Calories burned seems way high on Polar FT7

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OlsenG318
OlsenG318 Posts: 37
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all, I just got my FT7 the other day & wore it while I ran on the elliptical today. I put in all my user info correctly and double checked it. For 45 minutes on the elliptical it says 897 calories burned, average heart rate 180. The heart rate seems about right to me, i checked my pulse a couple times while running. But the calories burned seems extremely high to me. Thoughts?

edited to add: This was my first time ever on an elliptical. The machine's # for calories burned was 550 but it doesn't allow inputs for height, weight, age, etc...or a heart rate monitor.

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  • OlsenG318
    OlsenG318 Posts: 37
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    bump

    nobody has input?
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    It sounds right to me. When my heart rate hits around 180 I am giving it my all and feeling like I'm going to die, and that's where I really scorch calories. I never have an average HR of 180 for a workout though, because I can't sustain that level of work for too long. Maybe your max heart rate isn't set right on your HRM? You can do a search for Max HR threads and people explain how to figure out what your max HR is and set it on your Polar so your calories burned are more accurate.
  • OlsenG318
    OlsenG318 Posts: 37
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    It automatically programmed in 193 for my max HR which should be right i suppose if the 220-age formula is desirable. Subtracting my BMR for that time drops my # to 835 cals which still seems high to me.
  • ShaunaLaNee
    ShaunaLaNee Posts: 188 Member
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    That's sound correct for that heart rate!
  • PrincessGlitterTush
    PrincessGlitterTush Posts: 388
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    sounds right to me.. i burned 330 today for 25 mins of cycling.. my average hr was about 140 ish...


    its definately possible :)
  • kaileyjurk
    kaileyjurk Posts: 3
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    If you were truly at 180 bpm the whole time, that probably is correct. Max HR is 220 minus your age, so you are working out at pretty close to max exertion if you manage to keep it at 180 the whole time. When I do elliptical at about 75-80% of my max HR I burn about 100 cals/10 minutes so it seems to be about right.
  • glenette1
    glenette1 Posts: 140 Member
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    I have the Polar FT7 as well and I usually think it's a little under. My experience on the elliptical is that it runs about 40 calories less for 45 minutes than the machine calorie counter at the gym. Our gym has Cybex machines that allow height and weight input as well as syncing with your HRM. Cybex machines are pretty accurate for elliptical (research based) so I tend to go with the machine count for the Cybex elliptical, treadmill, and bicycle. However, mine are never off by more than 30-45 calories between the two. I agree that you should check your entered data to make sure you HRmax is being calculated correctly. An average HR of 180 sounds high to me as well for the elliptical. I would expect 180 more from something like Insanity so your connection may be off. Try cleaning the attachments.
  • eatrainsmile
    eatrainsmile Posts: 220 Member
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    It sounds right to me too. Average heart rate 180, duration 45 mins, you should be burning more than 800 calories. Nothing wrong with that. My max hearth rate is 173 (what the HRM calculates). I burn 800 calories in 1 hour when my average hearth rate is 170.
  • OlsenG318
    OlsenG318 Posts: 37
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    If you were truly at 180 bpm the whole time, that probably is correct. Max HR is 220 minus your age, so you are working out at pretty close to max exertion if you manage to keep it at 180 the whole time. When I do elliptical at about 75-80% of my max HR I burn about 100 cals/10 minutes so it seems to be about right.

    It's possible I guess, there were only a few times when I thought I could really push harder than I already was. I'll try again this week and see if it's repeatable.
  • OlsenG318
    OlsenG318 Posts: 37
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    UPDATE: Tried again this morning with the HRM. Doing the same speed/resistance as last time, my heart rate was reading pretty high (187+bpm) the first few minutes then started reading crazy high (232bpm) even after I stopped completely. Checked my pulse & it was maybe 160 at that point.

    Sooo...I adjusted the strap so the transmitter rides at the bottom of my sternum (about 2-3 inches lower than before) and within a few seconds it began reading in the 140's, which matched my pulse. Finished my workout without any more crazy readings. My average heart rate after repositioning the transmitter was 175. Pushing as hard as I could, I could break into the 190's but could never sustain anything over 182'ish for more than a minute. Hopefully the new position continues to work. Could just be too much interference as my ipod & the machine's electronics are also right there at chest level.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Glad you got that figured out! Make sure you follow the directions in the user's guide regarding cleaning and wetting the strap and all that. If you no longer have your guide, you can get a PDF on the Polar website.
  • OlsenG318
    OlsenG318 Posts: 37
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    Glad you got that figured out! Make sure you follow the directions in the user's guide regarding cleaning and wetting the strap and all that. If you no longer have your guide, you can get a PDF on the Polar website.

    Just downloaded the PDF. Thanks!

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