My HRM was way off!

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johnsscarlett
johnsscarlett Posts: 109 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I bought a Sportline HRM at target ($50.) a few weeks ago and have been going by what it said. Big mistake! I was a little suspicious because it was way higher than the eliptical machine at the gym. For instance My hrm said 780 burned in one hour the gyms machine said 546. Yesterday I bought another hrm. This time I got a polar F6 because I had been reading so much about them on the site. Here is the Skinny on my adventure. I get on the scale this morning and I have gained 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I went to the gym this morning and used my polar HRM and it said 445 burned in 1 hour! that is a huge difference for me. That means I have been eating close to 300 extra calories a day. I workout 6 days a week so it's not a wonder that I gained. But I will not be discouraged. I will trust this new one and hope it works. Something has to work. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a nightmare I can't get out of. I will not give up though. Has anyone else had a similar experience with their hrm?

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  • johnsscarlett
    johnsscarlett Posts: 109 Member
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    I bought a Sportline HRM at target ($50.) a few weeks ago and have been going by what it said. Big mistake! I was a little suspicious because it was way higher than the eliptical machine at the gym. For instance My hrm said 780 burned in one hour the gyms machine said 546. Yesterday I bought another hrm. This time I got a polar F6 because I had been reading so much about them on the site. Here is the Skinny on my adventure. I get on the scale this morning and I have gained 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I went to the gym this morning and used my polar HRM and it said 445 burned in 1 hour! that is a huge difference for me. That means I have been eating close to 300 extra calories a day. I workout 6 days a week so it's not a wonder that I gained. But I will not be discouraged. I will trust this new one and hope it works. Something has to work. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a nightmare I can't get out of. I will not give up though. Has anyone else had a similar experience with their hrm?
  • rheston
    rheston Posts: 638
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    I personally don't trust the calculators on the machines or websites so I try to balance my exercise and eating habits by "feel" while using the statistics I post to MFP along with MFP's suggested calorie intake to find a level where I continue to eat healthy and still lose weight.

    Using a HRM is probably the better tool to use because its supposed to provide a realistic calorie burn rate based on your exercise routine. The reason I don't trust these devices in general and the plethora of calculators that either come with the machines we work out on or those we find on the web is because they all have so many ways to calculate your work out and I have yet to find many that come close to a realistic assessment of what my exercise has really accomplished.
  • jadaigle
    jadaigle Posts: 161 Member
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    Make sure you have entered your personal information into the HRM. It will base its calorie expenditure on your height, weight, age and heart rate. Also make sure that it is registering your heart rate. Mine is a Polar F11, which is coded so it won't tell me that my heart rate is really that of the person next to me; it measures my HR only. But when I swim, it often zeros out so it will record a 30 minute swim as 0 calories. Just check it every once in awhile to see if it is giving you a reading. If not, adjust the chest strap.
  • StrawberryMargarita
    StrawberryMargarita Posts: 442
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    I bought a Sportline HRM at target ($50.) a few weeks ago and have been going by what it said. Big mistake! I was a little suspicious because it was way higher than the eliptical machine at the gym. For instance My hrm said 780 burned in one hour the gyms machine said 546. Yesterday I bought another hrm. This time I got a polar F6 because I had been reading so much about them on the site. Here is the Skinny on my adventure. I get on the scale this morning and I have gained 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I went to the gym this morning and used my polar HRM and it said 445 burned in 1 hour! that is a huge difference for me. That means I have been eating close to 300 extra calories a day. I workout 6 days a week so it's not a wonder that I gained. But I will not be discouraged. I will trust this new one and hope it works. Something has to work. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a nightmare I can't get out of. I will not give up though. Has anyone else had a similar experience with their hrm?

    Thanks for sharing that info, I have been reading all the stuff on the site lately to and have been shopping around. I am pretty sure I am getting the F6 also, but like the F11, but no one around here has one to check out. Still looking. I think I am going to order from their site because they don't charge tax or shipping or both, and everyone around here seems to charge the same price. Anyone find it cheaper?:flowerforyou:
    SM
  • shorerider
    shorerider Posts: 3,817 Member
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    Got my F6 off amazon.com for $103.

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