WHICH is right HRM or gym - such a difference

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vdub88
vdub88 Posts: 79
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently purchased a HRM in order to really get my heart rate up and track how long I am keeping it there. Today was the first day when I used it at the gym. It says that I burned 1647 calories. according to gym equipment i burned 898. to me this is a huge difference I have been logging gym equipment for months. each piece asks me for my weight so does my hrm so what the deal? I did not expect such a huge difference. I don't get it

HELP

Replies

  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    what type of HRM do you have? does it have a chest strap?
  • Aeriel
    Aeriel Posts: 864 Member
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    Most gym equipment is calibrated for men, and does not read your heart rate constantly. I even find my treadmill really low balls my HR when I try to get a reading.

    A HRM with a chest strap, that you enter age, weight, height and gender is the most accurate.

    Oh and don't worry if the gym equipment was reading low. It is better to have been entering a smaller number, than to have been thinking you were burning more than you were.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    I think gym equipment that only asks for weight and not height is ineffective.
    I'm 156lbs but I'm 5'10
    someone who is 156 lbs but is 5'0 is going to burn more calories than i am.
  • PaulC9554
    PaulC9554 Posts: 117 Member
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    I have questioned the same, so I bought myself a HRM.
    (I posted this on another thread a while ago)
    Here's the results from todays activities: two machines, Elliptical trainer and Treadclimber, 30 mins on each
    Elliptical 508 cals, MFP 644 cals, HRM 283 cals
    Treadclimber 784 cals, MFP 414 cals, HRM 260 Cals
    A range between 543 cals to 1292 cals. If I were to follow the guidelines about eating exercise cals potentially I could have been eating way over my daily allowance.
    So which to believe? I'm going with the HRM. At least I've a number to input here for exercise and I'll be able to handle these extra cals. Prevoiusly, at the end of some days I'd still have several 100 cals left to eat.
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,272 Member
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    I had a fitness instructor that told me the machines are calibrated to give an average readout based on your weight and age. They are not accurate indicators calories burned, etc. because each of us is unique. It's a ball park figure to guide you along the way. Follow your heart rate monitor readings...
  • Jlcory
    Jlcory Posts: 6
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    I usually go by the gym equipment since part of the calorie calculation is the resistance (like level 1 to 20) and incline that you're at on the machine and there's no way to enter that specific information into MFP or HRM.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I think gym equipment that only asks for weight and not height is ineffective.
    I'm 156lbs but I'm 5'10
    someone who is 156 lbs but is 5'0 is going to burn more calories than i am.

    Mass is mass. Standard prediction equations (e.g. those from the American College of Sports Medicine) do not include height as a factor.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I recently purchased a HRM in order to really get my heart rate up and track how long I am keeping it there. Today was the first day when I used it at the gym. It says that I burned 1647 calories. according to gym equipment i burned 898. to me this is a huge difference I have been logging gym equipment for months. each piece asks me for my weight so does my hrm so what the deal? I did not expect such a huge difference. I don't get it

    HELP

    Your HRM calorie number is way off. I don't know what brand you have, but the only I time I have ever seen numbers like that is when someone mistakenly chooses metric units and enters their weight as, for example, 200 kilograms rather than 200 pounds.

    Here is one thing you can try. Set up a treadmill with your weight and try walking at 3.0 mph and a 6% elevation (don't hold on to the handrails). You should be burning about 9 calories per minute at that workload. Do that for at least 15 min and check the total with your HRM. You should be at about 135 calories after 15 min (give or take a few). If your HRM is way off, then you need to check your setup first.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    I burn a lot less per my FitBit (measures motion similar to the Wii) than the gym machines/MFP say. This is probably why I wasn't losing weight while using those numbers. I am losing now.
  • vdub88
    vdub88 Posts: 79
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    thanks for all the replies - I do have a chest strap and was shocked at the calorie count. I will admit the gym and the heart rate monitor were both calculating the same heart rates while i exercised which was a plus. burning that many calories is just nbot possible. i plan on going with the gym equipment as it is lower heart monitor I will use to target how long I spend in the zone and my desired burn rates.
  • ziggythecat
    ziggythecat Posts: 62 Member
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    dealing with the same thing. my chest transmitter apparently will transmit to the elliptical machine I was on today. Heart rate on the machine matched what was on the monitor itself. There was a difference of about 150 calories. Wish I could find out which to believe.

    HRM - Sportline SX Universal Combo
    Elliptical - Lifestyles (don't know anything other than that)

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