Calories burned MFP vs HRM

jlzrdking
jlzrdking Posts: 501 Member
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I asked this question under a diffirent topic and it got lost so here is a new topic.



Last night at the gym I walked for 20mins at brisk pace 3.5 mph and then I did 20mins on a cardio/ski machine.

My HRM says I burned just under 800 calories and MFP says I burned 367.

I think what my HRM is telling me is too high on calories so I've been going with what MFP tells me i've burned.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need to read through my HRM book again and make sure I have it setup correctly.

I know the heart rate reading on my HRM is accurate because last night I would check it on the cardio machine and my HRM was dead on with the machine.

Oh and my HRM is a Timex with the chest strap.

Thanks

Replies

  • BrendaBlis
    BrendaBlis Posts: 165 Member
    I have the same question, my calories burned here were like 200+ less than what my treadmill told me.
  • deannarey13
    deannarey13 Posts: 452
    The HRM is likely correct.
  • lilttriana
    lilttriana Posts: 26
    I would defenitely go by what your HRM monitor says. MFP is a general for the exercise you are doing, it has no idea what your HR actually is throughout your workout time which is going to determine how many calories you actually burn.
  • AndreaWyland
    AndreaWyland Posts: 142 Member
    Thats the same hrm I have and I would go with the hrm as mfp doesnt have weather your a male/femal your weight, age, etc. and everyones body works at a dif pace, your hr etc. so thats why I would go with your hrm. To be sure Im not giving more cal than I should I subtract what I would have burned anyways sitting on the couch and its anywhere from 88 to100 depending on dif factors so I just go with 100/hr. Does that make sense? Good luck! Keep up the good work!
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
    The HRM is likely correct.

    Yep. HRM is monitoring YOU. The other calorie amounts are general estimates. HRM ought to trump all external methods of measurement, especially if you know for a fact that it's accurate. :)
  • Texasgirl05
    Texasgirl05 Posts: 52
    Have you changed the weight on your HRM. If you have lost weight you should change the weight setting on your HRM
  • ifiwasurvampire
    ifiwasurvampire Posts: 181 Member
    Go by your hrm. Mfp is way off on cals burned. I was shocked to see that I burn less than hald of what mfp says. Good luck!
  • Jacquelyn913
    Jacquelyn913 Posts: 300 Member
    I was wondering the same thing, I am glad I finally found a post about it! :flowerforyou:
  • jdelot
    jdelot Posts: 397 Member
    I always trust my HRM. We have a Sole e55 Elliptical at home and it can pickup my HR from my Timex HRM, but always computes my calories significantly lower than my Timex. Even though it is showing the same HR for the duration of the workout.
  • kblue2007
    kblue2007 Posts: 2,564 Member
    These are just my thoughts I can not speak with absolute certainty.
    I feel and have read that calories burned often depends on how much an individual weighs (i.e. the more you weigh the more calories you are going to burn during each workout session). So a person weighing 150lbs is going to burn more calories doing the same exercise as a person who weighs 100lbs.
    With that said and maybe someone can help me out, does MFP consider your weight when calculating calories burned?
    I do not always trust the gym equipments calories calculations, but if MFP does not take into account your weight, I would say that your HRM and gym equipment are probably more accurate.
    I know that doesn't answer your question completely, but hope it helps.
  • jlzrdking
    jlzrdking Posts: 501 Member
    OK this is good and bad, so last night I burned more calories than I thought.

    Bad news I didn't eat my calories back I was already short on them using MFP's calorie counter.

    I did get my heart rate up really high, about 170 my max is 180, and averaged 141 on last nights workout.

    Last night was the first time I had used the cardio machine I usually just walk/jog but the jogging is bothering my knee.

    Now I have another question, should I dial my calories back from 1950?
  • LeAnn_Mae
    LeAnn_Mae Posts: 263 Member
    I don't know what HRM you have but mine says about twice as many calories as MFP says. So I usually just split the difference.
  • LeAnn_Mae
    LeAnn_Mae Posts: 263 Member

    Oh and my HRM is a Timex with the chest strap.

    Thanks

    Oh ok I see you have the same HRM as I do. And I see that most people are saying trust the HRM. I would love to but it says I burned 1300 calories for an hour of the shred, elliptical and stationery bike. Not sure I can trust it or not but it sure would be nice to know I'm burning that much!
  • etherah
    etherah Posts: 83 Member
    Normally I would say to trust your HRM, but I had a weird thing happen to me the other day with mine. I was out walking the dog for about an hour at a moderately brisk pace and a few times my HRM said my heart rate was way over my target HR and it even read as high as 204bpm!! Now I know I wasn't having a heart attack and I'm certain my HR rate wasnt that high because I was barely breathing heavily. I've been doing CLX as my workout and my HR never gets that high and when it gets close, I'm sucking wind. On my walk I checked it a few times and it often would read over 170, then I'd readjust the chest strap and it would jump down to about 110-120, which is what it felt like my HR should be.

    So my advice would be to keep checking your HRM as you exercise to make sure the reading seems right.
  • jlzrdking
    jlzrdking Posts: 501 Member
    Have you changed the weight on your HRM. If you have lost weight you should change the weight setting on your HRM


    I just got and setup my HRM last week so I haven't needed to make any adjustments with weight..... yet
  • dnnmccloud
    dnnmccloud Posts: 124 Member
    Man I know this post is old, but I was wondering the exact same thing. I was ok with it being over a little, but double the amount of mfp makes me question it!!
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