what does a hrm actually do?

xMillyLouisex
xMillyLouisex Posts: 171 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
i know this might sound a really stupid question but ive seen people raving about HRMs etc bt what do they actually do? and do u reccommend them? and how much r they, lol lots of questions! :)

Replies

  • mogletdeluxe
    mogletdeluxe Posts: 623 Member
    I have a Polar FT4, which consists of a chest strap with a transmitter, and a wristwatch which displays the calories burned (calculated by your heart rate, which is monitored by the chest strap).

    I absolutely swear by mine - just under £50 on Amazon, and worth every penny.
  • xMillyLouisex
    xMillyLouisex Posts: 171 Member
    wow i think im guna defos invest in one of those! thankyou! :)
  • deadbeatsummer
    deadbeatsummer Posts: 537 Member
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Polar-WomensFT4-Heart-Rate-Monitor/dp/B005O9JJVI/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345715394&sr=8-1-fkmr1

    I have this one. You wear the chest strap under the bottom of your bra and it picks up your heart rate which can tell you exactly how many calories you are burning.

    The watch you wear with it, or alternatively some machines at the gym with heart rate reader on it pick up this signal of heart rate wirelessly and display how hard you are working and therefore how many calories burnt exactly. They are great because MFP's estimates of calories burnt are usually way out.
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
    i live and die by my HRM. i wear a Polar FT7 and i love the damn thing. mine is a wrist watch teamed up with a chest strap. i find that the ones with a chest strap are the most accurate.

    i also have a treadmill at home and it syncs up with my HRM. works great as my treadmill displays all the info i need in front of me instead of having to look at my wrist watch all the time.

    but please take what your HRM says for the amount of calories burned with a tiny grain of salt. there is definitely margin for error. i ALWAYS enter my calories burned on MFP about 20% LESS than what my HRM says. always always always. and even on top of that, the weight i've entered on my HRM is about 3kg LESS than what i actually weigh so that's creating another deficit towards margin for error. i find that a lot of people including myself under-estimate their food calories and OVER-estimate their exercise calories. so that's why i automatically subtract 20%.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I have a Polar FT4, which consists of a chest strap with a transmitter, and a wristwatch which displays the calories burned (calculated by your heart rate, which is monitored by the chest strap).

    I absolutely swear by mine - just under £50 on Amazon, and worth every penny.

    I have the same one - $65 on myheartmonitor.com free shipping.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    HRMs measure the number of times your heart beats per minute by detecting the electrical impulse via a chest strap which then transmits that to a wrist-watch type display.

    That rate shows how hard you are working during any aerobic exercise and enables you to design your training programme to achieve your goals. It will also show you're getting fitter when the same exercise doesn't make your hart beat so quickly.

    Some monitors use algorithms to determine how many calories are burned during exercise which are more accurate than some estimates as they are based on your personal rate of work, but even then do bear in mind it is an estimate. Even the best is around 75% accurate.

    Three provisos:
    1. Calorie burns are only accurate for cardio, the heart rate spikes too much during weight training for the algorithms to work as designed.
    2. They only work during exercise, you cannot wear them all day and expect an accurate TDEE
    3. Although waterproof, they do not transmit through water so won't give you an accurate reading while swimming.

    More info on accuracy here:
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/490909-the-accuracy-of-calories-burned-in-polar-heart-rate-monitors/
  • PJ_73
    PJ_73 Posts: 331 Member
    I have a Polar FT4 also and love it!

    I think mine cost a little more, around £70.....but worth the money. Good that my calories burned are a more realistic than those on MFP or the machines in the gym!
  • flynnfinn
    flynnfinn Posts: 209 Member
    HRMs measure the number of times your heart beats per minute by detecting the electrical impulse via chest strap which then transmits that to a wrist-watch type display.

    That rate shows how hard you are working during any aerobic exercise and enables you to design your training programme to achieve your goals. It will also show you're getting fitter when the same exercise doesn't make your hart beat so quickly.

    Some monitors use algorithms to determine how many calories are burned during exercise which are more accurate than some estimates as they are based on your personal rate of work, but even then do bear in mind it is an estimate. Even the best is around 75% accurate.

    Three provisos:
    1. Calorie burns are only accurate for cardio, the heart rate spikes too much during weight training for the algorithms to work as designed.
    2. they only work during exercise, you cannot wear them all day and expect an accurate TDEE
    3. Although waterproof, they do not transmit through water so won't give you an accurate reading while swimming.

    More info on accuracy here:
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/490909-the-accuracy-of-calories-burned-in-polar-heart-rate-monitors/

    ^^THIS EXACTLY! 75% accuracy! that is why i subtract 20% off the total of calories burned from my HRM and use this revised total as my calories burned in MFP. i'd rather under-estimate my calories burned than over-estimate and end up eating too much back!!
  • genefabes
    genefabes Posts: 132
    not only does it do all of that, but I love my heart rate monitor because it motivates me to work even harder. I have the polar FT4 also and I love being able to go and look back through my burns and push myself to go harder.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I just use mine to work in the desired training zone and not exceed my maximum heart rate (....too much)
    Do get some entertainment when the treadmill next to mine also picks up my heart rate and the person on it freaks out....
  • madmickie
    madmickie Posts: 221 Member
    I just use mine to work in the desired training zone and not exceed my maximum heart rate (....too much)
    Do get some entertainment when the treadmill next to mine also picks up my heart rate and the person on it freaks out....

    how can you exceed your maximum heart rate?
  • Retrograde_Orbit
    Retrograde_Orbit Posts: 16 Member
    I think he means the recommended maximum heart rate for your age range :smile:
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    What I meant was my maximum (safe) heart rate I can/want to achieve through exercise.
    As to how to achieve that, just run fast!!

    Commonly worked out as 220 minus your age in years but obviously that is a general guideline rather than a rule.
    Based on experience / stupidity / stubbornness I exceed the guideline by a small margin for short bursts - but I'm not advocating that for anyone else before the lawyers get interested....
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    It measures heart rate, then applies a formula which estimates calories burned, assuming you are doing steady state cardio.

    They are good if used for what they are built for - say, running, cycling, or even walking.
    Not very good for strength training, and useless for just wearing all day.
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    I just use mine to work in the desired training zone and not exceed my maximum heart rate (....too much)
    Do get some entertainment when the treadmill next to mine also picks up my heart rate and the person on it freaks out....

    It's this^

    Berry's description above is spot on and answers the question that you asked, but I think maybe what you want to know if why people use them.

    Certainly a calorie burn estimate is interesting and it helps when figuring out how much you can eat when on a calorie defecit (just don't assume any HRM or other tool is spot on accurate) but main reason to use a HRM is as a training aid. There are different HR zones that affect different aspects of your fitness and a for cardio performance improvement most plans would typicaly have you train in multiple different zones during the course of a week (or even a single workout). The HRM helps you to be consistent and stick to your plan.

    It can also help you just to push a bit harder. Some days you just don't feel like you have the energy but when you look at the watch and you know you normally are going 5% higher it does spur you on to a better workout.

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