10 reasons to get a heart rate monitor

I like the Max HR calculator. Last year the 220 - Age gave me 161 BPM. Riding my bike I recorded 171 BPM. I was happy with the extra 10 BPM since it allowed me a little more wiggle room in my zone settings. (Before I just didn't feel like I was working hard enough.)

According to this calculator a year later, I now get 174 BPM as a max. I'll take it.

That article is incredibly poor and clearly written by someone who clearly doesn't know anything about HRMs and how to use them!

Just about the only parts I agreed with are these:

"Burning calories isn't the point of EVERY physical activity."

"Just because I'm sweating, that doesn't mean I'm doing a really tough cardio workout."

lnteresting. So 8 or 9 of the 10 points listed are wrong and ridicule-worthy. In the order listed:

10.The calories-burned counter on exercise machines is so inaccurate, it's practically useless
9. Most of the time, I'm not really trying that hard.
8. But sometimes, I do too much.
7. Using exercise to "burn off that dessert" is damn near impossible and misses the point.
6. It's the ups and downs that burn the most calories.
5. A lot of everyday activities are as good as exercise when it comes to calorie burning.
4. Just because I'm sweating, that doesn't mean I'm doing a really tough cardio workout.
3. Burning calories isn't the point of EVERY physical activity.
2. The more weight I lose, the fewer calories I burn. The stronger I get, the fewer calories I burn.
1. Motivation comes in many forms.


I thought some of them were better than others, but they all seemed like valid points. Guess I'm just not as smart as some of you guys,

Jim - if you keep in mind that a HRM counts heartbeats and calories are a unit of energy you see most of the points above are either nonsensical or just hyperbole.

This is a good example: "The more weight I lose, the fewer calories I burn. The stronger I get, the fewer calories I burn."

First bit is right but not because the HRM says so. The second part "The stronger I get, the fewer calories I burn" is complete rubbish! What she really means is the stronger/fitter I get the lower my heart rate is so my HRM indicates a lower calorie burn. In fact if you are producing more power through greater strength or able to maintain a higher intensity of exercise for longer (fitness/endurance) you will be able to burn more calories - it's just that heart rate does not equal calories.

HRMs are a great cardio training aid but not an accurate measure of calories expended. Rough estimate under certain circumstances would be a better description.

Sijomial, I appreciate the explanation. That makes sense, especially your last paragraph. If somebody comes up with a better guesstimator, I'm getting one. Provided that they're reasonably priced, of course.