Polar FT4?! accurate?!

cmcx3
cmcx3 Posts: 22
in Fitness and Exercise
woohoo! just bought the Polar FT4 HRM for women! quite expensive, but I hope it's worth it!

I'm curious about its accuracy though. I just completed 50 minutes on the elliptical (hills+ program, level 11) and it says I've burned about 580 calories! I entered all of my information correctly and I'm pretty sure I'm wearing the chest strap correctly.

here are my stats-
166lbs
female
5'2"
age 22

does this amount seem accurate to you?!
thanks!

Replies

  • cmcx3
    cmcx3 Posts: 22
    just did an extra 15 on the stairmaster and now it says 700 cals burned! that seems like a lot :/ but I AM pushing myself pretty hard :/ I don't know! if it's accurate, that would be awesome.
  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    I think so. It's been awhile since I went that long on cardio machines, but my typical burn was about 400 calories an hour. And it wasn't quite at the resistance you doing.

    Are there any cardio machines that have built-in HRM programming? If so, you might be able to do a 15 minute session just to see how they compare. Now, a lot of machines are not reliable. At my gym, about 1/3 of the treadmills give me the same results at my Polar FT4 - so I consider that to be a sign that there's some accuracy there.
  • Figs318
    Figs318 Posts: 67 Member
    That actually to me seems somewhat right, I am 225 pounds 5'10" and i put intervals on the eliptical up to level 13 and in half an hour of workout i burn about 500 calories... So to me that might be correct especailly if you kept a high HR the whole time.
  • lripson28
    lripson28 Posts: 213 Member
    That seems accurate to me. I have the FT4 also and I've only ever had a problem with it not being accurate when the strap would get loose. I ordered a new strap and it's worked fine ever since.
  • Daisychain65
    Daisychain65 Posts: 161 Member
    I have the same HRM, I'm about ten pounds heavier than you and 5ft 6" and I generally burn 550-650 an hour doing cardio depending on the activity, hope that helps
  • christimccarty
    christimccarty Posts: 81
    I have a polar. I love it! I burned 624 cal last night doing a plyo workout. The best part is that you get to see when you're slacking and when your body starts getting used to something so you know to amp it up, change it up, or add some weight... etc, to continue pushing yourself :)
  • msmithevv
    msmithevv Posts: 58 Member
    Sounds about right. One of my fitness instructors said the elliptical should burn around 100 calories per 10 minutes.
  • cindiva65
    cindiva65 Posts: 335 Member
    I just got one myself and found that it was pretty close to what the gym treadmill was saying for calorie burns. I am really liking it so far. Im thinking it will really aid in increasing my cardio so that Im working out more effectively in my HR zone.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Almost impossible to prove accuracy without the use of a lab but the numbers seem OK to me.

    As a comparison - I'm 174lbs by the way:
    Spinning for an hour at "moderate" effort on Monday for 60mins was 596.
    "Race pace" for 55 minutes yesterday, also on the spinning bike, was 782 (including last five minutes at 95% of max heartrate).
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    I can''t wait to get off this damn beta blocker I'm on to help prevent migraines. It prevents me from being able to use an HRM for calorie burn calculations. Keeps the heart rate artificially low and thus limits peak exertion.
    These threads have me really hoping they were weight related since they didn't start until I was way overweight.
    Y'all give me hope:bigsmile:
  • rfsatar
    rfsatar Posts: 599 Member
    Sounds about right. One of my fitness instructors said the elliptical should burn around 100 calories per 10 minutes.
    Yep - that's pretty consistent with what I see
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I can''t wait to get off this damn beta blocker I'm on to help prevent migraines. It prevents me from being able to use an HRM for calorie burn calculations. Keeps the heart rate artificially low and thus limits peak exertion.
    These threads have me really hoping they were weight related since they didn't start until I was way overweight.
    Y'all give me hope:bigsmile:

    I feel your pain! I was on beta blockers for a while for the same reason and gave them up as I couldn't stand the impact they had on my sport and exercise. Getting to the point of distress and your heartrate just won't go up is horrible....
  • Jenn728
    Jenn728 Posts: 683 Member
    I just ordered that one! I can't wait to get it in.

    I currently use a New Balance one I bought from Target. I typically burn about 10 calories a minute, when I am pushing myself. So if I did 40 minutes on a cardio machine, I would burn around 400 calories, give or take, depending on how hard I worked and how many times I slowed down to catch my breath. So I would say yours is probably right on target.
  • cmcx3
    cmcx3 Posts: 22
    woohoo! now I'm super excited since everyone says it seems to be accurate!
  • cmcx3
    cmcx3 Posts: 22
    just completed the exact same routine as yesterday and burned 709 calories :)

    this HRM is AWESOME!!!
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
    I have that one as well...sounds pretty accurate to me! In a 25-30 min interval run on my treadmill I burn about 225 calories or so and I'm 40 yrs old, 144lbs and 5' 2.9'.

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