HRM's

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WRXymama
WRXymama Posts: 342 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ive been reading A LOT about HRM and how they are benefitial in the success of weightloss. PLEASE PLEASE excuse my ignorance, but how? And is there a specific one that works better or MFP friendlier than others? THANK YOU!!!

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  • WRXymama
    WRXymama Posts: 342 Member
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    ::::crickets chirping:::
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    If you are following the MFP plan, you should be eating back your exercise calories. For cardio exercise, an HRM will give you a more accurate picture of the number of calories you burn during exercise. This allows you to be more accurate in what you eat. The general entries in MFP for calories burned can be drastically over or under estimated (tends to overestimate for fit people and underestimate for unfit people, in my experience).

    I love mine and use it every time I work out.

    A good, and reliable brand is Polar. Any of the Polars will work. The FT4 is the entry level. I have the FT7 but just ordered the FT60 which has a fitness test on it to more accurately reflect your calories burned.

    If you go with another brand, make sure it has a chest strap.
  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
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    Yes, the chest strap is a must..
  • WRXymama
    WRXymama Posts: 342 Member
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    THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!
  • TKRV
    TKRV Posts: 165 Member
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    If you are following the MFP plan, you should be eating back your exercise calories. For cardio exercise, an HRM will give you a more accurate picture of the number of calories you burn during exercise. This allows you to be more accurate in what you eat. The general entries in MFP for calories burned can be drastically over or under estimated (tends to overestimate for fit people and underestimate for unfit people, in my experience).

    I love mine and use it every time I work out.

    A good, and reliable brand is Polar. Any of the Polars will work. The FT4 is the entry level. I have the FT7 but just ordered the FT60 which has a fitness test on it to more accurately reflect your calories burned.

    If you go with another brand, make sure it has a chest strap.

    I also am interested in a HRM. I looked up Polar and like what I see. Just out of curiosity, do they all track calories burned or do I need to find one that specifically says it tracks calories?

    Is there a formula used to determine how many calories have been burned over a period of time based on heart rate?
  • T1mH
    T1mH Posts: 568 Member
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    I also am interested in a HRM. I looked up Polar and like what I see. Just out of curiosity, do they all track calories burned or do I need to find one that specifically says it tracks calories?

    Is there a formula used to determine how many calories have been burned over a period of time based on heart rate?
    I think all the polar ones track calories burned but I'm not sure.

    There are some that make you do your own calculations. There are also some that do not figure your heart rate into the calculation. I'm not sure what the point of those are but I've heard of them. As far as I know the Polar ones are all good.

    I have a Zephyr HxM because I wanted one that talked bluetooth to my phone. I use the sportstracklive app. It can upload my workout live so if I'm out running or biking my wife can see where I am in real time. When I use it in the gym it can track cadence (kind of like a pedometer) so it gives me estimated distance when running on a treadmill. This is helpful later when reviewing my workouts. I don't manually record the distance the treadmill says I went. I'm techy so I like all the stuff that it tracks. Because it talks to my phone I don't have to upload the workouts when I'm done. It does mean I have to have my phone but as I always do anyway that's not a big deal. I put it in a armband holster and don't even notice it's there. I use the phone to listen to music anyway with bluetooth headphones. The app will also talk to me and tell me distance, speed, heart rate, pace, and a hundred other things if I wanted it to. When I run outside I have it set to tell me the distance every .5k.
  • Sondrasr
    Sondrasr Posts: 49
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    I just got a new hrm. It's a polar ft7(there was something wrong with my old one so best buy replaced it.). Anyway the side of the package says track calories and only ft4, ft7, ft40, and ft60 do this. Ft1 and ft2 do not. Hope this helps in deciding which one to get. I love my ft7 if that helps.
  • kmbweber2014
    kmbweber2014 Posts: 680 Member
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    Being an unfit person I found that MFP WAY underestimated my calories burned once I got a heart rate monitor. I love mine but it's not as nice as a Polar (which is what I really wanted), I ended up with a Bowflex and the chest strap is a must.
  • Gapwedge01
    Gapwedge01 Posts: 494
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    HRM like the Polar FT7 with chest strap are more accurate than the fitness apps available for your smart phones as well.
  • MisFitMom219
    MisFitMom219 Posts: 50 Member
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    Polar ft40!!

    Makes logging exercises super easy as it counts calories burned. Just be sure to update your personal information --ie weight changes & resting heart rate-- to keep it accurate (:
  • mirthfuldragon
    mirthfuldragon Posts: 124 Member
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    Ive been reading A LOT about HRM and how they are benefitial in the success of weightloss.[...] but how?

    They provide a more accurate (note: not 100% accurate) way to measure calorie expenditure. Did you burn 400 calories this session, or 600 calories? Accurate data is always helpful.

    In my own experience, I like my HRM because it gives me feedback as to how hard I'm working. It helps psychologically for me to know how much harder I can push, or if I am dogging it today, and I can adjust my workout accordingly. For example, for me, in terms of perceived exertion (or suffering), there isn't all that much difference between running at 150bpm and running at 170bpm, but from a training perspective, I am getting a much bigger benefit and calorie burn from the later. Let's say I'm on the treadmill, and I am 10 minutes into my workout, and I glance down at my HRM at 150bpm; I know I can step it up a notch. 6 laps later, I'm sitting at 168bpm, and I know that I have one or two laps left before I need to throttle down. My legs are starting to get heavy, and I'm sweating, and my breathing is growing ragged, but I know I can still push it farther. Having that objective measure is useful to me, and I can adapt my workout to where I am at, at any given point.

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