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Swimming and MFP Calculations for Calorie Burn???

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ethieman
ethieman Posts: 99 Member
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I swim 3-5 times per week, and have been suspicious of the mega high amount of calories that MFP says I burn. Case in point: Today I swam for 50 minutes (0.88 miles), I was using a plan from www.swimplan.com, and I was hustling! My Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) said I was "in the zone" for 40 of the 50 minutes with an avg heart rate of 130 (which translates to about 150 on land for me) and a calorie burn of 333. MFP tells me that I burned a whopping 769 calories!!!

I'm 11 pounds down so far in the past month and still have 119 pounds to go to give you an idea of where I'm at. I've been swimming 3 x per week, pretty religiously for four months now.

My question is, what do you all do with calorie burn for swimming? I'm planning on going to just using the HRM reading, but figured I'd ask others to weigh in on this one.

Replies

  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
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    MFP's calorie estimations for swimming are WAY off. Via an old link I got from another swimmer, I created a swimming calculator that works based on weight, length of pool etc. Here's the link:

    http://tinyurl.com/swimcalories

    Just download and save as an eXcel file.

    I'd be a bit dubious about HRM readings as radio waves don't transmit well in water. You can get special pool watches that have a gizmo inside that counts laps and gives you an estimated calorie burn. I don't own one, but I have friends who do and they think they work well.
  • ethieman
    ethieman Posts: 99 Member
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    MFP's calorie estimations for swimming are WAY off. Via an old link I got from another swimmer, I created a swimming calculator that works based on weight, length of pool etc. Here's the link:

    http://tinyurl.com/swimcalories

    Just download and save as an eXcel file.

    I'd be a bit dubious about HRM readings as radio waves don't transmit well in water. You can get special pool watches that have a gizmo inside that counts laps and gives you an estimated calorie burn. I don't own one, but I have friends who do and they think they work well.

    Woah!!! Thanks so much! Kyle = Awesome :)

    I did a lot of research before purchasing my HRM (I actually use a variety of devices for the stress research that I do) and settled on on the Polar FT4. It operates on a different frequency than most HRMs, allowing it to be accurate even under water. I've tested it, and it's right on. However, it's calorie conversion is for HR on land versus the reduced HR in the water.

    I'm thinking about the lap counter/distance gizmo next, I get in my zen mode and have a hard time keeping track of laps at times!
  • FineasEnferb
    FineasEnferb Posts: 9 Member
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    I had the same question on calculating calorie burn from swimming. So far I have used this site:

    http://www.swimmingcalculator.com/swim_calories_calculator.php

    I realize nothing is exact so I really try to not get too worked up over it. Also don't we still burn a few extra calories after we swim? More so if we didn't?
  • SmudgerSmithRhino
    SmudgerSmithRhino Posts: 96
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    I have a Swimovate poolmate watch that I wear. You put in the length of the pool, your age and weight then just swim. It calculates how many lengths you have done and the calories burned. The calories from the watch and MFP are very similar. So I'm happy to go with MFP.

    Also, don't forget that you will be using just about every muscle in your body when swimming, and they are working harder than if you were just running.
  • JudySwims
    JudySwims Posts: 52 Member
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    I have the little lap counter you use on your finger. It is awesome. Amazon has them from Sport Count. There are many models. I have the most generic and another that does more than just count. Hahaha I ONLY use the basic one!!! I cant swim without it!!!!
  • DPernet
    DPernet Posts: 481 Member
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    I just log all the laps as 'Swimming, Leisurely, General' and don't worry about it :smokin:
  • Madalynne
    Madalynne Posts: 14 Member
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    I just log all the laps as 'Swimming, Leisurely, General' and don't worry about it :smokin:

    This is sort of what I do, even though I push myself harder than "light to moderate lap swimming" that's how I log it. :smile:
  • zimfour
    zimfour Posts: 191 Member
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    I had the same question on calculating calorie burn from swimming. So far I have used this site:

    http://www.swimmingcalculator.com/swim_calories_calculator.php

    I realize nothing is exact so I really try to not get too worked up over it. Also don't we still burn a few extra calories after we swim? More so if we didn't?


    The last paragraph is correct. If I push myself HARD when I swim I use the moderate to vigorous calorie input......
  • matthew_b
    matthew_b Posts: 137 Member
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    I have the little lap counter you use on your finger. It is awesome. Amazon has them from Sport Count. There are many models. I have the most generic and another that does more than just count. Hahaha I ONLY use the basic one!!! I cant swim without it!!!!

    My wife got me one of the ones that track every lap for Christmas and I LOVE it. I can go back and look at the lap times and see if I missed or double clicked so I know how many I really did.

    For example, if I see 1:10, 1:12,: 1:09, 2:20, 1:11, I know I missed one click. I figure over time I will get better at never missing a click.
  • tdhighfill
    tdhighfill Posts: 200 Member
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    Hey everyone! I just got swimovate watch and trying it out tomorrow(today)....I will report here he close it is to MFP calories...but I try not to consume any of my calories burned, so I really just want to log that I DID exercise,
    ????
  • tdhighfill
    tdhighfill Posts: 200 Member
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    ok, swimovate watch worked great! counted my lengths perfectly. As far as calorie burn. Here is the stats: swimovate 520, MFP 581, the excel sheet 485, the http://www.swimmingcalculator.com/swim_calories_calculator.php 670.

    So I'm going with MFP I think.....close enough!
  • caroleannlight
    caroleannlight Posts: 173 Member
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    I use a swimtag device which counts my laps strokes etc. I think the issue with the MFP estimates is that most people take some rests between sets and or use some time performing drills / stretching etc and do not swm constantly. so if using s time based estimate on MFP this may cause overestimation. May be better to round the time down a bit to take this into account.
  • PhatAv8r
    PhatAv8r Posts: 153 Member
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    MFP's calorie estimations for swimming are WAY off. Via an old link I got from another swimmer, I created a swimming calculator that works based on weight, length of pool etc. Here's the link:

    http://tinyurl.com/swimcalories

    Just download and save as an eXcel file.

    I'd be a bit dubious about HRM readings as radio waves don't transmit well in water. You can get special pool watches that have a gizmo inside that counts laps and gives you an estimated calorie burn. I don't own one, but I have friends who do and they think they work well.

    Woah!!! Thanks so much! Kyle = Awesome :)

    I did a lot of research before purchasing my HRM (I actually use a variety of devices for the stress research that I do) and settled on on the Polar FT4. It operates on a different frequency than most HRMs, allowing it to be accurate even under water. I've tested it, and it's right on. However, it's calorie conversion is for HR on land versus the reduced HR in the water.

    I'm thinking about the lap counter/distance gizmo next, I get in my zen mode and have a hard time keeping track of laps at times!

    FYI, I have one of those gizmo's, and the thing I have learned playing with it so far is that the gizmo (called a SWIMSENSE) will only count your ACTIVE time towards calorie burn it reports and that burn actually matches MFP pretty well if you use the same TIME that the device records for your ACTIVE time...

    Now, reality is that during the 2-3 minutes of my swim last night that I 'rested', my HR never dropped out of the aerobic range... so, really you could count that time...

    Point is though, MFPs numbers aren't that bad

    Oh, and drills don't record well with a SWIMSENSE since it bases your swim motion on your arm movement... I learned the first time I used it that it has to be worn in the normal wrist watch position (not inverted like I do being an aviator) and only then will it sense the stroke you are doing...

    So, you will only get LAP time and stroke and splits etc which are good info, it will even calculate a SWOLF for you... but it's not going to give you the full workout calorie burn...

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