HRM vs Myfitness pal

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  • deejaycee114
    deejaycee114 Posts: 139 Member
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    i don't have an HRM but i'm having the same issue with iMapMyRun vs MFP, but here is a website that i use to compare "notes", and it always matches MFP. so i end up logging what MFP suggests. or if it's not in the database, i create my own exercise using the numbers from this web site.

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/calories_burned_list.asp
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
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    Does your HRM allow you to input your age, weight, height, etc? If it does then I would definitely go with that. The bigger you are and the heavier you are the more calories you burn during excercise but programs that estimate your calories burned can only do that if they have your vital statistics.

    This. My HRM also has an 'activity' setting for how often and how long I exercise in a week, and depending what that number is, along with my age/weight/height/gender, my calories number also changes.
  • dbowman70
    dbowman70 Posts: 1
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    You will need to ensure that you are using your HRM provided it has the chest strap; plus watch out for some that have specific calculations for calories based on HR. They are not all created equally.

    My HRM consistently shows my calories less than MFP by 150 to 200 on a 5km run. I have been following the food from MFP and only the calories burned from exercise from my HRM and the right amount of weight is lost each week.
  • MsDivineM
    MsDivineM Posts: 48
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    What kind of HRM do you have? Does it have a chest stap? We are about the same weight and i am a few inches shorter and walk every day. Usually 5 miles and at a speed of 3.3MPH. I typically end up burning between 300 - 600 calories for around 100 minute long walk. Depending on the amount of hills I do that day. My heart rate stays in the 130s for most of the walk. Everyone is very different. I tend to have a pretty low heart rate to begin with. I have a polar FT4. Only other thing is, why are your friends being so negitive? They are suppose to be supportive. Its hard enough to stay motivated and stay positive without someone always telling you are wrong!
  • sexikc
    sexikc Posts: 153 Member
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    Im glad you posted this...one of my MFP friends was just talkin about this and someone said something about outlandish numbers and the HRM is better when hers is always lower....and yours is higher, interesting...I would likely use my HRM number becasue it should be my specific to what I am doing...but the average is a good idea too...
  • LittleMissRainey
    LittleMissRainey Posts: 440 Member
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    I'm 5ft 6in and about 213lbs. On a 50 minute walk, roughly 3.8mph my heart rate is 140-160 the entire way and my HRM says I burn 810-860 calories .

    My heart rate tends to be quite high anyway (at work it's rarely below 70, and I have a desk job) so in any given day I burn 2500-3500 just by existing, before exercise, depending on my stress levels that day lol.

    I think it's entirely possible your HRM is correct and I'd go with that.

    Edit: my HRM has a chest strap, inputted details for height, weight, age, gender etc. And I don't eat all those calories.
  • Chipmaniac
    Chipmaniac Posts: 642 Member
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    I would probably record a little less than what your HRM recorded. The reason is that the HRM's formula has to use a model and that model is based on the average human. Heart rate is simply correlated strongly with energy expenditure. People with low basal heart rate or high basal heart rate are going to throw off the calculation.

    For example, now that I'm fit, my HRM reports quite a bit less calories simply because my heart rate is significantly lower than it used to be doing the same exercise. It is true that my body has become more efficient at exertion and thus truly is using less energy, but I don't think the drop in energy expenditure is as dramatic as the HRM claims it is. In your case it may be the opposite with your HRM interpreting low fitness level as high muscular exertion and thus high energy expenditure

    If a person has a weak heart due to a defect etc., they will have a significantly faster heart rate while expending the same amount of energy doing something as a person with a normal heart. Yet, the monitor will record more calories for the person with the dodgy ticker. This is another example of how the HRM can be thrown off. However, for most people it's going to be the most accurate versus other types of estimates.
  • alexis831
    alexis831 Posts: 469 Member
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    Does your HRM take into account your height, age, weight and everything? MFP over estimates mine always so I manually enter mine.
  • marrizia
    marrizia Posts: 88 Member
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    I always go with what the HRM shows (has a chest strap, and figures age, height, weight, and gender.)
    I wish I burned as many calories as MFP says I do!! The HR monitor always calculates a significantly lower number.
  • marrizia
    marrizia Posts: 88 Member
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    BTW, congratulations on your progress!!!
  • JoAnn73
    JoAnn73 Posts: 161 Member
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    I just received my HRM Monday and i did the same I AVERAGE between MFP, Polar HRM and Endomando. I went with the HRM.

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