polar ft60 question

i went to best buy & was going to buy the polar ft7 hrm but i did not feel like buying it for 109$ since i've seen it cheaper on amazon! so i went on eBay & purchased a brand new polar ft60 hrm for 110$ which i thought was a great deal! the past few days i have been using my hrm while on the treadmill and so far i love it!!!

my question is how accurate are polar heart rate monitors? I'm asking this because i know mfp over estimates calories working out but on my hrm it says my calories burned were higher. i have a treadmill in my home i use but it cannot be accurate when looking at heart rate & calories burned. For example, the other night i was on the treadmill running at 5mph & it said my heart rate was 80 bpm, if i am running & out of breath how can my heart rate be that low?

second of all, i do interval running but after 60 minutes of running on the treadmill tonight it said i burned 440 calories while my heart rate monitor said i burned 641 calories. why is there such a discrepancy in numbers? Before i used my hrm for the first time i took the fitness test and my vo2 max falls within the normal range for my age group. if anyone would help me out i greatly appreciate it!!

Replies

  • rnlenore
    rnlenore Posts: 16 Member
    I have found my ft60 to be quite accurate. If I imput all my food and cardio my weight is usually pretty close to what the numbers say. If I had a 7000 calorie deficit for the week according to mfp I can bet I will have lost around 2lbs some times more but I dont use it for strength training.
  • keyesld
    keyesld Posts: 1
    Hi!

    Can anyone help me as to why my polar ft60 has started a new week after only three days of using it?
    I used it for the first time three days ago (Sunday) and now it says new week (Wednesday)...therefore it also says I have an 'incomplete' week and I need to update my weight... Do I need to reset anything or does the week always start on a Wednesday?:tongue:

    Appreciate any help! Very excited to use it properly and to see results!
  • kmarcene
    kmarcene Posts: 2 Member
    I would try just resetting your program. My weeks start on Sunday.
  • chicco57
    chicco57 Posts: 298
    I'm thinking of buying the ft60 I was just wondering if you guys think it is worth spending the extra for it over the ft7 and how do you find using it?
  • szonjakun
    szonjakun Posts: 94 Member
    It's not a really important question, but can anyone tell me what you get a little star for? After almost a year using my HRM daily, I got the message: Nice work! and now there's a little star sign on my watch :D
    I've got a picture, if you don't know what I mean:

    And I already tried searching for it, but no result. ^^"
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    MFP does not necessarily overestimate calories - especially for things like running and walking. Trust the HRM - it's as accurate as you can get.