Another HRM Question - Calories Burned

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slmckenzie
slmckenzie Posts: 22 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Sorry for all the questions, I'm still new at this and trying to figure it all out!

I should be getting my Polar FT4 in the mail today. However, I had a question with regards to the calories burned that are displayed after a workout session.

Let's say that my BMR is about 2400 calories / day. That would equate to 100 calories burned / hour. However, assume that I work out, and at the end of an hour-long workout session, my HRM shows that I burned 500 calories. The question is, what should I report to MFP for calories burned? Would it be 500 calories, or would it be 400 calories (calories burned - BMR)? Or does the HRM take into account the BMR, and subtract that from the calories burned that it displays to you, only displaying the "extra" calories that you've burned on top of your BMR?

Thanks!

Replies

  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
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    If your HRM shows 500 calories burned in an hour, you should log 400. But honestly, this will probably never make a big difference in your results unless you are doing somethign low-intensity for a long time -- like playing golf.
  • doll2002
    doll2002 Posts: 427
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    I report the 500 calories from the HRM.
  • patts83
    patts83 Posts: 3
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    Always wondered this and would be interested to see what other people come back with. I know that me and my mates from the gym would report what our Polar's say at end of workout without deducting anything.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Sorry for all the questions, I'm still new at this and trying to figure it all out!

    I should be getting my Polar FT4 in the mail today. However, I had a question with regards to the calories burned that are displayed after a workout session.

    Let's say that my BMR is about 2400 calories / day. That would equate to 100 calories burned / hour. However, assume that I work out, and at the end of an hour-long workout session, my HRM shows that I burned 500 calories. The question is, what should I report to MFP for calories burned? Would it be 500 calories, or would it be 400 calories (calories burned - BMR)? Or does the HRM take into account the BMR, and subtract that from the calories burned that it displays to you, only displaying the "extra" calories that you've burned on top of your BMR?

    Thanks!

    It would be the 400 if adding to a program such as MFP as MFP already accounts for maintenance calories in your caloric intake. That being said you should back out maintenance caloires not BMR. To get your maintenance to to your goals, on the top right it should read calories burned from daily activity. Take that number and divided by1440 to get cals burned per minute during the day. Then multiply that by the length in minutes of your workout and remove that from the HRM total.
  • jennmcpherson
    jennmcpherson Posts: 263 Member
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    The instructions that came with my Polar FT4 explained that it takes all of that into account so to log the calories showing, that's what I've been doing and it's working well for me.
  • crystaltrejo
    crystaltrejo Posts: 263 Member
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    I have a Polar FT4, love it, any questions let me know. I report the 500 then.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I report the 500 calories from the HRM.

    That would be total calories burned during the workout not extra calories burned. You would be double counting your maintenance calories for the duration of the exercise. This will only be an issue if you eat all of your exercise calories and/or the duration of your workout is over an hour.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    The instructions that came with my Polar FT4 explained that it takes all of that into account so to log the calories showing, that's what I've been doing and it's working well for me.

    Re-read it, the amount displayed or total calories burned during your workout, not extra calories burned due to working out.

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