My new Polar - holy cow!

nightangelstars
nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so I just got my new polar heart rate monitor yesterday, and I was all excited to wear it to my Turbo Kick class tonight. I wanted to see all the stats (I'm a nerd for numbers some days) and I found that my heart rate tended to run a little high during the more active first half hour (every time I glanced down it was somewhere between 165 and 180, and it was usually blinking at me to slow down).

I also found that despite this, I didn't burn nearly as many calories as I thought I did! In 42 min (about 30 of which was the active jumping-around punching and kicking part, the last 10 of which was ab exercises and stretching) I only burned 377 cals. The secondhand calorie info I got from another website and plugged in here had me at over 450 for the same time period, which means I've been overestimating my burned calories by a hundred calories all semester long! :noway: No wonder I felt like I was on a plateau!

I am SOOO glad I got this HRM, I can already tell it's going to make a big difference in my efforts here (not to mention it's going to encourage me to work out, just because I love playing with new gadgets).

Lesson learned!

Replies

  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
    Ok so I just got my new polar heart rate monitor yesterday, and I was all excited to wear it to my Turbo Kick class tonight. I wanted to see all the stats (I'm a nerd for numbers some days) and I found that my heart rate tended to run a little high during the more active first half hour (every time I glanced down it was somewhere between 165 and 180, and it was usually blinking at me to slow down).

    I also found that despite this, I didn't burn nearly as many calories as I thought I did! In 42 min (about 30 of which was the active jumping-around punching and kicking part, the last 10 of which was ab exercises and stretching) I only burned 377 cals. The secondhand calorie info I got from another website and plugged in here had me at over 450 for the same time period, which means I've been overestimating my burned calories by a hundred calories all semester long! :noway: No wonder I felt like I was on a plateau!

    I am SOOO glad I got this HRM, I can already tell it's going to make a big difference in my efforts here (not to mention it's going to encourage me to work out, just because I love playing with new gadgets).

    Lesson learned!
  • jenninsocal
    jenninsocal Posts: 419
    Isn't it such an eye opener! The same thing happened to me. I am so glad I got one. I know the averaging and calculators are great, and for some people they may be super accurate, but I just feel better using the HRM
  • licia67
    licia67 Posts: 109
    I found that I was overestimating by about 200 calories, I love my HRM :smile:
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
    i always found tht the site and the machine overestimate the calories burned,,

    on top of it i think a lot of people forget to substract the calories they would have burned sitting on the couch if they hadnt worked out.. i think you have to eat back only the extra calories that you burned out.

    i also noticed that my heart rate was way too high when i worked out... since i have my hrm i have totaly changed my workouts.. it makes so much sense... when i do the elliptical. instead of going as fast as i can .. i do it for as long as i can at the top of my max hr.. so instead of 15 min.. i do 45 or 60..
    i work out at a lesser intensity but for longuer. higher % of fat burned as well..

    a hrm is a great eye opener !
  • ticky
    ticky Posts: 38 Member
    My birthday is this month. My husband has been bugging me about what I want. FINALLY a great gift that I really need!

    I take a kickboxing class. The calculator estimates I burn about 500 cals, and my instructor says we burn 800. I can't wait to see what I'm actually burning!
  • lkt11170
    lkt11170 Posts: 9
    I bought myself a Polar F6 for my birthday, and I love it.
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
    My birthday is this month. My husband has been bugging me about what I want. FINALLY a great gift that I really need!

    I take a kickboxing class. The calculator estimates I burn about 500 cals, and my instructor says we burn 800. I can't wait to see what I'm actually burning!

    Yeah my instructor says we burn big calories too, but she's usually not real specific. At the beginning she said we could burn up to 700, I think. The HRM is really eye-opening! (on the other hand, I may have been burning more at the beginning when I was heavier and in worse shape, my HR feels like it's gone down, anyway). Good luck, hope you get what you want for your b-day! :flowerforyou:
  • juanitagf
    juanitagf Posts: 22
    I agree. All the sites really over estimate how many calories I burn in exercise. I love having a HRM to help me track more closely. I love the stats, too...
  • LandBsdotingchauffeur
    LandBsdotingchauffeur Posts: 237
    At that HR, I believe you're in the endurance area for beats/minute. Your heart is building endurance so you can go longer, stronger in the long run...it's not the maximum calorie burning range though. I believe that's from 140-155ish. When I'm running and my HR gets in the 165-170 range I don't burn nearly the amount of calories that I do when I slow it down and run with my HR in the 150 range. If you slow it down and lower your HR a bit you might see more calories burned!!
    Heidi
  • ironweber717
    ironweber717 Posts: 49
    Congrates on the purchase. I truly believe in them. I also got a book on training with a HRM which was very interesting to read how to maximize your workouts.
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