Heart Rate monitors, Accurate?!

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Dhanupadmanabhan
Dhanupadmanabhan Posts: 30
in Fitness and Exercise
Can someone tell me why my Heart Rate monitor shows low calorie burn However, with the the Avg heart rate, if i calculate from the links on Google, its showing at least 200 calories more. not sure which one i should trust!! I use Geonaute 360 Heart rate monitor and with Insanity workout i push myself really hard and keep up with the workout throughout the one hour, however my heart rate monitor shows only 433 calories burn. my Avg heart rate today was 154 and Max 200 BPM and Avg Calorie burn 370 and Max Calorie burn 700 and net is 433 calories, confused!! It would be great if someone help me understand. PS: i have entered my age, height and weight into the monitor correctly.


From the links on Google i find the calorie burn for my Avg heart rate for my age, height and weight it shows 610 to 678

Replies

  • draco706
    draco706 Posts: 174 Member
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    Can you program for gender? That might make a difference.
  • Dhanupadmanabhan
    Dhanupadmanabhan Posts: 30
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    Hi,

    Yes, i can program for gender in the monitor. Still the calories seem to be low. It lets me set the minimum and max heart rate. Does that make a difference. I am 30, 126 lbs, 5.4" inches. what should those be..any idea??
  • lorfuent21
    lorfuent21 Posts: 7 Member
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    I'm having the same issue with my heart rate monitor!

    Worked out for 33 minutes, average heart rate was 179 bpm and yet it says I only burned 54 calories....no idea if that's accurate or not!
  • Polarpaly05
    Polarpaly05 Posts: 74 Member
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    HRMs are not made for high intensity training. They are made for steady state cardio. You will not get an accurate reading from your monitor.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
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    Your HRM is using a simple calculation:
    ((-20.4022 + (0.4472 x HR) - (0.1263 x W) + (0.074 x A))/4.184) x 60 x T

    HR=avg HR
    W=mass in kg
    A=age in years
    T=time in hours

    Which means you burned about 625 KCal. IMHO, your HRM is wrong.

    It's not a totally accurate calculation, but OK for +/- 1 standard deviation. A calculation via VO2Max is much more accurate, but you'd have to find your VO2Max first (unless you've got a Garmin FR620, that's the only watch I know that will roughly measure it)
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Can someone tell me why my Heart Rate monitor shows low calorie burn However, with the the Avg heart rate, if i calculate from the links on Google, its showing at least 200 calories more. not sure which one i should trust!! I use Geonaute 360 Heart rate monitor and with Insanity workout i push myself really hard and keep up with the workout throughout the one hour, however my heart rate monitor shows only 433 calories burn. my Avg heart rate today was 154 and Max 200 BPM and Avg Calorie burn 370 and Max Calorie burn 700 and net is 433 calories, confused!! It would be great if someone help me understand. PS: i have entered my age, height and weight into the monitor correctly.


    From the links on Google i find the calorie burn for my Avg heart rate for my age, height and weight it shows 610 to 678

    Are those net or gross calorie burns?
  • qtgonewild
    qtgonewild Posts: 1,930 Member
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    Your HRM is using a simple calculation:
    ((-20.4022 + (0.4472 x HR) - (0.1263 x W) + (0.074 x A))/4.184) x 60 x T

    HR=avg HR
    W=mass in kg
    A=age in years
    T=time in hours

    Which means you burned about 625 KCal. IMHO, your HRM is wrong.

    It's not a totally accurate calculation, but OK for +/- 1 standard deviation. A calculation via VO2Max is much more accurate, but you'd have to find your VO2Max first (unless you've got a Garmin FR620, that's the only watch I know that will roughly measure it)

    impressive. i like it.
  • michael_j_w
    michael_j_w Posts: 28
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    I have a Lifetrak c300. I have to check my heart rate during a workout multiple times every 10min or so. That should give you a better idea of cals burned during workout.
  • Dhanupadmanabhan
    Dhanupadmanabhan Posts: 30
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    Thank You All, I was worried if i wasn't pushing myself hard. This calculation seems reasonable. I remember burning lot more than 400 calories for a moderate to high intentity running on the treadmill. Insanity is a lot harder and I push myself to my limits and the workout is longer. Its gotta be my HRM.
  • Dhanupadmanabhan
    Dhanupadmanabhan Posts: 30
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    Hi Michael,

    I am not sure how checking you calorie burn in between helps??
  • Dhanupadmanabhan
    Dhanupadmanabhan Posts: 30
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    Thank You for the information, I shall try this calculation.
  • ashleyblossom1
    ashleyblossom1 Posts: 699 Member
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    Your HRM is using a simple calculation:
    ((-20.4022 + (0.4472 x HR) - (0.1263 x W) + (0.074 x A))/4.184) x 60 x T

    HR=avg HR
    W=mass in kg
    A=age in years
    T=time in hours

    Which means you burned about 625 KCal. IMHO, your HRM is wrong.

    It's not a totally accurate calculation, but OK for +/- 1 standard deviation. A calculation via VO2Max is much more accurate, but you'd have to find your VO2Max first (unless you've got a Garmin FR620, that's the only watch I know that will roughly measure it)

    Totally off topic but that's sexy. Men and math. :heart:
  • joehempel
    joehempel Posts: 1,761 Member
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    It's a good question and one that I find incredibly hard to answer.

    Yes, it's a simple calculation for most things. The Polar is generally the one people lean towards for the most accurate calculation. At least in the low-mid range models.

    I own the Polar FT4 and have been playing around with my MAX settings. I think I have it set right at 205, I'm 35, male and 5'9" at 178lbs, but it took me some time and testing to find my max.

    For instance, during Insanity I worked out for 60 minutes during MAX Interval Circuit, and I burned 1002 calories....now, that was only ONE workout. I believe I burned every bit of that too.

    However, when I ran at a leisurely pace of 10:20 for 3.25 miles, I burned like 600 calories because my HR was averaging 175 (yes that's leisurely for me), and I don't believe that I burned that many AT ALL.

    I know this post doesn't really help answer your question, but it's my experience with 60 days of a HR Monitor

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