Polar FT4 accuracy?

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HappyHealthyMe87
HappyHealthyMe87 Posts: 22 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How accurate is this? I got one for Christmas. I entered all my details (F, 5ft 5, 27yrs, 215lbs).... After an hour of doing not much, it said I burnt 200cals?? This seems a lot?

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  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Accurate for what?

    As a Heart Rate Monitor it's pretty accurate, although suffers from the disadvantage of not being able to associate that HR rescord with other training metrics.

    As a calorie expenditure guestimator, depends what sort of training you do and whether you're using it for what it's designed to do?

    I take it that when you say you used it for an hour of "not much" you just wore it for normal background activity, in which case you're not using it for what it's designed for and it will overestimate as a result.
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,255 Member
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    I have the polar FT4 as well and only use it for extra's -- If I am exercising, going for an unusually long walk, jog....etc. That type of HRM isn't meant for all day wear.
    I find it pretty accurate for stuff that is above and beyond my norm. For day to day stuff and just to wear to do not much I have my Fitbit One.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    WarmDontBurn wrote: »
    .... going for an unusually long walk,

    Even for walking the heart rate doesn't get high enough for the calorie guestimate to be meaningful. It's not being used in the designed range of operation so it'll overestimate.
  • WarmDontBurn
    WarmDontBurn Posts: 1,255 Member
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    Sorry should have specified that I used my HRM for anything over normal before my fitbit so although my heartrate may not have gotten in the perfect range when walking it was the best guesstimate I had -- Now with the fitbit I just use that for my walks and anything that gets the heart rate up I use my HRM :smile:
  • HappyHealthyMe87
    HappyHealthyMe87 Posts: 22 Member
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    I was going to wear it all day initially as I thought it would help me understand how many calories I should be eating to lose 2lb per week. I though it would be more accurate than a generic equation to work it out seems as it would be taking my usual heart rate into consideration as well. I guess its not going to help me with that then? I do plan on using it for working out I just got a bit excited and popped it on as it's new.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
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    I've been using the Polar FT 4 HRM for over a year and one battery change later it is still performing as expected. While I don't believe it is 100% accurate. I do feel that it works well enough as a tool to estimate the number of calories burned provided that you put your correct body stats in the settings menu.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
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    I got the FT7 for Christmas and have used it three times already. LOVE IT! I use the heart rate as a reminder to work harder. I've used it for interval/circuit training and trail running. I feel the calories are fairly accurate. But I still only eat back about half of what it says I burn.
  • missADS1981
    missADS1981 Posts: 364 Member
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    If you want to know how many calories you burn doing normal activity you can calculate your BMR. The total number of calories your body burns doing daily activity and functions. You should use a Polar when you are exercising to tell you how many additional calories you are expending doing physical activity like weight lifting and cardio workouts.

    when used that way it is extremely accurate. i have the ft7 and wear it during every training session.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    HappyHealthyMe87 wrote: »
    I guess its not going to help me with that then?

    Not really
  • HappyHealthyMe87
    HappyHealthyMe87 Posts: 22 Member
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    missADS1981 wrote: »
    If you want to know how many calories you burn doing normal activity you can calculate your BMR. The total number of calories your body burns doing daily activity and functions. You should use a Polar when you are exercising to tell you how many additional calories you are expending doing physical activity like weight lifting and cardio workouts.

    when used that way it is extremely accurate. i have the ft7 and wear it during every training session.

    Thank you very much. My BMR according to MFP is 1679 calories..... Looks like I will have to find time to work out a lot or I'll be very miserable on just 1200 calories a day. I'm new to healthy eating so still trying to research meal ideas
  • tavenne323
    tavenne323 Posts: 332 Member
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    I have been using my FT7 for over a year and love it. So easy to use. I recently got a bluetooth HRM strap to use with my iPhone. I've been comparing the calories burned between the watch and MapMyRide using the same strap (both devices connect at the same time. HR has always been the same for both but I find that the Polar watch give me about 500 calories for 43 minutes on my stationary bike, while MapMyRide give me about 350. Both are well within an expected calorie range. I know when I run (before I got the bluetooth) the FT7 would always be much more than MapMyRide...makes me wonder if the app even take HR into consideration. I don't measure everything to the single calorie, so that difference doesn't make that big of a difference, but I know it can for many. I tend to want to use the FT7 because I've lost nearly 60 lbs using that.

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