Heart rate monitor help

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Lisiebird
Lisiebird Posts: 45
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm kind of at my wit's end here. I have a heart rate monitor with a chest strap (a New Balance n4). I've been using it for several months now. I recently completed my first round of Insanity and now I'm doing TurboFire and running (with Chalean Extreme for strength training). I've been having an issue with the calorie burn. It always seems really low. For instance, I just completed HIIT 15 and it read just 95 calories burned. And during Insanity the max I burned was 480. I'm working hard. 80% of my max is 168 and I typically hit that, sometimes going over during really intense parts. Does anyone know why the calorie burn is so low? I really feel like I'm pushing as hard as I can during my workouts. Is it taking the calorie burn based on my average which ts typically is in the 130s or 140s? My heart rate goes way down during rest/recover times during the workouts. I tend to have a low resting heart rate to begin with so perhaps that has something to do with it? It's just frustrating to work so hard for so little (I also don't have visible results to show for the work), especially when I keep reading about people doing these same workouts burning 600-1000 calories!

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  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    Are you getting a good connection on the chest strap, wetting the electrodes? Could the connection be cutting in and our during workout?
    Also you are female, which tend to burn less calories than males (you didnt mention who you were comparing to)
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
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    I have an N4 as well as it reads lower than my friend's Timex - I just figured my burn was different than hers. We did an Insanity type workout last week in my bootcamp class and I burned about 350.
  • RosieGB33nz
    RosieGB33nz Posts: 142
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    The upside is at least you know how to work yours!! I received mine yesterday and have no idea what im doing! I have left it up to my husband to work it out and explain to me. I did read that with it being wireless, you need to make sure the watch and strap stay within a distance or the signal gets weaker and doesnt work properly....
  • jarrettd
    jarrettd Posts: 872 Member
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    it also says that is a sign of a dying battery ( in the watch or transmitter)...wouldn't hurt to change it.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    How long are the workouts? For comparison, I am male and 179 lbs. If I am running relatively hard I can burn around 15 calories per minute. Running is is one of the higher calorie burners and is continuous without rest/recovery times.

    If a total Insanity workout is 45 minutes, and has a few recovery intervals built in, and you are lighter than I am, and you are female (burns less calories than male) then something around 480 calories does not sound unreasonable.

    I think some people here way overestimate their calorie burn. Or maybe they are much larger than you which would also account for higher calories burned.

    On the bright side, if your heart rate is dropping quickly then you are very fit.
  • Lisiebird
    Lisiebird Posts: 45
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    Thanks for all the suggestions. This heart rate monitor is new. I had another one (same model) and it was suggested to switch the battery to see if that helped. I tried but it completely died when the new battery was put in so I had to get another one.

    Scott, the workout times vary. For instance, I did a 7 mile run the other day, my heart rate was about 170 and it took about 55 minutes. Total calorie burn was about 515.

    Insanity workouts vary in length. The one that burned 480 was just under an hour. Other ones are about 40 minutes and one those, pushing hard, only yielded about 280 calories burned, which just seems so low. TurboFire, too. I just did HIIT 15 for 15 minutes and burned only 95 calories! I keep reading that people do that workout and burn 200+. Maybe they aren't in as good as cardiovascular shape than I am? Honestly, my resting heart rate is usually in the 40s and has even been clocked at 39, I did Fire 45 this morning (45 minutes) and burned about 290. Again, I've been people post burning 400 calories or more.

    jrich, I am just slightly wetting the strap before I put it on. I'm comparing to both males and females.
  • TTops76
    TTops76 Posts: 116
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    I tend to average 10 to 12 calories burned while at 155 to 160. Your calories burned don't sound that off really.
  • TTops76
    TTops76 Posts: 116
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    Oops 10 to 12 per minute.
  • Lisiebird
    Lisiebird Posts: 45
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    Thanks everyone for all the feedback. Maybe the HRM is reading accurately. I should stop comparing myself to what other people are burning. It just makes me feel like I'm not working hard enough when I see other people post (here, on Team Beachbody, and on Twitte) about their huge calorie burns. I'd probably give myself a heart attack if I worked out harder.

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