Having your heart rate monitor on while weight training.

I do. Just be aware it will probably over report calorie burn if your average is below ~120BPM

I wear mine anytime I exercise. Cardio/Resistance/Weight Training.

I wear mine...mostly out of curiousity to start with, and now because it would be weird not to.

i felt that mine was over-reporting

It's completely pointless.

Best to just take it off.

I find that mine is often a distraction while weight lifting. My goal in the weight room isn't to have my heart rate as high as possible; it's to lift strongly and effectively with proper form. My HRM has a tendency to distract me from that goal.

Also, keep in mind that HRMs are intended to measure cardio - steady-state in particular. The calorie burn reported from a strength training session is not likely to be accurate.

I wear my HRM to time my sessions but I make a point of NOT looking at the calorie burn or heart rate and I will not allow myself to be disappointed by the calorie burn. I do report the "burn" from my strength training sessions mostly just for recordkeeping purposes.

I burn more calories on LEG DAY than any cardio session. BAR NONE.

I wear mine because my PT likes to know what my heart rate is, and will get me to rest until my heart rate is within a certain range.

As mentioned, HRM's aren't designed to be accurate for calories burnt for lifting (only steady state cardio) so I will often round mine down if I'm logging it.

I usually long a round figure slightly higher than the cardio warm-up/cool-down.

I do wear it, though I know it's not accurately reporting the calories. I use it more for timing in between sets.

the full text:


SparkPeople's Fitness Tracker doesn't estimate calorie burn for strength training because so many variables are involved (how hard you're working, resting in between sets, the amount of weight you lift, etc.) that any estimate would not be very accurate. A heart rate monitor (HRM) is capable of estimating calorie burn pretty accurately—but only for aerobic (cardio) exercise, not for strength training. Here's why:

A HRM won't give you an accurate idea of how many calories you burn during strength training, because the relationship between heart rate and calorie expenditure is not the same during strength training as during cardio exercise, which is what the HRM's estimate is based on. Unless your weight training is very vigorous circuit training, the heart rate monitor will be overestimating your calorie burn by a fair amount.

The problem is a technical one. Calorie burning isn't determined by heart rate, it's determined by the number of muscle cells that are activated to perform a given activity. It's the working cells that actually use the energy (calories) and consume oxygen. When working muscle cells need more energy and oxygen, your heart rate goes up to deliver these things to the cells via the blood stream.

Any muscle that performs a high intensity or maximum effort (strength training) will trigger an increase in heart rate and blood flow. But if only a single muscle group is on the receiving end to utilize that extra oxygen (doing a strength exercise that isolates your biceps, for example), only a relatively small amount of oxygen (and calories) will actually be consumed.

So while a series of strength training exercises may elevate your heart rate like aerobic exercise does, you're not actually using as much oxygen and burning as many calories as you would be if you were steadily using several large muscles all at once, as when walking, running, swimming, or doing aerobics for example.

The heart rate monitor doesn’t know whether your increase in heart rate is due to several large muscle groups working (cardio), an isolated muscle group lifting a weight (strength training), or even if adrenaline or excitement is increasing your heart rate. It just knows your heart rate, and the formulas it uses to estimate calories are based on studies of aerobic exercise, not other activities. So, it's going to overestimate your calorie expenditure when the rise in heart rate is stimulated by using isolated muscles at maximum intensity, which is what occurs during strength training.

Written by Dean Anderson, Certified Personal Tr

Heck, I use mine to log calories when I clean house.
Last week I used it to log calories when I washed and waxed my car. It was over 200 cals...so yes, give yourself credit whenever possible.

You realize you're probably "double-dipping" here. Two things to be aware of: One, see the previous posts about HRM's being designed for steady-state cardio. Two: you're not taking our for your TDEE for that time period, so you're likely WAY overestimating your calorie burn. Be careful if you're eating back your exercise calories.

Only wear it on leg day (as I do walking lunges and step-ups) and for my cardio

My weight lifting I just use the MFP calculation

Even when I see my burned calories I take away 25% to try and get a better idea of my burn

Always. I find that I burn quite a bit more than the estimate that MFP or Endomondo gives me, so I always wear it, no matter what exercise I'm doing.

I used to. I would wait until heart rate dropped under 120 before doing the next set. Now I just go by feel.

I do. I try to do routines of mixed cardio and resistance to keep HR up and strength train. For example, I do jumping jacks followed by dumbbell chest press in a bridge position. I do lunges with bicep curls. I do jumping twists followed by deadlift/row combos with dumbbells. By intermixing the cardio, you get the best of both worlds... some cardio conditioning and strength training. I use the HRM to ensure that throughout the workout, I am keeping the HR elevated in a working range.