Questions for you HRM experts

megleo818
megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I wore my husband's Polar HRM the other night on a walk with our dogs. I had set the watch with my sex, weight and age. Then walked for 40 minutes at 3 mph (husband was wearing gps watch, so that was accurate). Afterwards the thing told me I'd burned a whopping TWELVE (12) calories. Yeah, right.

Here are my questions: Could this be because I have a really low resting heart rate (like 48)? And, if so, is there any way to get around this issue so I get accurate calories-burned readings? The heart-rate reading itself does seem accurate, but it appears that if my rate doesn't get above 90 (which it only does on hills), I get no "credit".

Any info appreciated. Thanks!

Replies

  • cbeutler
    cbeutler Posts: 667 Member
    I have to wet my strap to get good readings, I can also set vo2 max manually if I have a test done. I would just try it again sometimes they are flaky.
  • _CowgirlUp_
    _CowgirlUp_ Posts: 585 Member
    There's something wrong with the HRM. I'd check the batteries first.

    No way did you walk 3 mph for 40 min. and only burn 12 calories. Is the strap on snug? It needs to have good contact with your skin. Did you wet the strips before you put on the strap (not the watch but the strap that goes around your sternum?)
  • Shayztar
    Shayztar Posts: 415 Member
    I'm not an expert, but I would think that it's possible that the sensor slipped and didn't read the whole time. Or you punched your info in wrong. Like that you were 1 foot tall or something. I would think that even at 48 bmp you would burn more than 12 cals in 40 minutes while moving. Chances are, you should burn more than that in 40 minutes if you were in a coma, resting heart rate or no.
  • Jfearn64
    Jfearn64 Posts: 353 Member
    No that is not right. Does it have a chest strap? If so did you wet it before you started? If it is not wet enough, it won't work right. It needs the moisture to be able to detect the heart rate accurately. What brand/model is it?
  • mocha106
    mocha106 Posts: 64 Member
    Did you take the fitness test so that the HRM knows your resting HR? If your husband took the test, the HRM was calculating his resting HR with your activity.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I burn 5 calories per minute just sitting on the couch.

    My first thought would be the wetting too. If the contacts are dry they can't read.
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
    First, it's probably the batteries or poor connection (did you wet the band, was it tight on your chest?).

    Second, my HRM is set to my height and weight -- so it calculates calorie burn accurately. So, if your husband is a lot larger than you, combined with the low heart rate -- it could produce some whacky results.
  • scrapfrfun
    scrapfrfun Posts: 47
    Did you check to make sure it was registering before you walked and during your walking? Mine flaked out on me yesterday while I was walking and it probably didn't record 3/4 of my walk.....I just took my estimate of what I have done before. As others have said make sure the underneath part of the contacts are wet if they are not registering. Then try it again......
  • LovePBandJ
    LovePBandJ Posts: 288 Member
    You do have to wet the strap. If it doesn't have contact it would count your calorie burn. Also, make sure the strap is sized to fit you properly. I have had mine too tight and it didn't read my HR.

    HRMs are a great tool!

    Enjoy yours :-)
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    It's not an issue with it reading my heart rate. It did read throughout the walk -- I checked it a lot -- and I've used it at the gym and gotten plausible readings when my heart rate has been high. I do believe it doesn't register a "burn" unless my HR is above 90, which doesn't occur while walking ...
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    Totally on the coma thing. I did crack me up when I read the results -- like what? -- if I take a nap it's the same as eating a cheeseburger??
  • Takarameri
    Takarameri Posts: 152 Member
    Did you take the fitness test so that the HRM knows your resting HR? If your husband took the test, the HRM was calculating his resting HR with your activity.

    Probably this.
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    I think I'll try it again tonight, just for laughs. Thanks for all your replies! To respond to the most common answers, I DID wet the contact before I put it on, I DID enter my data correctly (overwrote the hubby's) and it DID appear to read continuously during the walk -- it got the number of minutes right, so it must have.

    Weird.
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    I'm not an expert, but I would think that it's possible that the sensor slipped and didn't read the whole time. Or you punched your info in wrong. Like that you were 1 foot tall or something. I would think that even at 48 bmp you would burn more than 12 cals in 40 minutes while moving. Chances are, you should burn more than that in 40 minutes if you were in a coma, resting heart rate or no.

    Totally on the coma thing. It did crack me up when I read the results -- like what? -- if I take a nap it's the same as eating a cheeseburger??

    (sorry for double post -- forgot to hit the "quote" thingie)
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    Did you take the fitness test so that the HRM knows your resting HR? If your husband took the test, the HRM was calculating his resting HR with your activity.

    Probably this.

    I don't think the model we have has this feature. I'll investigate -- thanks!
  • likemeinvisible
    likemeinvisible Posts: 309
    I don't know about polar but my hrm (sigma rc 14.11) does the same, no count for hr lower than 100. Like you I am too trained for my heart rate to go high enough unless I am walking as fast as I can, uphill.
    At your weight, walking doesn't burn much anyway so go with the mfp calculation and use the polar for the more intense activities.
  • iAMsmiling
    iAMsmiling Posts: 2,394 Member
    I use a conductive cream with my HRM. Before I did, even with wetting, it was sometimes several minutes before the heart rate became reliable.

    http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/buh-bump.html?productid=buh-bump&channelid=FROOG&utm_source=CSEs&utm_medium=GoogleShopping&utm_campaign=heartratemonitorsusa&gclid=CIGAnsvIx7ICFWjhQgodp0wAsw
  • LifeIsNotADressRehearsal
    LifeIsNotADressRehearsal Posts: 745 Member
    Bump
  • wendymaci
    wendymaci Posts: 61 Member
    Every once in awhile my chest strap isnt snug or wet and if you look at the watch you'll see a 0 where your heart rate shows up. A few times it's been fine and part way through my workout I'll notice it says 0. If it says 0 it will be recording nothing. Keep an eye on that number and make sure your heart rate is showing up.
  • mocha106
    mocha106 Posts: 64 Member
    For all of you who wear a Polar HRM, they have a new chest strap that does not require you to wet it before use. I bought it after my old strap stopped working.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    I wore my husband's Polar HRM the other night on a walk with our dogs. I had set the watch with my sex, weight and age. Then walked for 40 minutes at 3 mph (husband was wearing gps watch, so that was accurate). Afterwards the thing told me I'd burned a whopping TWELVE (12) calories. Yeah, right.

    Here are my questions: Could this be because I have a really low resting heart rate (like 48)? And, if so, is there any way to get around this issue so I get accurate calories-burned readings? The heart-rate reading itself does seem accurate, but it appears that if my rate doesn't get above 90 (which it only does on hills), I get no "credit".

    Any info appreciated. Thanks!

    There is no credit. The only credit is less calories. Exercise calories really don't get you much even when you work out as hard as I do. I ignore exercise calories. They mean nothing unless you get really lean, and then all you have to do eat little more protein or something at the end of the day if you are still hungry. But it really does not matter unless you get to 12% BF or under.

    Eat less to lose
    Exercise to make lean body mass

    separate the two and you are golden.
  • mary_kate23
    mary_kate23 Posts: 156
    also, HRMs are for cardio exercise.. anything abover 120 really. your best bet is to log walking for 3mph for 40 mins in the MFP database. sounds like something's wrong with the HRM as well, but HRMs also aren't designed for casual walks. :) maybe invest in a fitbit! that'll give you a more accurate calorie burn for the whole day.

Categories