Calories with my HRM

larose05
larose05 Posts: 186 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone,

I just got a Polar FT4 (birthday gift!) and I'm a little confused by the calories burned. I ran on my elliptical for 15 mins and then did 15 mins of leg exercises. My HRM said I burned 360 calories, Is this right? I want to eat back at least 75% of my calories but I don't want to eat too many. Should I go by my HRM or should I say that is 25% too high?

Thanks!

Replies

  • larose05
    larose05 Posts: 186 Member
    Bump
  • Rayman79
    Rayman79 Posts: 2,009 Member
    You must have had a good pace on the eliptical to get that sort of burn, but depending on your size and fitness level it doesn't sound too wildly off.

    Once you take off your BMR calories, probably around 50 or so, you can eat the rest back. If your exercise and nutrition are pretty consistent, you will be able to judge your progress over a couple of weeks and adjust your intake slightly up or down as needed then.

    FYI, the BMR calories are what you would have burned had you just been sitting on the sofa instead of exercising and are already factored into your daily allowance. This is not a big deal for short bursts of exercise like this, but it can make a big difference on something like a long walk.
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    What were your leg exercises? The HRM is only accurate for steady state cardio (like the elliptical). If you're doing strength training, it's not going to give you an accurate number. In addition, you need to take off your BMR calories like the previous poster mentioned.

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