HRM Question..

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Bioc
Bioc Posts: 96
in Fitness and Exercise
Right, my exercise bike comes with a built in HRM on the handle bars. Would this be accurate or should I actually buy a HRM? I don't do any other exercise besides my bike for 50-60mins per a day. It also tells me the calories I burned, is this also accurate? As I don't want to over -log it.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9104749.htm

^^ My bike.

Example, just did 20 mins on it.. 10k and its saying I burned 250 calories.

Replies

  • areeves86
    areeves86 Posts: 33 Member
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    My bike/elliptical has the hrm on it too, after I got my polar ft40 I found the calories on it were way under for me, but at the same time the calories on mfp were quite a bit higher , I like knowing for sure so I say get a hrm.
  • Bioc
    Bioc Posts: 96
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    My bike/elliptical has the hrm on it too, after I got my polar ft40 I found the calories on it were way under for me, but at the same time the calories on mfp were quite a bit higher , I like knowing for sure so I say get a hrm.

    When I've got money, I shall get one. Any you suggest? :)
  • _the_feniks_
    _the_feniks_ Posts: 3,443 Member
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    Generally speaking, all cardio machines will over estimate your calorie burn. While nothing is ever going to be 100% accurate, a HRM is a great investment in my opinion. I have the Polar FT7 and love it.
  • areeves86
    areeves86 Posts: 33 Member
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    I have the polar ft40 I really like it it keeps track of calories, time, and heart rate, does everything I need it to do (don't need a gps as I mostly use machines...elliptical, bike, total gym and it's reasonably priced
  • Bioc
    Bioc Posts: 96
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    Generally speaking, all cardio machines will over estimate your calorie burn. While nothing is ever going to be 100% accurate, a HRM is a great investment in my opinion. I have the Polar FT7 and love it.

    Damn, well I'll have to just go by what it says for now, until I can afford to spend £80 on a HRM o.o ♥
  • Bioc
    Bioc Posts: 96
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    I have the polar ft40 I really like it it keeps track of calories, time, and heart rate, does everything I need it to do (don't need a gps as I mostly use machines...elliptical, bike, total gym and it's reasonably priced

    Reasonably priced? I'm nineteen, have hardly any money and there over £50! Wow o.o lol.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    If you want it for measuring calorie burn, then no it won't be accurate.

    The machines themselves are, IMO, better at estimating calorie burn because they know how much work you're actually doing. Heart rate is only loosely correlated with calorie burn and is affected by a ton of other factors the HRM cannot know about or compensate for.

    If you want a more accurate calorie count, get a Fitbit or BodyMedia Fit.
  • bogden78
    bogden78 Posts: 172 Member
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    I ride a recumbent bike on weekends and when I finally got a HRM I discovered that the bike was WAY overestimating calories burned. By A LOT! If you want to know accuracy then you need a HRM. I bought the Polar FT4 and love it.
  • taciturnity
    taciturnity Posts: 69 Member
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    I have a Polar FT4, which works fine for me. I got it on Amazon for about $60.

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