inaccurate cardio records?

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firesnake7
firesnake7 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all!
So i have slipped up and eaten too much on some days and been dumb and drank wine, but over all my diet is good and i am slowly losing weight.
I am finding though that maybe the cardio listings aren't accurate - I suppose it depends for everyone really based on their metabolisms etc....but I am always concerned that I may not be burning off as much as the cardio records think, or in the case of Les Mills RPM classes it doesn't list as many calories as I really burn (e.g. it has 300 calories for 35 odd minutes, i would do about 500).
- Does everyone use a heart rate monitor for real results, or just use the records as a rough guide?
- i also think i am going to try to cut back more on my calorie intake to see if it helps. I run at about 1250 and work out with intensive cardio almost every day (cycling, spinning classes, walking, weights/pilates/les mills classes).

Replies

  • icrushit
    icrushit Posts: 773 Member
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    Personally, I don't trust any single source for calorie burns for exercise, but instead cross-reference several, and see what the consensus is. If in doubt, err on the side of caution, and if you're doing the same exercises over a period of time, and you track your data, you'll probably get an idea if your calorie burn figures are off noticeably. Hope this helps :smile:
  • Spanander
    Spanander Posts: 16
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    I think the most accurate thing to use would be a heartrate monitor. Still though, it should only be a rough guide, which I think is good enough. Obsessing too much over how much you've burned isn't good :)
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I use a HRM

    but when I was using MFP database I would cut them in half
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Most people cut them in half. This gives room for miscalculation, both in logging and overestimation of exercise.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    firesnake7 wrote: »
    Does everyone use a heart rate monitor for real results, or just use the records as a rough guide?
    - i also think i am going to try to cut back more on my calorie intake to see if it helps. I run at about 1250 and work out with intensive cardio almost every day (cycling, spinning classes, walking, weights/pilates/les mills classes).

    Pick an approach and stick with it, then tune your treatment as you need to. If you find you're losing slower than planned then compensate by consuming a little less, similarly if you're losing faster than planned then increase calorie consumption.

    No method is "accurate" per se, they all have weaknesses.

    Note that regardless of the mindless mantra of HRM on here, for the type of exercise most people do they're probably as inaccurate as just using the database.
  • pinkiezoom
    pinkiezoom Posts: 409 Member
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    I use a HRM too, and the difference between what i burn on that and MFP is very different, my HRM is much lower numbers, this is what i use, but i rarely eat back my cals so in the big scheme of things doesn't matter that much to me. My HRM also gives lower readings than the gym equipment too.
    Plus I take off what calories I would have burnt just sitting on the sofa for an hour for the hour I exercise.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    Most people cut them in half. This gives room for miscalculation, both in logging and overestimation of exercise.

    Most people? Really?
    I've never seen a survey on this issue. Ate all mine back and they were absolutely delicious.
  • m_o_
    m_o_ Posts: 40 Member
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    I have just started using a heart rate monitor. I was very annoyed to see that my equipment was low balling my numbers. It's a love/hate relationship right now because my heart rate monitor also has a training program integrated into it and this week it wants me to go at lower rates which I find harder to do.
  • firesnake7
    firesnake7 Posts: 3
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    cool thanks everyone! i think maybe just make sure i don't eat 1500 calories a day even if i work out a lot. if i try to stick to 1250 i should lose faster. :) i am losing weight and anyway i love exercise so that is never a problem! good idea with HRM though :) cheers all!!

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