elapses when it counts 600?

    I am not a personal trainer, but a fitness enthusiast who has trained for 35 years. This is a passion of mine. I have found if I wear the chest strap/monitor all day, I am misled by my count. I only wear it while exercising. Have you noticed that when you log weight training in to MyFitnessPal it doesn't account for calories? That's because it's anaerobic exercise: it doesn't burn fat while you're doing it, though the building of muscle in the long run help your body burn fat. Even though we of course burn calories, I don't count anaerobic calories because if I do and I eat the extra calories, I don't maintain my weight or lose.

    Do you know your "calorie point?" How much does your personal body need to run with minimum movement? mine is 1309. That is after my oxygen usage was assessed professionally with an absolute resting heart rate and measurement from RHR to my maximum training HR. So if I wore my monitor all day, I know it would say I burned at least 1309, more likely a lot more. But I want to eat 1309 if I have a very sedentary day and no more than 1700 no matter how much I exercise.

    I also know that my personal training zone based on oxygen usage when on the treadmill is between 160-175 beats per minute, even thought I am 54 years old. My husband's, same age and a yoga instructor, is from 145-160. This means that for me, going over 175 I stop burning fat and just burn immediate carbs/sugars - that's anaerobic. The number itself is personal, and that doesn't mean my husband is in worse shape than I: it just means that is where we both have to train to increase our fitness and fat burning ability. Working aerobically in your personal zone improves your fitness and your fat burning ability throughout the day.

    Recommendation: only wear the monitor during that walk to the train or at the gym. Don't look at the rest: it is not a training HR. When you do train aerobically, try to get your heart rate into your personal training zone. I had my training zone assessed at Lifetime Fitness. Be aware the charts on the machines were created 30 years ago and are not accurate for each individual: they are the mean.

    I hope this helps.
  • hadham72
    hadham72 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks for above info - not sure i follow it all, but yes I do wear the chest strap while walking to / from station and while exercising, but not for rest of day and check and only record the measurement when i finish the exercise not a few mins later when cooled down etc. I have programmed into it my weight and age. My time in the gym is about 40 mins at the moment per time - though trying to work up to longer . I do a few weights - say two exercises at two or three sets of 10/12 reps so most of the time is cardiovascular - treadmill, cycling, cross training, etc
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