Heart Rate Monitor - First Time Use

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tlsegar
tlsegar Posts: 185 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello. I got a HRM for Christmas and today was the first day I used it. It is the Polar FT40. I questioning the accuracy of it. Today when I went to to gym I started out walking/running using C25K. That was about 22 minutes and calories burned came up at 235. That sounded reasonable. Then immediately after I went to yoga for a 90 minute class. At the end of the class, the HRM calculated 460 calories burned!!! I'm a bit skeptical of that number. Yoga's not exactly a cake walk but I didn't feel like I was exerting myself like I did when I was walking/running.

Does this sound right considering that I was being active for close to 2 hours? Or should I use this as an estimate? Have other people had similar issues?

Also, I was using the Nike Run app to track my distance and it was WAY off! It calculated me running a 7 minute mile. I can tell you without a doubt that is not accurate. Do the HRM tend to act wonky with the GPS on the run apps?

Thanks all.

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  • tikafly
    tikafly Posts: 184 Member
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    I have found my Polar FT4 to be very accurate.

    1) Obvious, but necessary, question…do you have your height/weight/age set properly on your HRM?

    2) 90 minutes is a long time to be active, and that calorie burn sounds about right for such a duration for a reasonably light activity. I plugged 90 minutes of Yoga into MFP exercise and it gave me 374 calls, which is not that far off from your experience.

    Think about it, if you burned 235 at 22 minutes of fairly strenuous activity, then 460 is very reasonable for an activity 3 times as long (even if it was lighter activity).

    3) I use my HRM along with a running app all the time, and they never interfere. Your HRM does not have GPS, so definitely not. The technology will work together without an issue.
  • tlsegar
    tlsegar Posts: 185 Member
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    Thanks tikafly. Very helpful feedback.

    Yes, I input the correct height/weight/age.

    It makes sense. I just didn't want to run the risk of overestimating my calories. I just wasn't expecting that high of a calorie burn for an activity that's not as high impact as spinning or body combat.

    It looks like I'll need to recalibrate my Nike Run app. :/

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