Question concerning the HRM with a chest strap....

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howardrw
howardrw Posts: 80 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I currently have an HRM that I got for a Christmas gift from Walmarts (this is a $45.00 HRM). This also includes a chest strap.
I have notice that my calorie burn has been extremely low from what it was before. Here is an example: I am currently doing the Turbo Fire workout schedule and am in week 11. The Fire 55 (55 minutes) workout I started out burning over 600 calories, now I burned yesterday about 199 calories. I also did a Tae Bo (30 minutes) workout and the HRM showed that I burned 0 calories. I also was burning a lot of calories doing the HIIT (25 minutes) this is an extreme workout that have you pushing yourself for about a minute and a half, followed by about 45 seconds of rest. I was burning about 250 or more calories, now I am only burning about 110 calories. I also do some resistance training using a 15 pound Kettle Bell after the HIIT workouts and only burn about maybe 15 calories (before I would burn close to 200 calories), this is a 20 minute workout.

My question is am I just getting more fit (since the Turbo Fire workout is an extreme cardio workout) or my HRM is not accurate at all. I have checked all of my data that I put in to make sure that everything is accurate and I also replaced the batteries.

Could someone at MFP "HELP ME WITH THIS ISSUE"???????

Thanks in advance...............................:)

Replies

  • nikki_zav
    nikki_zav Posts: 320 Member
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    There is definitely something wrong. Unless you are in EXTREMELY good shape (or are pretty much just laying on the floor taking a nap) during your 55 min workout, going from 600 to 199 cal just isn't going to happen. Not sure on your brands reliability, so maybe do some google or amazon searches for reviews and see if any other users have had similar experiences. Keep up the awesome workouts though!!
  • pjtremblay
    pjtremblay Posts: 3 Member
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    I found that sometimes the chest strap needs to be a bit tighter, or moistened slightly to keep recording your HR. There have been times that I have looked at my watch in the middle of a workout and my HR says 0, so it hasn't been recording properly at all. Once I adjust the strap I can see it's recording my HR again, and the numbers once again seem accurate.
  • HealthiHannah
    HealthiHannah Posts: 182 Member
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    Sounds like it isn't detecting as well... You said 30 minutes it said 0... unless you weren't doing anything.... you were def burning calories. See if the chest strap is tight enoough, make sure the sensors are wet (sweat usually does it for me, but sometimes I start with a little water). If still not detecting, I would see about returning it or investing in a new/better one.

    On a side note, YES you probably are becoming more fit and not burning as much, but it wouldnt be so drastic from 600 to 199. Unless you stopped pushing yourself?
  • mrmarius
    mrmarius Posts: 1,802 Member
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    I currently have an HRM that I got for a Christmas gift from Walmarts (this is a $45.00 HRM). This also includes a chest strap.
    I have notice that my calorie burn has been extremely low from what it was before. Here is an example: I am currently doing the Turbo Fire workout schedule and am in week 11. The Fire 55 (55 minutes) workout I started out burning over 600 calories, now I burned yesterday about 199 calories. I also did a Tae Bo (30 minutes) workout and the HRM showed that I burned 0 calories. I also was burning a lot of calories doing the HIIT (25 minutes) this is an extreme workout that have you pushing yourself for about a minute and a half, followed by about 45 seconds of rest. I was burning about 250 or more calories, now I am only burning about 110 calories. I also do some resistance training using a 15 pound Kettle Bell after the HIIT workouts and only burn about maybe 15 calories (before I would burn close to 200 calories), this is a 20 minute workout.

    My question is am I just getting more fit (since the Turbo Fire workout is an extreme cardio workout) or my HRM is not accurate at all. I have checked all of my data that I put in to make sure that everything is accurate and I also replaced the batteries.

    Could someone at MFP "HELP ME WITH THIS ISSUE"???????

    Thanks in advance...............................:)

    in a nutshell you have a piece of crap hrm.. i know because i had the same one and it worked fine for two weeks then stopped. i would take it back and get a different brand, thats what i did, i ended up jumping on the polar bandwagon
  • kuarta
    kuarta Posts: 65
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    How did you know your calorie burn before you got your HRM?

    I use the treadill, bike and elliptical at the gym and there is a huge difference between what the machine says and what my HRM says, i.e. the machine says over 500cals but my HRM says 380. I follow my HRM because the machines caters to everyone but my HRM has my stats.

    Hope this helps.
  • nikki_zav
    nikki_zav Posts: 320 Member
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    in a nutshell you have a piece of crap hrm.. i know because i had the same one and it worked fine for two weeks then stopped. i would take it back and get a different brand, thats what i did, i ended up jumping on the polar bandwagon

    :heart: :heart: :heart: my Polar
  • noltes2
    noltes2 Posts: 202 Member
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    I started reading this and my first thought was - as you get in better shape it takes much more effort to get your heart rate up! But further into it you said you burn 0 calories, according to your HRM. LOL even superman would burn more than 0 calories. While I can't troubleshoot your HRM from afar, it is quite likely it needs a battery replacement (mine got all funky when battery was low), or it is trashed. You did get it at Walmart after all hahaha just kidding ;)

    You might have better luck with Polar FT4 or FT7 ($90-$110). Very reliable.
  • howardrw
    howardrw Posts: 80 Member
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    Thanks to everyone that so far have replied to my question.

    I do believe that it maybe the HRM and I have been looking at possible purchasing an Polar FT7 HRM.

    I guess you get what you pay for and the HRM that I currently have did seem to work great for about 2 or 3 months.

    I knew something was wrong when I did my resistance training using a 15 pound Kettle Bell and it showed that I only burned about 11 calories (this happened about a month ago). Since then, my HRM has been reading low calorie burn.

    I also do Zumba and I also notice that my calorie burn was only about 30 calories for an hour workout.

    Once again thanks to everyone.............................:happy:
  • howardrw
    howardrw Posts: 80 Member
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    I did keep the chest strap wet as much as possible during the workout, but still was showing low calorie burn

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