should i trust my hrm?

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MoNiCaMaRieV
MoNiCaMaRieV Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
ive been using the sportline universal hrm and i use the chest strap everytime i workout... i was just wondering if should be logging the full amount of calories it says i burn... i used my elliptical here at home for about 20 min and my hrm says that was 402 cals burned i was switching the intensity levels also.. should i trust the numbers it gives me should i be subtracting some of those you think? im 5'6 139 lbs... i did circuit training for 10 min and burned a little over 100 cals... it just seems like im burning a high amount of cals ALL the time in less than 40 min dont know how much i should trust it....advice plz?

Replies

  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
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    It sounds a bit high - but if you have the correct age, weight and height entered on your HRM - and it has a strap it should be pretty acurate.....

    Just check that you have your current weight in there - my calories burned has gone down quite a bit when I adjusted my weight to current (20kg difference)

    I am 5'9 and weigh over 200lbs - this past week I have burnt 200 calories in about 13 mins on the elliptical..... HRM & the actual machine agreed.....
  • chizzledfrmstone
    chizzledfrmstone Posts: 58
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    What was your average heart rate?
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    402 does seem high for 20 minutes, but I've been surprised before. I have the Polar FT7 HRM and 400 is AT LEAST a 30 minute workout w/ my heart rate between 120-150... but I have a low resting HR too. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical yesterday and got 100 cals for my first 10 minutes as a warm-up and a HR of around 110, and then 130 cals for the next 10 minutes of a HR of 120-140 (light cardio day). But you're a female and I'm a dude... so I dunno...
  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
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    Sounds high - unless you were really rockin and rollin. My hour long runs average a little more than 10 calories per minute (so 600 for 60 minutes). You are showing twice that. You must have really been going hard - or your settings might be wrong - or something else might be amiss.
  • rleikis
    rleikis Posts: 6
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    I can't speak for the specific model you have, but with my Polar FT-4 hrm, I trust it implicitly. HRM's have a much better idea of what your body is doing than any piece of equipment or online sources. Other sources of caloric burn data is using averaged values to match what most most people burn.

    My fitness plan is based entirely on my metabolic rates, that were medically tested. Now that I know what my body does at each point in my metabolic range, I know exactly what intensity I should be working out at. For this I use my hrm for every single workout. I would suggest that you stick with your hrm, but if you are concerned that the particular one you have is faulty, then get it replaced.

    Also, you may actually be burning that many calories, but based on my own workouts you'd be at very high intensity with that much burn in 20 minutes. Try checking to make sure the contact points are moist and constantly in contact with your skin.

    Fat calorie burn occurs at lower heart rates. For me, the optimal fat burning intensity is just before I have to start breathing through my mouth.

    This data can be found via a VO2 test from a medical professional. This is where they hook you up to a machine and monitor your breathing and heart rate while at rest and then again when you are exercising. For example at the following heart rates I burn :

    bpm Fat KCal/min Total Kcal/min
    120-130 7.4 10.1
    130-140 6.0 11.7
    140-150 5.4 13.0
    150-160 4.3 14.4
    160-170 3.4 15.7

    Try adjusting your workouts to make sure you aren't pushing yourself into a carbohydrate burn zone and then see what your hrm says. Your metabolism may be very different from what the MFP estimates show.
  • SoCalSwimmerDude
    SoCalSwimmerDude Posts: 480 Member
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    I can't speak for the specific model you have, but with my Polar FT-4 hrm, I trust it implicitly. HRM's have a much better idea of what your body is doing than any piece of equipment or online sources. Other sources of caloric burn data is using averaged values to match what most most people burn.

    My fitness plan is based entirely on my metabolic rates, that were medically tested. Now that I know what my body does at each point in my metabolic range, I know exactly what intensity I should be working out at. For this I use my hrm for every single workout. I would suggest that you stick with your hrm, but if you are concerned that the particular one you have is faulty, then get it replaced.

    Also, you may actually be burning that many calories, but based on my own workouts you'd be at very high intensity with that much burn in 20 minutes. Try checking to make sure the contact points are moist and constantly in contact with your skin.

    Fat calorie burn occurs at lower heart rates. For me, the optimal fat burning intensity is just before I have to start breathing through my mouth.

    This data can be found via a VO2 test from a medical professional. This is where they hook you up to a machine and monitor your breathing and heart rate while at rest and then again when you are exercising. For example at the following heart rates I burn :

    bpm Fat KCal/min Total Kcal/min
    120-130 7.4 10.1
    130-140 6.0 11.7
    140-150 5.4 13.0
    150-160 4.3 14.4
    160-170 3.4 15.7

    Try adjusting your workouts to make sure you aren't pushing yourself into a carbohydrate burn zone and then see what your hrm says. Your metabolism may be very different from what the MFP estimates show.

    Now that is an excellent and informed post!

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