Is my heart rate monitor correct?

sirfatalx
sirfatalx Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just bought a HRM. I completed a P90X workout doing just chest and back with ab ripper x, and burned about 370 calories. I guess it seemed correct because I really didn't do much cardio. I then did Insanity Pure Cardio about 2-3 hours after to test how much I would burn. At the end, it said I only burned 337 calories. To me, this just does not seem correct. I was nearly dying after my insanity workout, and my heart rate stated I was around 170-180 for most of it. Is it me or does this not seem right.

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Heart rate monitors are next to useless when estimating caloric expenditure for anything other than steady state cardio.
  • shurleec
    shurleec Posts: 99 Member
    I was surprised the first time I did Insanity as well. I didn't burn nearly as much as I had hoped for.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    337 for a 30-some minute cardio workout for someone at a healthy BMI sounds about right. Most of us don't burn more than about 10 calories a minute at most, in tough cardio. For the P90X stuff, the HRM isn't really going to be too accurate, as has been mentioned.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Heart rate monitors are next to useless when estimating caloric expenditure for anything other than steady state cardio.

    Quoted for emphasis.
  • lmr9
    lmr9 Posts: 628 Member
    Does your HRM have a chest strap?
  • lmr9
    lmr9 Posts: 628 Member
    Heart rate monitors are next to useless when estimating caloric expenditure for anything other than steady state cardio.

    I disagree. I think they are great.
  • Tffanie4712
    Tffanie4712 Posts: 115
    337 for a 30-some minute cardio workout for someone at a healthy BMI sounds about right. Most of us don't burn more than about 10 calories a minute at most, in tough cardio. For the P90X stuff, the HRM isn't really going to be too accurate, as has been mentioned.

    This
  • sirfatalx
    sirfatalx Posts: 3 Member
    Yes, I have the Polar FT7
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Heart rate monitors are next to useless when estimating caloric expenditure for anything other than steady state cardio.

    I disagree. I think they are great.

    The formulas used to calculate calorie estimates are specifically based on a known relationship between VO2 max and heart rate during moderate intensity steady state cardio activity with the exception of some high end models. Anything outside of that will affect accuracy.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/773451-is-my-hrm-giving-me-incorrect-calorie-burn
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1044313-this-is-why-hrms-have-limited-use-for-tracking-calories
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak?month=201003

    also this is very true as well
    337 for a 30-some minute cardio workout for someone at a healthy BMI sounds about right. Most of us don't burn more than about 10 calories a minute at most, in tough cardio. For the P90X stuff, the HRM isn't really going to be too accurate, as has been mentioned.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Heart rate monitors are next to useless when estimating caloric expenditure for anything other than steady state cardio.

    I disagree. I think they are great.

    Disagree all you want, if you read the user manual for most HRMs you will see what I paraphrased..........facts trump opinions.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Heart rate monitors are next to useless when estimating caloric expenditure for anything other than steady state cardio.

    I disagree. I think they are great.

    Disagree all you want, if you read the user manual for most HRMs you will see what I paraphrased..........facts trump opinions.

    Most manuals for HRMs hardly mention calories at all. That alone should tell you something ( i.e. it's more marketing than science).
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    I just bought a HRM. I completed a P90X workout doing just chest and back with ab ripper x, and burned about 370 calories. I guess it seemed correct because I really didn't do much cardio. I then did Insanity Pure Cardio about 2-3 hours after to test how much I would burn. At the end, it said I only burned 337 calories. To me, this just does not seem correct. I was nearly dying after my insanity workout, and my heart rate stated I was around 170-180 for most of it. Is it me or does this not seem right.

    I'm doing P90x3 and I wear a HRM during the workouts. Usually I get numbers in the 200s-300s for calorie burns. I know that there is a degree of interval training in the program that takes it away from being steady state cardio, but I personally need some estimation of calorie burns to enter into MFP. I found the MFP calorie burn estimates for my walks to be much lower than what I got on my HRM. My way of dealing with it is to just enter the calories into MFP and not eat all of them back. I'm getting plenty to eat and I'm losing weight, so something seems to be working. I figure you just need to do the best you can with what you have, and tweak as you go along to determine what the best estimates are for you.

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