Asthma, HRM and cal burned accuracy

enjoythesound
enjoythesound Posts: 89 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello,

I know there is billion posts about HRM accuracy and calories burned but here is again a question...

I have exercise induced asthma and my heart-rate is generally going up very fast. I'm usually around 180 when running at a very (very) slow pace of 5miles/h.
At the gym, on the stationary bike my heart-rate is around 165 when my friends are at 130 (around 10miles/h, resistance at 5, we are about the same weight and height, they don't have asthma!). Hence, the calories burned shown on my HRM are always higher than my friends'...

What I am looking to find out is am I truly burning more calories because my body is working harder? or is the reading completely false because my breathing capacity is bad ?

Can I trust my HRM or should I modify the output to calculate the calories burned?

(hope it's clear, I'm not a native English speaker XD)

Replies

  • chanice11
    chanice11 Posts: 44 Member
    I do know exactly what you mean! Unfortunately, I don't have any answers for your questions.
    I have wondered about that myself many times, as I also have asthma and a high heart rate. I just decided to never eat more than half of the calories the HRM gives me, to offset if it just an anomaly.

    I would be curious to see if anyone posts about this, and has some knowledge on the subject.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    No you aren't burning more just because your heart rate is higher than average.
    Your calorie expenditure is related to the work you do - the calorie count estimated is for an average person with an average HR.

    So if you were doing the same exercise as an identical twin but their HR was lower you would be getting different estimates although in reality you would be both using the same amount of energy (calories).
  • enjoythesound
    enjoythesound Posts: 89 Member
    Thank you for the fast reply.

    So what do you think is the best?
    Ditch the HRM and log my exercises as an average user on MFP?
    Or trust the machine output?
    Or do you think I can calculate my own calorie expenditure with a reduced HR? (like reducing the average HR given by my HRM by 15 or 20% to be closer to a normal person HR)
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    I would stick with the HRM purely for consistency but take a percentage off which you could also apply to any other cardio machines.

    You could try to estimate the difference if you do a steady run and compare your HRM numbers against a running calorie estimator website like http://www.runnersworld.com/tools/calories-burned-calculator

    Machines can be accurate if they record your output - typically in Watts. But that tends to be the higher end models.

    In the end consistency works, you simply adjust your calorie balance according to your actual results over time - which happily also corrects any inaccuracy in food logging.
  • enjoythesound
    enjoythesound Posts: 89 Member
    Thank you sijomial!
    My gym has some equipment showing the Watts so I'll look at it next time and I'll try to find the method that suits me the best!

    If anyone has other tips or experience with asthma, tell me everything!
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    I have exercise induced asthma too but have gotten quite a bit more fit over the years. It actually takes a lot of work to get my heart rate up. There's hope :). Do you use your inhaler or anything prior to working out?

    I never did have a big heart rate discrepancy, but I did decide to increase my "Max heart rate" on the HRM which results in lesser calories burned. This is just as arbitrary as only eating back a certain percentage of what the HRM gives you, but I just thought I'd throw it out there as an option. By default the max HR on many of these watches is 220 minus your age. You could raise it up higher if you're seeing higher numbers when you work out...

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