which is more accurate? the monitor or machine you are pound

mom23nuts
mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
just got a heart rate monitor with chest strap....so what is more accurate the monitor or the machine you enter all you personal data into and then workout on. neither # matches and then someone told me that the machines are usually overestimating your calories and stuff vs the monitor...

So confused
Help!!

Replies

  • hikingmonk
    hikingmonk Posts: 134 Member
    Almost always the HR monitor will be more accurate. Which heart rate model did you get?
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    polar ft7 and it is easy to use so far but my fat burn is not so good that was another tiopic I had question on...how to access more fat burn in the workout is it just doing an exercise that gets my heart rate intot he 60-70% range adn staying there or is it working out longer someone said after 22 minutes you start to access more fat....today I worked out 72 min at cardio and only 9 min was fat burn
  • ElizabethRPh
    ElizabethRPh Posts: 19 Member
    I just purchased one from CVS. It seems to be monitoring everything else just fine but the calories on it read "64" after I ran 2 miles in under 30 min!? Are they measuring just fat cals?
  • traceyrbb
    traceyrbb Posts: 39 Member
    I would like to read more information on the HRM too....sounds discouraging from what you are saying it's burning. I read so much on the community pages and everyone says something different about everything so it gets confusing! UGH!
  • HoLLyZ82
    HoLLyZ82 Posts: 467 Member
    BUMP
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    I did a lot of research before I bought this one and asked around to people who had one

    went to ****s Sporting goods to see and try the ones they have on display too...the sales guy there said the best thing about Polar is you can change the battery yourself the others you usually have to send back to the company to have the battery replaced.

    the trainer at the gym also said the less bells and whistles to mess up during a workout the better and the chest strap is key for accuacy and your monitor to be individual to you and not be in a room full of other people working out and getting cross signals from other devices that mess your up.
  • ElizabethRPh
    ElizabethRPh Posts: 19 Member
    I just purchased one from CVS. It seems to be monitoring everything else just fine but the calories on it read "64" after I ran 2 miles in under 30 min!? Are they measuring just fat cals?
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    maybe because 64 doesn't sound right at all....I did 37 min 3 miles and 405 calories
  • mkennedym
    mkennedym Posts: 253 Member
    go with what the heart rate monitor is telling you. calories expended is a function of oxygen consumption (as well as some other things like blood circulation and hormone production and the like) and your heart rate and oxygen intake increase when you are exercising. the heart rate monitor measures your changing heart rate and estimates how many calories are required to keep up with biochemical processes in your body. the machine you are using (treadmill, eliptical, or whatever) cannot keep track of these processes unless you are connected to it via a heart rate monitor.

    thus, the machine you are using is much less accurate in its determination of how many calories you are using during exercise, while the heart rate monitor is much more accurate.
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    thanks so much that clers up my 1st question....you seem like you know quite a bit want to tackle another one...how do I access more fat burn in the workout is it just lowering my heart rate and staying at 60-70% target heart rate or is it time served on the maching of choice someone said after 22 min I soulf access fat burn but I dis 1 hr 12 min today and only got 9 min fat burn..so that blows that theory
  • HoLLyZ82
    HoLLyZ82 Posts: 467 Member
    i found this article. you may or may not find it helpful but it gives great advice on the HIIT and what happens to burn fat :)

    http://www.notyouraveragefitnesstips.com/best-workout-routines/best-cardio-for-weight-loss-hiit-workout-routine
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    thanks for that it makes a lot of sense so is spinning a HIIT workout?
  • mkennedym
    mkennedym Posts: 253 Member
    thanks so much that clers up my 1st question....you seem like you know quite a bit want to tackle another one...how do I access more fat burn in the workout is it just lowering my heart rate and staying at 60-70% target heart rate or is it time served on the maching of choice someone said after 22 min I soulf access fat burn but I dis 1 hr 12 min today and only got 9 min fat burn..so that blows that theory

    you are burning fat during all parts of your workout. i'm not quite sure what your monitor is telling you.

    read this
    http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/busting-the-great-myths-of-fat-burning.html

    it makes a better argument than i can. basically you are burning fat all the time. when you exercise, you burn carbs for fast energy but over the course of your workout your metabolism shifts to burn mostly fat. so if you are running for 20 minutes your body at 20 minutes is burning a higher ratio of fat to carbs than it was at 5 minutes.

    either way, your body is burning calories, and the goal to weight loss is to burn more calories in a 24 hour period than you are consuming, so no matter what you are burning, if the number of calories burned is higher than the number consumed, you will lose weight (and look slimmer, which is what i'm guessing you want to look).
  • HoLLyZ82
    HoLLyZ82 Posts: 467 Member
    im pretty sure you could make any exercise into a HIIT session. As long as when you are spinning you are having those strong bursts and then doing an active recovery...over and over and over again ;) I just recently started doing this and it DOES kick your butt.
  • hikingmonk
    hikingmonk Posts: 134 Member
    Here's a blurb I pulled off the Polar forums. BTW, Polar does not publish the formula they use for calculating calories (or at least that seemed to be what I read in the forums). The OwnCal on the FT7 uses body weight, height, age, gender, individual maximum heart rate (HRmax) & heart rate during exercise.
    Calorie expenditure during exercise is dependent on exercise intensity and duration as well as body weight of the exerciser and the amount of muscles involved in the exercise. In Polar heart rate monitors the calorie calculation is based on exercise heart rate, body weight and gender or individual VO2max and HRmax (measured or predicted) along with exercise heart rate and body weight (depending on the model). OwnCal

    In exercise machines the calorie calculation is based on mechanical work and possible demographic variables of the exerciser (usually weight).

    The above two methods estimates calorie expenditure. The only ways to measure calorie expenditure for sure is laboratory respiratory gas analysis or respiratory chamber measurement.

    Anyway, here is a link to a document concerning the development of Polar OwnCal feature. I hope you will find it useful: Scientific development and evaluation of the Polar OwnCal/OwnCalS feature
  • hikingmonk
    hikingmonk Posts: 134 Member
    If your FT7 isn't calculating calories correctly, make sure the profile is correct (age, weight, height, etc). Maybe it didn't get saved on the watch for some reason.

    It could also be that the connection from the strap to the watch was cutting out, or that the connection between the strap and your chest was intermittent. For the later you could use some electrode gel. Some people find they need it to make a good connection, but most of us sweat enough. Other than that, take it back or contact Polar.
  • Homer3D
    Homer3D Posts: 318
    I went running with my HRM while using my iPhone with the RunKeeper app. After my 3 mile jog, i found that the HRM and the iPhone app was only about 30 cals off. The HRM would be the most accurate because it has real time monitor of my heart rate so its calculations should be better. But I was pleasantly surprised that free app on my phone was pretty close.
  • hikingmonk
    hikingmonk Posts: 134 Member
    I also wanted to agree with mkennedym. Don't worry too much about percentage of calories burned being fat or other.

    Just push yourself as hard as you safely can, while being to recovery completely before your next workout.

    Also, Holly is spot on with HIIT. For spin class, you might have to ignore what the instructor is saying, but yes you can easily turn it into a HIIT session. If you ask the instructor they may even tailor a class to be HIIT.
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
    thanks all...i am really pushing myself pretty hard and doing as much extra as I possibly can to see a difference....guess these last 30 are going to be very stubborn in going away.
This discussion has been closed.