HRM & Calories Burned
mattvandyk
Posts: 50 Member
Alright, so I'm new to ALL of this, so I'm not sure (a) how much information is necessary to get a good answer, or (b) how, exactly, this all works, so I'm going to err on the side of too much info.
I'm a 6'3", 35-year-old male, 236 pounds (on what used to be a thin, wirey frame, so very little of that 236 is muscle). I'm the poster boy for sedentary desk jockey (~60-70 hours/week sitting at a desk; not much activity on the weekends either), and have been for about a decade (also, ex-smoker).
With that information in mind, my goal is to get to around 200 pounds sometime this summer. I plugged my info into MFP, and it spit out an 1870 cal/day target to lose 1-1/2 pounds/week. It determined this number figuring I burned 2620/day from "Normal Daily Activity" and creating the requisite calorie deficit from that number. Not sure how it figured 2620 (and then, consequently 1870 to create the deficit), but it seems...high.
In order to get an accurate measure of calories burned, I picked up a Polar H7 HRM which records the workout data on my phone. Using the 220-Age method, my HRmax is 185, and based on some testing, my resting HR is about 78 (although it escalates QUICKLY with even a moderate amount of exertion).
When I go to the gym, I'm walking on the treadmill at 3.5mph to warm up for 3 minutes, I run for about 2.5 minutes at 6.0mph, and then I walk for 30 minutes at between 3.0mph and 3.5mph. During my warm up walk, my HR is usually around 130; during my run, my HR is between 185 and 200; during my long post-run walk, my HR is around 150. This is all according to my HRM. Because of the ratio of the HR to my HRmax, I usually end up with an average HR of about 80% of my HRmax which yields a calorie burn of about 600. I know this is too high (should shoot for between 60-70%), but as it is, during the bulk of this workout, I don't really feel like I'm working very hard (the notable exception being the run during which I feel like I'm significantly exerting myself). So even at the 80% level, the reported calorie burn seems...absurdly high.
With that background in mind, I have the following questions:
1. Given my description, doesn't 1870 seem like an awfully high number or do I just have no idea what I'm talking about (because, it's true; I have no idea about any of this stuff, so I could just be completely wrong here)?
2. Assuming my HRM to be accurate (I've tested it; it is), do those workout readings seem abnormally high? Doesn't that calorie burn seem abnormally high? If not, why am I not "feeling it" like I expect I should? That is, if I'm burning 600 calories, it sure seems like I should be hurting pretty badly during, after, and especially the next day (particularly since I'm basically going from a decade of no activity to this overnight), but I'm not really feeling it at all. Are my expectations regarding "feeling it" or where my heart rate should be inaccurate?
Something just seems amiss here and I don't know enough about this corner of the world to be able to put my finger on it...so, I'm hoping someone can weigh in.
If you have some thoughts, thanks in advance!
--Matt
I'm a 6'3", 35-year-old male, 236 pounds (on what used to be a thin, wirey frame, so very little of that 236 is muscle). I'm the poster boy for sedentary desk jockey (~60-70 hours/week sitting at a desk; not much activity on the weekends either), and have been for about a decade (also, ex-smoker).
With that information in mind, my goal is to get to around 200 pounds sometime this summer. I plugged my info into MFP, and it spit out an 1870 cal/day target to lose 1-1/2 pounds/week. It determined this number figuring I burned 2620/day from "Normal Daily Activity" and creating the requisite calorie deficit from that number. Not sure how it figured 2620 (and then, consequently 1870 to create the deficit), but it seems...high.
In order to get an accurate measure of calories burned, I picked up a Polar H7 HRM which records the workout data on my phone. Using the 220-Age method, my HRmax is 185, and based on some testing, my resting HR is about 78 (although it escalates QUICKLY with even a moderate amount of exertion).
When I go to the gym, I'm walking on the treadmill at 3.5mph to warm up for 3 minutes, I run for about 2.5 minutes at 6.0mph, and then I walk for 30 minutes at between 3.0mph and 3.5mph. During my warm up walk, my HR is usually around 130; during my run, my HR is between 185 and 200; during my long post-run walk, my HR is around 150. This is all according to my HRM. Because of the ratio of the HR to my HRmax, I usually end up with an average HR of about 80% of my HRmax which yields a calorie burn of about 600. I know this is too high (should shoot for between 60-70%), but as it is, during the bulk of this workout, I don't really feel like I'm working very hard (the notable exception being the run during which I feel like I'm significantly exerting myself). So even at the 80% level, the reported calorie burn seems...absurdly high.
With that background in mind, I have the following questions:
1. Given my description, doesn't 1870 seem like an awfully high number or do I just have no idea what I'm talking about (because, it's true; I have no idea about any of this stuff, so I could just be completely wrong here)?
2. Assuming my HRM to be accurate (I've tested it; it is), do those workout readings seem abnormally high? Doesn't that calorie burn seem abnormally high? If not, why am I not "feeling it" like I expect I should? That is, if I'm burning 600 calories, it sure seems like I should be hurting pretty badly during, after, and especially the next day (particularly since I'm basically going from a decade of no activity to this overnight), but I'm not really feeling it at all. Are my expectations regarding "feeling it" or where my heart rate should be inaccurate?
Something just seems amiss here and I don't know enough about this corner of the world to be able to put my finger on it...so, I'm hoping someone can weigh in.
If you have some thoughts, thanks in advance!
--Matt
0
Replies
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Hi Matt,
Re: your BMR - Why does it seem high to you? I plugged your stats into my calculator that my gym provides and I got an even higher number. Bearing in mind that health authorities say an average man requires 2500 calories per day and the average height of a man is under 6'. You might find that once you start logging the food you eat (ALL) of it, you realise why you put weight on. I certainly did!
Re: your Heart Rate. If you haven't done any exercise, starting now your heart rate will go up quickly and it will take a while before your fitness improves to the point that it does not. Your resting heart rate implies you are pretty unfit. As for maximum heart rate, take the 220-age method with a pinch of salt. My max heart rate has always been higher than the theoretical. Again, all these things work on averages based on average samples of people.
Basically, log all the calories you eat or drink, make sure you are burning off however many you need to for your MFP diary to net at about zero using your heart rate monitor, and you won't go too far wrong.
GOOD LUCK!!!0 -
Re BMR, I don't know. Just seemed high. When you factor in the absurd calorie burn in my workouts (assuming my HRM is calculating it correctly), I'm not eating a ton less than I used to be (although the quality of what I'm eating is mildly improved). If that seems reasonable, I won't question it. I don't really have any basis in fact to question it anyway.
Re the heart rate, should I slow down the pace to keep the HR lower (i.e. closer to 130-140) and then, as my fitness increases, pick the pace back up to keep the HR around 140, or just keep up my current pace and wait for my HR to drop to more reasonable levels at that pace? Slowing down seems ludicrous since, as indicated, I already "feel" like I'm going plenty slow, but not sure what the right thing to do is.
Thanks!0 -
Your Basal Metabolic Rate is calculated to be 2091 calories per day. This is the number of calories your body would burn per day if you did absolutely nothing (i.e. comatose, literally). Your body uses these calories for heart, brain, and organ function. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) for a sedentary lifestyle is 2509.2 calories per day (BMR*1.2). The TDEE is an estimate of how many calories you burn in a day base on your BMR + general daily activities. Translation: you gain weight if you eat more calories (net) than your TDEE and you lose weight if you eat less (net). To lose 1 pound, you must have a calorie deficit of 3500 calories, so to lose 1.5 pounds per week: (2509.2*7-3500*1.5)/7= 1759.2 calories per day. If you adjust your calories to lose 1 pound per week, your goal will be 2009.2 calories per day which is closer to your BMR and will be a healthier approach to losing the weight.1
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Thanks! MFP is telling me to do 1890 which is somewhere between the ~2000 number and the 1759 number, so I'll call it good.
Thanks again to all for the input. It's much appreciated!!0
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