Polar ft 7 accuracy ???

DJ478
DJ478 Posts: 909 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I used my polar hrm today during insanity and it said I burned 580 calories I was wondering how accurate are this hrm because I know mfp over estimates so I always cut out calories burned with that for example before I had hrm I would log in exercise if MFP gave me 400 cals I would cut it down to 280 or so that's y I'm asking don't want to over estimate and my heart rate stayed between 188-190 when it reached 192 at one point but I bought it down



Sorry for paragraph lol

Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,339 Member
    For steady state cardio, they are not bad, although they can have an error rate of up to 30% in particular for women. Now that does not mean it over estimated your calories. It could just as easily under estimated them. Insanity is very intense from my experience, and the burn you mentioned does not seem unreasonable to me.
  • AlicesNirvanaHealthWellness
    AlicesNirvanaHealthWellness Posts: 111 Member
    Bump
  • DJ478
    DJ478 Posts: 909 Member
    Oh ok thanks I did push through it since my body has gotten stronger and the watch also tells me when I'm in a fat burn zone but I just found it too high guess because I've kept it at 300 cals every time hopefully it didn't over estimate
  • 20Grit
    20Grit Posts: 752 Member
    I have the same hrm, I burn between 500-700 depending on the Insanity workout I'm doing....I've used it for 2 years though P90x, P90x2, and now body beast & Insanity - I think its pretty accurate.....I don't know how you know for sure? It stays pretty consistent for which ever workout I'm doing from one time to the next....does that make sense?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,339 Member
    Oh ok thanks I did push through it since my body has gotten stronger and the watch also tells me when I'm in a fat burn zone but I just found it too high guess because I've kept it at 300 cals every time hopefully it didn't over estimate

    Ignore the whole zones thing. All the fat burning zone means is the percentage of the calories that comes from fat is higher, but you still burn fat in the higher intensity zone, just a smaller percentage. Even then, the calorie burn is higher, and even that smaller percentage that comes from fat is usually more total than in the fat burning zone. This is not to mention that total calorie burn is what is important overall as the energy you use from carbs will mean the carbs you eat are used to replenish your glycogen stores in your muscles and your body will have less to use for other reasons and will burn fat later.

    Good job.
  • DJ478
    DJ478 Posts: 909 Member
    I did max cardio and conditioning today and it said I burned 580 and I did stop 3x just to check hr and drink water I still have insane abs left I will check to see if it stays consistent with other workouts I know when I did my research it was the bet hrm for insanity especially since it has the chest strap
  • 20Grit
    20Grit Posts: 752 Member
    The heart rate seems high, you might keep an eye on that....
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,339 Member
    The heart rate seems high, you might keep an eye on that....

    High in what sense? For starting out Insanity that sort of HR is not that surprising.
  • 20Grit
    20Grit Posts: 752 Member
    okay, never mind then, Mine just never got that high....sorry
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,339 Member
    okay, never mind then, Mine just never got that high....sorry

    You must have started out in really good shape. I was just curious why you asked no apology needed.

    When I did Insanity mine was quite high, not too far off from OP's. It dropped pretty quickly though, and my recovery rate following the workout improved tremendously. Sounds like OP is taking breaks during the workout when needed, so things should be ok.
  • 20Grit
    20Grit Posts: 752 Member
    I did P90x & 2 before hand, but had very little cardio endurance, My highest was about 182..I average 168....
    I guess when I feel 182, I back off, feels like too much, so when I see higher on others, it scares me..
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
    I've done Insanity 3 times plus. I can do the entire workouts without taking extra breaks, and my HR never gets much past 170 and thats only when i dig deeper. For an average workout 160's is unusual even on Insanity. And believe me I'm working.


    I can't imagine what it would feel like at 190. By 172 I am no longer getting enough oxygen to sustain exercise much longer. I'm not dogging it either, and if I stop my HR is back in double digits in 30 sec at most. Granted I am in very good shape now and I do lots of cycling but even when I did Insanity at 295lbs I would fail muscularly rather than cardiovascularly.

    190bpm would probably rupture something in me, but my wife claims she can workout for an hour and still gossip at not much lower than that.

    The only time my HR exceeds 175 is sprinting/jogging and I pretty much HAVE to stop.

    175 is around my theoretical max anyways, depending on which formula you use. It's just theoretical and I could push it higher I suppose but it'd be painful.
  • DJ478
    DJ478 Posts: 909 Member
    So my hrm can be off at the end of my workout it stated my average heart rate was 175 but toward the end when I was doing drills and went to diamond jumps my hr went up to 190
  • DanIsACyclingFool
    DanIsACyclingFool Posts: 417 Member
    I think the take-home point is we are all a bit different. An avg HR of 175 would probably literally kill me, but I'd burn around 2000 cals.

    Just as a comparison I looked at my Polar Personal Trainer records and for the Max workouts I tend to burn 800-900 calories, and my average HR is 110-115. Some days my max is 155 and some days it's 165.

    Going by those numbers you'd think I dog it, but I temporarily sweat off about 2 lbs and I'm an eighth of a ton in weight, and I can do pretty much every single Insanity workout without stopping. It's still my legs that burn and want to say "stop" not my lungs. Maybe one day they'll catch up and I'll post higher avg HRs.

    Unless you feel like you're having a cardiac episode I guess you're doing ok. 190bpm is incomprehensible to me. :)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    There's a huge range of "normal for you" heartrates so you really can't compare across different people, sexes, ages and fitness levels.
    The commonly quoted maximum of 220 minus your age would put the OP's max heart rate at 197 but that's just a very general guideline.

    The formula works out very close for me against my actual tested max heartrate but my brother regulalry hits 30bpm more than me and always has - despite being older.

    Really if you aren't in distress I wouldn't be concerned at all.

    As for the original question of FT7 accuracy - I use the same model for all my cardio and eat back my estimated calories and my weight loss/maintenance numbers have worked out fine.
    So is it accurate for your cardio burns? Impossible to know without a laboratory but "accurate enough" is really the answer, just be prepared to make adjustments to your calorie intake if you don't see the results you expect.
  • Ant_the_old_keith_lemon
    Ant_the_old_keith_lemon Posts: 272 Member
    i`ve not read the topic but any HRM is accurate at picking up your instant heart rate and calculating the average... some display the max HR and zones...

    using them for calorie burn data is not a good idea in my book...

    i use mine for zone training, Max HR and Ave HR... its nice to see 1200 cals in 1.5 hours, but to me calories are just numbers i want to push harder, faster, stronger everytime...
  • DJ478
    DJ478 Posts: 909 Member
    Thanks everyone for input so far and as for my hr I didn't feel uncomfortable just a but out of breath but when it reached 192 I took a break cause it felt weird for a second so I knew I had to bring it back down as for calorie burn what I did was subtract 100 cals so I left it at 480 without the hrm I was doing the same just thought I would try polar hrm since many had recommended it to be close to accurate since it goes by hr age weight and gender
  • Ant_the_old_keith_lemon
    Ant_the_old_keith_lemon Posts: 272 Member
    polar is the best, ive tried all types and the calculation is just that a calculation

    instead of focusing on cals focus on your aveHR for a guide of how hard you are pushing over a period, this method of thought takes away the fixation people have on food/calories. i found it gave me motivation to get one or two BPM higher on the next workout, a few blips into Vo2 max zone wont kill you, unless you have a weak heart.

    as far as your max HR were things burning, was you head saying stop, were you getting dizzy, seeing stars, tunnel vision? IF NOT dont worry about it, and push harder ;) i can get to my max theoretical HR and sit there for thirty seconds before complete body failure and having to recover. i simply get burning legs as i only ever get this way by attacking a medium hill on a bike and and wanting to get up it without slowing!!

    can you be sure the 190 was an actual HR or interference or a loose strap, did you see a gradual increase and gradual decrease or did it just blip.

    i now use a graphical logger of HR and sometimes get blips if the strap is not wet before starting, it is too loose... Fortunately my current HRM is bluetooth so i do not get interference
  • Diet_Soda
    Diet_Soda Posts: 124 Member
    I think mine is fairly accurate. I am in maintenance and I eat back calories based on my FT7. Today is my final Fit Test for Insanity (yay...I am done!), and my calorie burn has gone down. I expected that because I am in better shape. Maybe I should have dug deeper. ;)
  • DJ478
    DJ478 Posts: 909 Member
    @Ant Ok no I didn't get dizzy or anything just really out of breath but when I reach 192 I felt a little discomfort so I brought down my hr and it was gradually increasing and decreasing depending on my exercise effort and intervals @diet your lucky I have 2 weeks & 1/2 left can't wait to be done I do feel more strength now so if I do decide to do another round maybe I'll see a decrease in hr then

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