Pedometer vs HRM

Yesterday I went to Zumba with my heart rate monitor and was chatting with a friend about how it's so nice to burn 500-600 calories in an hour. He said "hundred? I burn thousands! My pedometer says so."

Sure enough at the end of the class my HRM said I'd burned 564 calories and his pedometer said he'd burned 3,400 calories. That can't be right can it? Even as a guy, he's only got maybe 50lbs on me.

Are pedometers that inaccurate when it comes to calorie count? Or do men really burn that many more calories than women?

Replies

  • hearthemelody
    hearthemelody Posts: 1,025 Member
    Especially if he has a super cheap pedometer it really is that innaccurate!
  • Robin_Brown72
    Robin_Brown72 Posts: 104 Member
    Is it even physically possible to burn 3400 calories in an hour? I don't think so....

    I also where an HRM when I go to Zumba and I burn anywhere between 500-550 calories :).
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    3400 is what you burn while climbing one day's leg of Mount Everest. An hour of Zumba ain't no Mount Everest
  • RoseGoldDinosaur
    RoseGoldDinosaur Posts: 133 Member
    Thanks guys! I don't think correcting him will help as he seems to be certain he's right, but glad to know investing in a HRM was a good call :)
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    i wouldn't go quite that far. his pedometer giving him a faulty reading is most likely operator error and bears no reflection on the accuracy or lack thereof of your hrm