Swimming - calories and an HRM that works in the water

indigo_swirl
indigo_swirl Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
When I use my Polar HRM in the pool, it frequently doesn't work (registers 00) or is ridiculous (25), which means that my calories are off. Anyone have an HRM that they use in the pool that's reliable? I am also wondering if it's normal for swimming calories to be so low - I'm not sure if it's the HRM being wonky or what, but sometimes swimming barely registers as a calorie burn, even though I'm exhausted when I'm done.

TIA!

Replies

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    polar ft7.

    I had to buy a second chest strap and that did the deal.
  • rstorjohann
    rstorjohann Posts: 3
    I use the Polar Loop, too, but I don't use it anymore for swimming because of this problem. It calculated my 1.5 mile swim as 400 steps...ugh! I went to get the Polar FT 7, but found out that the bluetooth does not work in the water (so it won't sync to your Loop) and it can short out in the water too. The reason your Loop doesn't register accurately in the water without an HRM is because it doesn't have any kind of setting for swimming, so it doesn't recognize that you're doing something other than walking or resting, particularly if your stroke is very fluid. Even with an HRM, you won't get 100% accurate information from the Loop because it doesn't have any built-in system for recognizing swimming activity vs. running. You probably are burning significantly more calories swimming than doing other activity because it is a full-body resistance workout, but your band doesn't know that your entire body is getting that work out. Even with an HRM, your band won't be able to tell the difference between swimming and running, even though they are very different workouts and they affect your body differently.

    So, now I use my Loop for daily tracking steps, etc., and I use a TomTom Multisport for swimming. The Multisport is amazing. It is a GPS watch and it tracks everything when you swim (or run, or cycle). For my swims, it tracks my distance, pace, duration, length, swolf and calories burned--SUPER accurately. You can set your own pool length (mine is 25 m) and that is how it calculates when you've done a length. You can also set all kinds of training goals...the distance you want to swim, or the length of time you want to swim, or even calories you want to burn with your swim. It really is an amazing tool for swimmers and I highly recommend it if you are serious about getting the most out of your time in the water.

    You can also get the Multisport with a built-in HRM, but again, it may not work well in water. Make sure you do your research well before taking any HRM in water because even ones that claim water-resistance can short in the water and others won't have the bluetooth capability to connect to your Loop. The company puts warnings in several of their devices labeled for water-resistance about shorting out in the pool.

    Hope this helps...

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