what to believe? HRM or eliptical

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rnmommy
rnmommy Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was wondering...my eliptical calculates calories burned when I work out and i thought it was accurate b/c it senses my HR. Well I just got a polar f6 hrm for my birthday and decided to wear it and see if it correlated with the cals burned. It didn't my eliptical said i burned off 40 more cals than the f6, so what am i supposed to go by?

Replies

  • LivyJo
    LivyJo Posts: 355 Member
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    I always go by my heart rate monitor. I was working out last night on an elliptical, and it said I had burned 450 calories in 30 minutes, and my Polar F7 said 300. Big difference! The heart rate monitor is more accurate bc it knows information about you personally (if you set it up w/ your weight, age, etc) and it is keeping track of the beats of your heart, and then uses that information to calculate how many calories you actually burn.
  • rnmommy
    rnmommy Posts: 16 Member
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    i input my weight and age in my eliptical so shouldn't it be more accurate?
  • lt_mrcook
    lt_mrcook Posts: 389 Member
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    If it's only a 40 calorie difference, it doesn't matter. I'd say pick the low number, and bank what might be extra calories in the I'm gonna lose extra this week file. If it's a BIG difference, use the number that takes into account more of your personal information to calculate calories burned as it will be more accurate.
    Be careful if you use the HRM in a gym, as they can get interference from others and it throws the numbers way off (and not always in the same direction).
  • lunglady
    lunglady Posts: 526 Member
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    Not the d*mn heart rate monitor again..........
  • LivyJo
    LivyJo Posts: 355 Member
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    i input my weight and age in my eliptical so shouldn't it be more accurate?

    That info isn't in your HRM? I still think the HRM is more accurate bc you have a strap around your chest keeping track of your beating heart (at least on the F7).
  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
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    Your HRM only synchs up with the heart-rate on the machine and not calories burned. Ellipticals aren't as well calibrated as your HRM. I was wearing my HRM on the elliptical yesterday and got major spikes on the HRM on the machine...due to interference from another machine/person/ etc... Bottom line, trust your HRM.
  • jowily
    jowily Posts: 189 Member
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    Does your elliptical also ask for your height and sex? I know my HRM does - and therefore I think it's more customized to my body. Also - my heart zones are loaded - which indicate the amount of burn at different levels. I have always used my HRM over a machine. How does your elliptical know your HR? Is it by putting your hands on it somewhere and holding a sensor? I guess it depends on your HRM - but since my strap is on my chest right below my heart I think it's a bit more accurate (the only way to know is to compare the readout of HR throughout your exercise - I know I can sync my Polar up to the PC and read out my HR through out the entire exercise. )

    Just a couple of thougths.
  • sssrip
    sssrip Posts: 72
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    If it does not track your heart rate the entire time you are working out then it is just estimating the number of cal burned.
  • rnmommy
    rnmommy Posts: 16 Member
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    my eliptical reads my HR from my chest strap...my eliptical is in my house so no interference but you do have a point about the height and gender..only that is in my HRM. I did count only the cals burned that were on my F6 so i'll just go with that.. Thanks for the input everyone!
  • skaal006
    skaal006 Posts: 16
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    I have a Polar F7 too and was wondering how you wash your strap? I rinse it after every use but it takes 20 minutes to read my HR once I put it on. I read that you should wash it in the washing machine after every 5th use, so i tried it last night and hope it works today!
  • kelli_panzera
    kelli_panzera Posts: 171
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    HRM! Everyone is not the same. Say you put in your info and you and a friend (who happen to be exactly the same size, weight, etc) are working out. She is very athletic, and her heart rate may not get as high as yours...even though you're doing the exact same workout, your bodies are still different. Go with the HRM. The machines are just giving you a general idea, not an exact, correct reading.
  • LivyJo
    LivyJo Posts: 355 Member
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    I have a Polar F7 too and was wondering how you wash your strap? I rinse it after every use but it takes 20 minutes to read my HR once I put it on. I read that you should wash it in the washing machine after every 5th use, so i tried it last night and hope it works today!

    I've never washed mine in the machine, just hand wash w/ some soap. I wash after my workout so I dont put it back on till the next day so I haven't noticed if there is a delay. I would worry about putting it in the machine just because I wouldn't want those sensor thingys to hit the sides of the machine and effect their efficiency. Thats just me though.

    Are you making sure that the Polar logo is upright when you put the strap around? I noticed if its not upright (meaning that you could read it if someone was looking at you) then it takes a while to register my heartbeat.
  • ilovecoffee
    ilovecoffee Posts: 9 Member
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    Try dunking the electrode parts in water. They have to be wet in order to work. This seems to work for me.
  • TCASMEY
    TCASMEY Posts: 1,405 Member
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    When my hrm gets slow in picking up the heart rate it is usually a sign the battery in getting low in the chest strap!
  • pannellkat
    pannellkat Posts: 709 Member
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    Not the d*mn heart rate monitor again..........

    lol! This made me giggle
  • skaal006
    skaal006 Posts: 16
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    I have a Polar F7 too and was wondering how you wash your strap? I rinse it after every use but it takes 20 minutes to read my HR once I put it on. I read that you should wash it in the washing machine after every 5th use, so i tried it last night and hope it works today!

    I've never washed mine in the machine, just hand wash w/ some soap. I wash after my workout so I dont put it back on till the next day so I haven't noticed if there is a delay. I would worry about putting it in the machine just because I wouldn't want those sensor thingys to hit the sides of the machine and effect their efficiency. Thats just me though.

    Are you making sure that the Polar logo is upright when you put the strap around? I noticed if its not upright (meaning that you could read it if someone was looking at you) then it takes a while to register my heartbeat.

    Ok thanks for the advice. Yeah, I do always make sure it is upright....it's just frusturating when you spend good money on a HRM and it stops working correctly! It worked great for the first month I had it, and now I am having issues with it for the first 20 to 30 minutes.
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
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    I have a Polar F7 too and was wondering how you wash your strap? I rinse it after every use but it takes 20 minutes to read my HR once I put it on. I read that you should wash it in the washing machine after every 5th use, so i tried it last night and hope it works today!

    I've never washed mine in the machine, just hand wash w/ some soap. I wash after my workout so I dont put it back on till the next day so I haven't noticed if there is a delay. I would worry about putting it in the machine just because I wouldn't want those sensor thingys to hit the sides of the machine and effect their efficiency. Thats just me though.

    Are you making sure that the Polar logo is upright when you put the strap around? I noticed if its not upright (meaning that you could read it if someone was looking at you) then it takes a while to register my heartbeat.

    Ok thanks for the advice. Yeah, I do always make sure it is upright....it's just frusturating when you spend good money on a HRM and it stops working correctly! It worked great for the first month I had it, and now I am having issues with it for the first 20 to 30 minutes.

    Which is why I got a Reebok XT instead of a Polar. :bigsmile:
  • xonophone
    xonophone Posts: 474 Member
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    The Polar F6 has an option called OwnZone, where you can set it up to your specific heart rate during warm up, exercise and cooldown. I haven't set mine up yet, in fact I plan on doing it over the weekend, but I am assuming it will be more accurate than just the standard age/weight/predicted formulas. At any rate, I go with the values on my HRM rather than what's on the machine or the MFP database, even though it is usually less. I take it to mean I am just more aerobically fit than the average woman of my age and weight so it takes more work to get my heartrate up :).

    The handheld monitors on the machines are not as accurate anyway because they are taking the pulse from your hand, which is the farthest point away from your heart and therefore less accurate then the chest strap which is directly over your heart.

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