Heart rate monitor

hart1028
hart1028 Posts: 22
in Food and Nutrition
How reliable is a heart rate monitor for counting calories? it is registering the heart rate correctly, and said for a 80 min work out I burned 1500 calories. I dont want tto eat those calories if it is not correct....and MFP has my base calories set at 1200....hmmm that doesnt seem right?

Replies

  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    1500 calories for an 80 min workout is insane. are the batteries fresh? do you have a chest strap?
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    I would normally say trust the HRM but that seems extremely high. What type of monitor is it? Did you set it all up with your personal data? What exercise were you doing?
  • LittleMissNerdy
    LittleMissNerdy Posts: 792 Member
    What kind of HRM is it? What kind of workout was it?
  • hart1028
    hart1028 Posts: 22
    it seemed crazy to me too...I did a 30 minute spin bike workout made up by me basically alot of hill work. Then I idid a 300 ab work out and a 3x circuit push ups lunges squats jumping jacks wall sits

    its a Pyle HRM and yes I set it to my personal settings
  • LittleMissNerdy
    LittleMissNerdy Posts: 792 Member
    Does it have a chest strap?

    I found this via Google.:

    http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/caloriesburned/spinning

    What does that give you for the spin portion?
  • hart1028
    hart1028 Posts: 22
    Does it have a chest strap?

    I found this via Google.:

    http://www.self.com/calculatorsprograms/calculators/caloriesburned/spinning

    What does that give you for the spin portion?

    Yes it does have a chest strap. According to your link I burned 557 calories for the spinning...the HRM said I burned 635. Pretty close. I went back and checked my setting in th HRM and the VO2 setting was way wrong. Wonder if that could do it?
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    yes, that would do it, because it's estimating that you're processing oxygen much differently than you actually are which affects your calorie burn. fix it and try it again for a few days.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    What kind do you have? I have the Polar FT7. I always eat back ALL of the calories I earn and I haven't had a problem with weight loss yet. Whatever kind you have....make sure it has a chest strap.
  • hart1028
    hart1028 Posts: 22
    yes, that would do it, because it's estimating that you're processing oxygen much differently than you actually are which affects your calorie burn. fix it and try it again for a few days.

    I will try it again tomorrow...I am going to change my calories burned for today to 1000. I think that is more inline with what I actually burned
  • tturley
    tturley Posts: 73 Member
    I think this is pretty accurate. It & MFP come close to matching most of the time.

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm
  • 4_Lisa
    4_Lisa Posts: 362 Member
    1500 calories for an 80 min workout is insane. are the batteries fresh? do you have a chest strap?
    Depends on how intense the workout was. I quite often burn 1000 -1400 in a 60 min circuit session if I don't stop moving and keep my heartrate up
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
    That seems crazy high. Definitely try again when your VO2 is right. X
  • Phrakman
    Phrakman Posts: 113
    1500 calories for an 80 min workout is insane. are the batteries fresh? do you have a chest strap?
    Depends on how intense the workout was. I quite often burn 1000 -1400 in a 60 min circuit session if I don't stop moving and keep my heartrate up

    Wow you must be some sort of pro athlete.

    Most people can only max out at 10cal/min for sustained activity.
  • lorenzoinlr
    lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
    I think this is pretty accurate. It & MFP come close to matching most of the time.

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

    This serves as a good reality check for those who rely on HRM's to estimate calories burned. Remember the HRM isn't actually measuring burned calories, it relies on an algorithm approach which sometimes works well and sometimes doesn't.

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