Is my HRM trying to sabotage me?

Mouse_Potato
Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello, everyone

I have read a lot of horror stories here about people who purchased HRMs only to discover they weren't burning as many calories as they thought. I appear to have the opposite problem. If I log the 30 DS as circuit training, I get around 185 calories burned. My HRM says 233-246. Today I did a couple of miles on the treadmill. Although the HRM and the treadmill agreed upon my heart rate, they disagreed as to how many calories I burned. Treadmill: 200. HRM: 271. Could the programming be off in my Polar FT4? I know I was working hard. I had sweat pouring down my face, but still... Is it too much? I am almost 39, 5'4" and my weight is fluctuating between 138 and 140 right now. I don't do a whole lot of cardio, so maybe I'm just not in very great shape, but the numbers seem high to me. Would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    You're probably not in great cardio shape so you're burning more than someone in good cardio shape. You may see those numbers come down as you improve your fitness.
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
    Do you know your average heart rate during those sessions? I'm about 5 pound heavier than you, but I can compare. If you're going really hard, it's possible that your HRM is correct.
  • KirstenTheFamilyCoach
    KirstenTheFamilyCoach Posts: 327 Member
    I love my HRM. I used to just let my FitBit log how many calories I burned running a 5K but now I know I burn significantly less and when I lift weights I burn nearly 2.5x more than what FitBit tells me I burned. Also, if I really kick it up during dance class I can burn upwards of 600 calories an hour but on those days that I may not be feeling it ... more like 450 - same hour long dance class. I trust my HRM and use those nubers and I'm droping weight and gaining muscle.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    "Not in great shape" may be the answer. :) I prefer resistance training to cardio, but it's time to wander out of my comfort zone!

    On the treadmill, my average HR was 139, max was 155. During 30 DS my average was 152 and max was 180 (yikes!).
  • scott1111111
    scott1111111 Posts: 53 Member
    I would trust a HRM over a piece of fitness equipment every time. Especially equipment in a gym that gets used a lot.
  • mamasmaltz3
    mamasmaltz3 Posts: 1,111 Member
    Did you double check the stats you entered? Maybe you entered male instead of female, the wrong weight etc...?
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    Did you double check the stats you entered? Maybe you entered male instead of female, the wrong weight etc...?

    Those were the first things I checked. I'm in I.T.. Troubleshooting comes naturally. :)
  • aprilslusher
    aprilslusher Posts: 127 Member
    I have a Polar Ft4 HRM. I definetly trust my HRM and I don't pay any attention to the machine I am using or what MFP shows for calories burned. The machine is always way under and MFP is always way over. :flowerforyou:
  • michcor
    michcor Posts: 52 Member
    I've been thinking the same thing about my HRM. I only started using it about 2 weeks ago, but dang! The first time I used it on the treadmill, it said I burned 170 calories more than what the treadmill was reading. I don't know. I'm just going to keep using it.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    i have an ft4 and got about the same numbers when i first did 30ds - the second time i did it my numbers were lower :)
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    Thanks, everyone. I guess I will trust it for now. I don't want to overeat my exercise calories, but I also don't want to be that girl who is netting below 1000 because she's afraid to!
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
    "Not in great shape" may be the answer. :) I prefer resistance training to cardio, but it's time to wander out of my comfort zone!

    On the treadmill, my average HR was 139, max was 155. During 30 DS my average was 152 and max was 180 (yikes!).

    I'm not surprised at your burn, then! I think your answer is correct. Awesome job maintaining that effort for 30 min! You'll be surprised how fast your cardio fitness improves.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    "Not in great shape" may be the answer. :) I prefer resistance training to cardio, but it's time to wander out of my comfort zone!

    On the treadmill, my average HR was 139, max was 155. During 30 DS my average was 152 and max was 180 (yikes!).

    I'm not surprised at your burn, then! I think your answer is correct. Awesome job maintaining that effort for 30 min! You'll be surprised how fast your cardio fitness improves.

    Thanks. I was dying! :laugh: In the 30 DS I find the strength challenging, but doable (4 pound weights). The abs are my "cheat section" as the level 1 workout does not compare with what I do in my dance class. The cardio, however, was killing me, hence my trip down to the treadmill!
  • jonchew
    jonchew Posts: 239 Member
    I'm curious, are you wearing 2 chest straps, or is your HRM on your treadmill one of those "grab the silver bar" type HRM's?

    I'd trust your Polar w/ the chest strap (with it's constant feedback) over the treadmill. I feel your pain RE: heart rate readings, when I walk very briskly, I can barely get into the aerobic range, but as soon as I start to jog... ZOOM, heartrate goes right into redline, I can't seem to find a nice middle ground.

    Frustrating!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    With my HRM, I knock off about 20% to account for BMR calories during the exercise period (those calories I would have burned taking a nap) and a smidgen for error. If you do that, you'll likely find the numbers to be pretty close. I've done this and compared my calories burned to a few VO2 calculators and it's almost dead on when I deduct the 20%. Remember, it's all estimates.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,513 Member
    I'm curious, are you wearing 2 chest straps, or is your HRM on your treadmill one of those "grab the silver bar" type HRM's?

    I'd trust your Polar w/ the chest strap (with it's constant feedback) over the treadmill. I feel your pain RE: heart rate readings, when I walk very briskly, I can barely get into the aerobic range, but as soon as I start to jog... ZOOM, heartrate goes right into redline, I can't seem to find a nice middle ground.

    Frustrating!

    Just the one chest strap and the silver bars on the treadmill. I figured I would compare results as long as it was right there. They seemed to stay within one beat of each other.

    When I am on the treadmill I use the incline a lot. That way I don't have to jog, but I am working harder than I would on a level surface. Most of today's walk was at 3.5 mph and a 4% incline.

    Good advice, cwolfman (not sure how to multi-quote on this site yet). I will take that in to consideration as well.
  • JustJennie1
    JustJennie1 Posts: 3,749 Member
    I have a no-frills not fancy Timex HRM and I wore it when I ran on the TM today and the calorie burn from the HRM was much higher than that on the TM. While I don't 100% trust anything that tells me what my calorie burn is based on what my HR was during my workout and how long I was in my "zone" I am more apt to trust that mainly because when I was doing Insanity my calorie burn each time I did the same DVD would be completely different (more or less) depending on how hard I pushed it that particular day and how high my HR got.

    So to actually answer your post I would go with what your HRM said.
  • duckiec
    duckiec Posts: 241 Member
    I go with my HRM, which sometimes fairly in line with the MFP estimate for that activity, and sometime higher. I rarely use cardio machines so don't get to compare machine to HRM too often, but the last time (a few weeks ago) they were fairly in line, but it may have been one that automatically synced with my HRM (Polar FT4).

    However, I take any estimate with a big grain of salt and if I eat any exercise cals back, not all (usually) all of them. One good workout doesn't exactly equal one big cookie, but, I use it to generally gauge exertion.
  • jonchew
    jonchew Posts: 239 Member
    I go with my HRM, which sometimes fairly in line with the MFP estimate for that activity, and sometime higher. I rarely use cardio machines so don't get to compare machine to HRM too often, but the last time (a few weeks ago) they were fairly in line, but it may have been one that automatically synced with my HRM (Polar FT4).

    However, I take any estimate with a big grain of salt and if I eat any exercise cals back, not all (usually) all of them. One good workout doesn't exactly equal one big cookie, but, I use it to generally gauge exertion.
    Agreed on all-accounts! I've noticed that MFP's "Stair-treadmill ergometer, general" cardio category computes very closely to what both my treadmill & HRM numbers are, based on time only.

    Hope this helps.
  • eatcleanNtraindirty
    eatcleanNtraindirty Posts: 444 Member
    Did you have the weight and age set correctly on the treadmill?
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
    It might be incorrect but probably isn't sabotage :wink:
  • newcs
    newcs Posts: 717 Member
    It sounds reasonable to me. I'm smaller than you (5'2", 120lbs) but average a higher HR when I run (around 165 because I do intervals...run til 190, walk til 150, repeat). In 35min (about 3.1miles), I burn about 330 calories. With a higher weight but much lower average HR during your workouts, yours seems reasonable.

    I had the same experience of my HRM (Polar FT7) being higher than the MFP calcs. On the treadmill, my HRM syncs with it and for the first half or so, the treadmill has higher calories than the HRM but by the end, the HRM is higher. I go with the HRM always and I've reached and exceeded my weight loss goal. I've been maintaining since late summer/early fall 2012. I'd say go with the HRM and eat most/all of your exercise calories back.

    If you check out my diary, ignore the recent stuff...I went paleo and went off logging, then moved to semi-paleo and haven't been able to eat enough calories most days since I started logging again.
  • mumx5
    mumx5 Posts: 325 Member
    Hello, everyone

    I have read a lot of horror stories here about people who purchased HRMs only to discover they weren't burning as many calories as they thought. I appear to have the opposite problem. If I log the 30 DS as circuit training, I get around 185 calories burned. My HRM says 233-246. Today I did a couple of miles on the treadmill. Although the HRM and the treadmill agreed upon my heart rate, they disagreed as to how many calories I burned. Treadmill: 200. HRM: 271. Could the programming be off in my Polar FT4? I know I was working hard. I had sweat pouring down my face, but still... Is it too much? I am almost 39, 5'4" and my weight is fluctuating between 138 and 140 right now. I don't do a whole lot of cardio, so maybe I'm just not in very great shape, but the numbers seem high to me. Would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

    I did the 30DS a few months ago. My cals burned according to my Polar FT4 was around 220 each session. I'm 5'2.5" and my weight then if I remember correctly was around 135lbs. So yes, your HRM reading seems correct to me.

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