Runtastic calorie calculation

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uscpsycho
uscpsycho Posts: 5 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm wondering how specific Runtastic comes when computing calories burned.

For instance, does it really take the activity into account or just the duration? For instance , if I am strength training or doing elliptical for 60 minutes, will the calorie burn estimation be the same or different for each type of exercise? I picked these two as examples because they are performed indoors so it takes GPS/distance out of the equation.

Also, if I use a heart rate monitor, is heart rate just logged for informational purposes or will it factor into the calorie burn calculation? For instance, if I strength train at low intensity for 60 minutes using a heart rate monitor, would that calculate a different calorie burn than if I trained at high intensity for 60 minutes?

I know it's never going to be perfect but I'm wondering what the algorithm considers when calculating calories burned.

If anyone knows I'm curious about the same thing for Endomondo, but as long as they don't support BLE I think I'm going to stick to Runtastic.

TIA!

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  • uscpsycho
    uscpsycho Posts: 5 Member
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    In case anyone else comes across this thread and is wondering I got the answer direct from Runtastic.

    They do not use heart rate in their calorie burn calculations. This seems like a MAJOR shortfall. However, they do take into account activity type & duration.

    I heard back from Digifit about this and when using a heart rate monitor iCardio almost exclusively relies on your heart rate to determine calories burned. That is how it should be for best accuracy.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    Saying that though the calories on Runtastic are normally within 10% of my Heart rate monitor. So in reality a pretty good margin for error. Even a HRM calorie account is in reality an estimate it's just using different algorithms to work it out. I think the thing is no matter how your working your calories out you need to realise that they won't be 100% so if your eating those calories back you may need some trial and error adjustment. As much as people would like to think it HRMs are not perfect they are a useful tool but still have their shortcomings
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    I'm wondering how specific Runtastic comes when computing calories burned.

    Usually Runtastic is very close to my HRM for my runs, although their GPS distance is off about a 1/2 mile per 5k I've noticed if you plan on tracking that.
    if I strength train at low intensity for 60 minutes using a heart rate monitor, would that calculate a different calorie burn than if I trained at high intensity for 60 minutes?

    A HRM will not come close to accurately guessing your calories burned for strength training. They are strictly for a steady state of cardio. Anybody using one otherwise will get a joker reading.

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