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HRMs vs. MFP calorie counts

amandagyeoman
amandagyeoman Posts: 88 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone else have serious discrepances between their heart rate monitor and what My Fitness Pal says when you plug in your daily exercise? I just purchased a Polar HRM on the recommendation of a friend who is actually a personal trainer. She swears by them. But my exercise reads MUCH lower calories burnt than what MFP tells me I've burnt. Which should I trust?

Replies

  • xMonroeMisfit
    xMonroeMisfit Posts: 411 Member
    Same here, i trust my HRM. I would always trust something that is consistently measuring my HR against my resting HR to tell me what level of activity my body is at.

    I believe when you choose something like cleaning, vigrorous..MFP assumes youre keeping a high HR level at all times...which im almost sure no one does unless youre running inbetween cleaning.

    my HR changes very much when i am working out.
  • dlpnrn2b
    dlpnrn2b Posts: 441 Member
    I agree!! I trust my HR monitor any day over a "guesstimate" My polar tells me I've burned at the least 50-100 more calories then a machine or chart!!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,463 Member
    I personally find the HRM to give a lower reading than MFP's numbers.

    I think you should pick one or the other and stick to it. I use the HRM numbers.
  • jjs22
    jjs22 Posts: 156
    Its important to keep in mind that _both_ measurements are wrong.

    The MFP number is probably more wrong, as it has no information to go on : How "vigorous" was the cleaning ? How good a shape is the person in ? etc.

    But the number from a HRM is also wrong. The only thing it can get right is your heart rate. After that, there's still a lot of guessing. Is your body burning fats, carbs, or protein ? Are you excited or bored ? Did you drink any caffeine ? Lots things affect your heart rate besides burning calories, and a simple strap across your chest can't know all of them. So keep in mind that the number from a HRM (even though it looks like a "scientific" fact) is just a guess for an average person on an average day.

    Also, the *only* time the HRM's guess is likely to be close to the truth is for steady aerobic activity. If you exercise intermittently, or if you are doing resistance-type training, the watch will still read out a number, but it's not going to correspond to reality.

    [edit] Don't get me wrong ! I own and use a HRM. It's a great tool. But the tool I trust the most is the scale. Over the long term, it always knows best.
  • dlpnrn2b
    dlpnrn2b Posts: 441 Member
    Good post :) thanks.. and I divorced my scale to marry my tape measure :)
  • danielleisms
    danielleisms Posts: 42 Member
    Use the HRM numbers! You should have done a test when you set it up and also entered your age, height, weight, etc. So it will be more accurate for you.
  • nkechio23
    nkechio23 Posts: 30 Member
    When I first got mine I was super disappointed because MFP was giving me a high number for calories burned ( For example 30 minutes on stationary bike according to MFP was 300 and when i checked on HRM it was about half that)

    I trust my HRM more and it definetly has pushed me harder so that I can burn more calories.
  • amandagyeoman
    amandagyeoman Posts: 88 Member
    Thank you everyone for your help. I was the same way, getting disappointed I wasn't reaching the calories burnt based on MFP. So much useful information here! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
  • vnsaroja
    vnsaroja Posts: 19 Member
    good one!!
This discussion has been closed.

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