Heart rate monitor!!!!

ambertimmons21
ambertimmons21 Posts: 409 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Yesterday I went and bought a polar f6 heart rate monitor and to day I took it to the gym with me. I was soooo excited to use it until I finished my workout and it said that I had only burned half of the calories that the machines and this site said that I burned. What a bummer, I know that the machines just give you an average but I couldn't believe that they were that bad. Now I am going to have to workout twice as long to burn the same amount of calories that I thought I was burning in the first place.AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!:sad: :explode: :sad: :explode: :sad: :explode: :sad: :explode: :grumble: :grumble:

Replies

  • ambertimmons21
    ambertimmons21 Posts: 409 Member
    Yesterday I went and bought a polar f6 heart rate monitor and to day I took it to the gym with me. I was soooo excited to use it until I finished my workout and it said that I had only burned half of the calories that the machines and this site said that I burned. What a bummer, I know that the machines just give you an average but I couldn't believe that they were that bad. Now I am going to have to workout twice as long to burn the same amount of calories that I thought I was burning in the first place.AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!:sad: :explode: :sad: :explode: :sad: :explode: :sad: :explode: :grumble: :grumble:
  • CrystalBella
    CrystalBella Posts: 848 Member
    wow.. so how close was it to what MFP says you would burn?

    maybe i should get me one..
  • ambertimmons21
    ambertimmons21 Posts: 409 Member
    not even close. I was at the gym for an hour and a half and it said that I only burned 590 calories normally I would log in at 800 or so.
  • CrystalBella
    CrystalBella Posts: 848 Member
    are you serious? wowers!
    so mfp says 800 but your HRM said the 590?
  • ambertimmons21
    ambertimmons21 Posts: 409 Member
    yup!!! I was very disapointed!!
  • shorerider
    shorerider Posts: 3,817 Member
    MFP is estimate only--as are all websites. They can't "see" how hard your heart is working. A HRM is necessary if you want a true picture of what you're burning.

    MFP, and other sites, can be way off--more so the more time you exercise--in other words, the amount of error possible increases with time input.

    For example, tonight, I rode 7.7 miles and burnt up, according to my HRM, 140 calories. MFP says I burnt up 300.

    On my 30 miles ride, which took 2 hours and 40 minutes, I burnt up 1320 calories according to my HRM; whereas MFP said I burnt up 2396 calories!

    See, the amount of error increases the more time you say you exercised.

    Get a HRM to be more accurate.
  • oneman86
    oneman86 Posts: 14
    I was surprised myself when i got my polar f11 and compared the calories burned on the gym machines: almost 50% difference. For example, the elliptical machine would say 500 calories burned but when i look at my polar f11 it would only read about 200 calories. I think my polar f11 not only accurately calculates the calories burned but also has helped to motivate me to work harder during gym time sessions.
  • thalli1
    thalli1 Posts: 332 Member
    I agree that the heart rate monitor helps you to work harder in your workouts because you see how few calorie you are actually burning and how high your heartrate actualy is. I think I was way overestimating many of my previous workouts. But sometimes my heart monitor does show that I actually burned more calories than MFP says (like in strength training.) I do feel better knowing my logs are more accurate now, and I'm glad I got a heart rate monitor.
  • mililani
    mililani Posts: 17
    I just wonder if the machine makers "cheat" a little. After all, if you can do 500 calories on one machine and "500 calories" with much less effort on a different one, which one would you choose??? :bigsmile:
  • ohthatbambi
    ohthatbambi Posts: 1,098 Member
    Wow, what a difference. I just ebayed a Polar f6. Hope to have it in a few days. I bike a lot and have no idea what I burn. I know that when I first started riding a bike (back in the fall) that I could barely breathe when I finished my ride. I rode 13.5 this morning in an hour and was breathing quite easily when I got home so I am curious to see what the hrm will say.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    What I've found is some activities I burn way more than I previously thought and some activities way less. I burn twice as much during a spin class as I would have previously logged, and virtually nothing in Yoga. (for me Yoga=sitting on the sofa calorie wise, but so many other benefits.) So, for me this all evened out to my pre-HRM estimates.

    A fun thing to do at the gym with your HRM is to see how long it takes to burn a set number of calories on each cardio machine. I go for a hundred calories. It takes an average of ten minutes on any machine, but some take a bit longer. I think this would find you the best way to spend your gym time.

    It's never an exact science. (bummer.)

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