HRM help....again

ejmcam
ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
edited September 27 in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, so yesterday you all gave me recommendations for HRMs. Today I exchanged the sportline my hubby gave me for the Polar FT7....and its great...so far! I've only used it once though, ha ha.

So I'm new to the HRM thing, and I'm not sure how to log my calories. I did 34 minutes on the elliptical and burned 318 calories. So then I turned it off when I got off the elliptical and went to do my strength training and floor exercises, etc...I decided to turn it back on to see what I burned doing that, since I dont usually log those, and I saw that I had not actually turned it off, just restarted it. So it was calculating all the time when I was walking to the other end of the gym, and stopped to talk to someone, refill my water bottle, etc...and it was up to like 35+ calories. So my question is, do you actually count those calories, or only the calories that are burned while you are actually doing the exercise? Sorry if this seems like a silly question, but like I said, this is new for me.

Replies

  • Nataliethin81
    Nataliethin81 Posts: 315
    Yes, you can count them! Don't bother turning it off if you're not done working out. I never turn my off until I walk out the gym door.
  • mom2threeQTs
    mom2threeQTs Posts: 21 Member
    I only calculate actual workouts. Walking to and from places are part of my daily activity and are things I would do regardless of whether I was working out or not. If you want to track those movements as well, make sure your activity level is set to "sedentary".
  • Wendysworld13
    Wendysworld13 Posts: 225 Member
    I think that there are a normal number of calories that are burned in a day just living - as they say, the number of calories you would burn just stting on the couch for 24 hours. Then there are the regular daily caloris you burn in your lifestyle - i.e, working, walkng to the copier, going to the restroom, going to the fridge, answering the phone, etc. Count these calories here. The rest of the calories are you HRM calories that you seem to be trackng - the calories you are specifically doing activities to burn. Your walking and chatting calories, don't count here unless you want to count every calorie in the gym - then it is not as accurate. Hope that helps
  • mislove68
    mislove68 Posts: 240
    I reset my calories after i do my warm up on the elliptical. But I hit start soon as I hit the first machine until I am done with all my strength training, then i reset it again and do my treadmill workout. I like to keep track of calories for each to see how I am doing. But I dont rest much between sets so why pause it.
  • ejmcam
    ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
    So I get the whole not tracking the regular activities, and I wouldnt be tracking the walk to and from my car at the gym or the playing in the yard with my kids....but I guess I'm more wondering if my body is still actually burning those calories since my heart rate is still elevated since I had literally just gotten off the elliptical? I made it sound like I was just hanging out, but the stopping to talk, refilling water etc....all happened in a matter 2 or 3 minutes.

    Nataliethin81, thats what another girl at the gym told me also...but I wasnt sure! Holy, I can barely eat back my calories now....thats a lot to add on!
  • ejmcam
    ejmcam Posts: 533 Member
    Thanks everyone!
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