Polyar FT40M

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hughtwalker
hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Santa brought me a Polar FT40M HRM - it says I burned 930 Calories in the 90 minutes Ispent at the gym doing 60 minutes cardio and 30 mins weights.

Using the calories used given by the machines plus MFP's unexplained allowance for the weights' exercises I have been alloted 504 Calories on my Food diary.

How do I use the Polar measurements with MFP.

I assume I should deduct my calculated BMR for that period of time.

Will it help to start the Polar when I get into bed for a few nights and get some readings rther than using the calculators on various websites?

Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Replies

  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
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    bumping for hugh x

    i really want a new sports watch, will look forward to finding out how you get on with this one :)
  • goonas
    goonas Posts: 205
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    Create a custom exercise - if you remember look at my exercises and I have my cycling measured using Polar FT4 and you can enter any figures you want in there.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
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    thanks - I will explore. Do you deduct the BMR?
  • jmc0806
    jmc0806 Posts: 1,444 Member
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    I could be wrong but I don't understand why you would subtract your BMR, I never do. I figure my BMR amount I'd lose no matter what and anything I'm getting from my HRM is additional work that I'm putting in on top of my BMR amount...
  • rfsatar
    rfsatar Posts: 599 Member
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    thanks - I will explore. Do you deduct the BMR?
    For each activity I do at the gym, I record a specific activity on my HRM (Polar FT7) - when I get home I note the Start time and the duration and I create an exercise in my Log for it.
    When MFP calculates your goals it takes into account your BMR assuming that your setup is as accurate as possible re: age, weight, height and activity for your day job.
    Those cals are "added" to your daily goals as additional calories that you are meant to eat back - you can of course choose to only eat a proportion, whatever method is working for you.
    No additional deduction is necessary.

    You can of course do much more research into your BMR, TDEE, deficits etc in addition to he basics provided here at MFP ... But there are acres of threads about those,
  • downtheadders
    downtheadders Posts: 26 Member
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    I have the same HR monitor.

    It's easy. Search for the exercise you did and then just replace the suggested number given to you by MFP with the actual number that you got from the HRM. Or create a new exercise.

    MFP will take care of the rest. Don't add or subtract anything yourself or you will mess up the automatic calculations.


    Keep in mind though that they are not very accurate for lifting. So I got by the HRM for cardio and then just use the MFP estimate for any lifting I do.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
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    Thanks for all the help. The first day I wore it around the house and it logged over 800 Calories in a few hours, so I wondered if it is recording a similar "just staying alive" total while I am exercising rather than just the additional .
    It sounds as if it is simpler than I was trying to make it.

    I was going to wear it last night to see what it recorded while I was asleep but after an hour and a half it started beepng at me - any idea why?
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    Ok, HRM's are only meant to be worn during exercise that significantly raises your heart. It is not set up to measure burn at lower rates so wearing it to bed, around the house or for lifting will give you highly inflated numbers.

    Your HRM doesn't deduct your BMR so for more accuracy you need to do that.

    HRM's are used to measure calorie burn for steady state cardio like running, cycling, brisk walking, aerobic activity. If you want something to measure all your activity all the time you need a FitBit or a BodyBugg type device.
  • ironmonkeystyle
    ironmonkeystyle Posts: 834 Member
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    Get your age, avg HR from your HRM, your weight, and use this formula to calculate calories expended during your workout:

    The Journal of Sports Sciences provides a calorie expenditure formula for each gender. Men use the following formula: Calories Burned = [(Age x 0.2017) -- (Weight x 0.09036) + (Heart Rate x 0.6309) -- 55.0969] x Time / 4.184.

    Women use the following formula: Calories Burned = [(Age x 0.074) -- (Weight x 0.05741) + (Heart Rate x 0.4472) -- 20.4022] x Time / 4.184.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
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    Thanks.
    This makes sense: The Polar HRM is measuring TOTAL Calories used, so when MFP gives me a BRM - Activity score of 2,450 and sets me a goal of 1,450 to lose 1 kilo a week (I wish) the allowance it adds to my diary is ADDITIONAL, thus to truly reflect the ADDITIONAL burn recorded by the HRM I should deduct the pro rata BRM for the time.

    Have I got this right now?

    Otherwise if I tried eatiing an additional 930 Calories after my last outing I would be big as a house.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
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    Gosh! I must have been more intelligent in those days. (sigh)

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