Heart rate monitor calories burned vs other

PhilipHall
PhilipHall Posts: 37 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a garmin chest strap that I use with a Garmin monitor and other Garmin sensors on my bike to track cadence, speed and heart rate. The Garmin website gives on reading for calories used and the Strava website shows a very different number. The generic number on MFP is very high compared to these two.

Anyone know of a way to estimate calories burned so I know which of these is correct. Garmin seems to be the more accurate one. Example: 30 min on the bike avg 16.4 mph with an avg heart rate of 160 bpm (yes I'm out of shape and I have a high max hr of 203), Garmin shows 463 cals burned and Strava shows 217. Any way to confirm one of these is accurate?

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    I tend to trust my Garmin (I'm using the HRM & cadence sensor too) it comes in far lower than many other calculators I've seen (including MFP) but I suspect to really get an accurate number you'd need to know how many watts you were putting out and that can get a little pricey!
  • PhilipHall
    PhilipHall Posts: 37 Member
    The Garmin is about half of whats in MFP but Strava records it at about half of what Garmin does. I'm just curious why. Thanks for the input! I have been using the Garmin numbers and will continue to unless someone can explain why its wrong.

    Thanks again.
    Philip
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    What are you using the number for, exactly?
  • PhilipHall
    PhilipHall Posts: 37 Member
    I put it in MFP as the calories I have burned for that exercise. I'm just trying to have the most accurate data available.
  • hermann341
    hermann341 Posts: 443 Member
    I've had several HRMs including Polar and the one that came with my Timex Global trainer. I always trusted them more than the machines, usually because I've put my stats in the watches I wear with the chest strap. I think using the same source of data all the time is going to be more consistent, and therefore better.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    PhilipHall wrote: »
    I put it in MFP as the calories I have burned for that exercise. I'm just trying to have the most accurate data available.

    After a few weeks, your actual vs expected weight loss will tell you how accurate your burn numbers are (assuming the food logging is accurate!)

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