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Heart rate monitor pros/cons

sunshinestate
sunshinestate Posts: 110 Member
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I just invested in a heart monitor with a chest band, and while I absolutely love it, I am so bummed at the calorie count! It is great for making me aware of how hard I am working. As a result, I have really been pushing myself harder.

But the bad side is I thought for sure my intense exercise was burning more that the heart rate monitor tells me. For instance, running/walking (high intensity intervals) are only burning about 250 calories for a 35 minute session. I would imagine these things are pretty accurate since they are based on your height/weight and exact heart rate. Anyone else discouraged by their heart rate monitor calorie count?

Oh yeah, and according to the monitor, MFP calorie count for exercise are way off. I have had to enter my exercise very carefully to make sure I don't end up with too many exercise calories.

Replies

  • fiendiish
    fiendiish Posts: 186
    The more weight you lose and the more cardio you are able to tolerate at a lower heart rate will affect your calorie burn. The lighter you are, the less calories you burn at a particular exercise than someone who is heavier.

    I've found that MFP exercises are off too...but for me...they showed I was not burning enough...I was essentially cheating myself. My HRM says I burn appx 100+ calories more than MFP says I do at any activity. Some people will tell you to subtract your hourly BMR from your calorie burn....but research and advice from others have convinced me that that is completely unnecessary.
  • AnnieeR
    AnnieeR Posts: 229
    I'm about to buy a HRM and I'm a bit nervous what it's going to tell me if I'm honest! But I'm losing at the rate that I think I should be, so I'm assuming that my formula is close. I use the calorie counter on the treadmill but I'm very careful to enter my weight and age before I start because that definitely makes a difference. Then I subtract 10% from the final count because I don't trust that it's completely accurate.
  • Avandel
    Avandel Posts: 283 Member
    I was also disappointed when I got my Polar & also noticed how way off MFP's counts & other sites were. Everyone burns cals differently, age, starting weight, etc & I can understand being out by a few cals but in most cases by 200-400 ??????????? I have the watch set up properly but only burn 127 cals doing 20 Min Turbo Jam & I'm keeping up with Chalene! For 30 mins of yoga I burn 138 cals, or I can go for a moderate walk for 40 mins & burn 175 cals. Umm! which one should I do????

    I do bikram yoga for 75 mins & burn 479 cals but other sites have it listed as 1100+ based on my information ....

    So folks be careful about eating back all your cals if you aren't using a good HRM, you just might be overeating without knowing it.

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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • Sandeee
    Sandeee Posts: 53 Member
    I have been using a Polar HRM for several weeks now. I am so relieved to know exactly what I am burning rather that using generic sources since we all burn calories differently. I too see my calories burned declining as I continue to lose. But that's a good thing right?
This discussion has been closed.