Calories burned by HR?? Confused!

EliteDeeDee77
EliteDeeDee77 Posts: 103 Member
edited September 29 in Fitness and Exercise
I need some input. I am trying to be accurate in reporting my cal burned and kept thinkung MFP was overestimating, so I bought a HR monitor to check. My average HR for walking @ 3mph was 155. My HRM calculated 620 cal burned for 40 min walk. I was astounded that my HR was so high from walking. I really didn't know the stress carrying around 70 extra pounds was causing. I paused 5 times during my walk to manually check HR and my monitor was spot on. Did I really just burn about 600 cal from walking less than an hour? I googled calories burned formula using heart rate and also came out with 500-600 cal burned. I cut my walk short because I was starting to get intimidated by eating back the majority of those to stay in a healthy calorie range for my day. Totally confused & a little overwhelmed. Advice?

Replies

  • pverbarg
    pverbarg Posts: 490 Member
    if you're just startiing to work out, yes, it's possible to be that high. Just remember though that as you get more fit, you'll have to work harder to maintain that level of burn! I use one with a chest strap and I was burning that much in February when I started and now I run to get up there (a walk does not even take me into training zone any more)! It's a great way to mark your progress, but just don't get frustrated when it changes. By the way, don't forget to update your information in the HRM regularly so it maintains accuracy!
  • raychybabe
    raychybabe Posts: 121 Member
    I've just got a HR monitor and it's actually estimating lower values than what I was inputting via the MFP database. However, that may be because last couple months I've been working out 4-5 times per week so I assume my fitness has improved and I'm not working myself as much.

    I got 303 cals burned via HR monitor for a 45 min jog (5km) round my local park.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    Have you consumed any caffeine? What about allergy or asthma medications? If so, then your heart rate monitor is overestimating your calorie burns. It could also be programmed incorrectly. None of the formulas to figure calorie burns are 100% accurate, that includes MFP and HRM's and any other estimate you see online. So, don't stress it as if it were the end all be all number you have to reach or not go over, because the estimate could be very far off. It's just a guide, not an exact. We use these numbers to help guide us in the right direction. Don't let a fear of eating your calories cause you to stop exercise. Regardless of weight, your body still needs the exercise to strengthen you heart and other muscles, decrease risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, etc. so go by how your body feels while you are working out not by an estimate of calories.
  • EliteDeeDee77
    EliteDeeDee77 Posts: 103 Member
    if you're just startiing to work out, yes, it's possible to be that high. Just remember though that as you get more fit, you'll have to work harder to maintain that level of burn! I use one with a chest strap and I was burning that much in February when I started and now I run to get up there (a walk does not even take me into training zone any more)! It's a great way to mark your progress, but just don't get frustrated when it changes. By the way, don't forget to update your information in the HRM regularly so it maintains accuracy!

    Yes, I'm just starting out. Been about 3 weeks. I guess I'll enjoy an easy burn while it lasts. Thanks!
  • EliteDeeDee77
    EliteDeeDee77 Posts: 103 Member
    Have you consumed any caffeine? What about allergy or asthma medications? If so, then your heart rate monitor is overestimating your calorie burns. It could also be programmed incorrectly. None of the formulas to figure calorie burns are 100% accurate, that includes MFP and HRM's and any other estimate you see online. So, don't stress it as if it were the end all be all number you have to reach or not go over, because the estimate could be very far off. It's just a guide, not an exact. We use these numbers to help guide us in the right direction. Don't let a fear of eating your calories cause you to stop exercise. Regardless of weight, your body still needs the exercise to strengthen you heart and other muscles, decrease risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, etc. so go by how your body feels while you are working out not by an estimate of calories.

    No caffeine or medication. I know I need the cardio for a healthy heart. I was just a little overwhelmed about how to balance it all out. Thanks for the reminder.
  • jmijaressf
    jmijaressf Posts: 215
    if you're just startiing to work out, yes, it's possible to be that high. Just remember though that as you get more fit, you'll have to work harder to maintain that level of burn! I use one with a chest strap and I was burning that much in February when I started and now I run to get up there (a walk does not even take me into training zone any more)! It's a great way to mark your progress, but just don't get frustrated when it changes. By the way, don't forget to update your information in the HRM regularly so it maintains accuracy!

    Definitely spot on. When starting out your heart rate will be higher. When I first started running, my heart rate was way up close to maximum. As your body gets more fit and more conditioned, your average work out heart rate will slowly, over time, get lower. These days when I run an easy 11 minute mile, my heart rate rarely goes over 65% of max heart rate.

    Regarding calorie burn, the more weight you carry, the more calories you'll burn. Calorie burn calculations are based on gender, height, weight, and activity level. More mass requires more energy to move and thus burns more calories. That's not to say that when you reach your goal weight, you'll be burning less calories, because as you get more fit, your metabolism works better so when you reach your goal weight you'll be burning calories more efficiently.
  • basschick
    basschick Posts: 3,502 Member
    I suddenly gained two pounds after losing a pound a week for 9 months straight when I started using a HRM, so I know they can overestimate. One thing I learned is that you have to subtract your BMR calories from your workout. For example, I may burn 400 calories in a 60 minute cardio class but, at my weight, I would have burned 60 calories anyway (1 calorie per minute) during that time frame just being alive. Once I started subtracting those calories and eating back calories accordingly, the number on the scale started to go back down. Here's a link to a site where you can calculate your BMR. When you figure out how many calories per minute you burn, you should subtract that from the number displayed on your HRM.


    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    Good luck!
  • EliteDeeDee77
    EliteDeeDee77 Posts: 103 Member
    I suddenly gained two pounds after losing a pound a week for 9 months straight when I started using a HRM, so I know they can overestimate. One thing I learned is that you have to subtract your BMR calories from your workout. For example, I may burn 400 calories in a 60 minute cardio class but, at my weight, I would have burned 60 calories anyway (1 calorie per minute) during that time frame just being alive. Once I started subtracting those calories and eating back calories accordingly, the number on the scale started to go back down. Here's a link to a site where you can calculate your BMR. When you figure out how many calories per minute you burn, you should subtract that from the number displayed on your HRM.


    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    Good luck!

    Thanks. I'll check it out.
  • EliteDeeDee77
    EliteDeeDee77 Posts: 103 Member
    if you're just startiing to work out, yes, it's possible to be that high. Just remember though that as you get more fit, you'll have to work harder to maintain that level of burn! I use one with a chest strap and I was burning that much in February when I started and now I run to get up there (a walk does not even take me into training zone any more)! It's a great way to mark your progress, but just don't get frustrated when it changes. By the way, don't forget to update your information in the HRM regularly so it maintains accuracy!

    Definitely spot on. When starting out your heart rate will be higher. When I first started running, my heart rate was way up close to maximum. As your body gets more fit and more conditioned, your average work out heart rate will slowly, over time, get lower. These days when I run an easy 11 minute mile, my heart rate rarely goes over 65% of max heart rate.

    Regarding calorie burn, the more weight you carry, the more calories you'll burn. Calorie burn calculations are based on gender, height, weight, and activity level. More mass requires more energy to move and thus burns more calories. That's not to say that when you reach your goal weight, you'll be burning less calories, because as you get more fit, your metabolism works better so when you reach your goal weight you'll be burning calories more efficiently.

    That's encouraging. Thanks for the input.
  • tnbagwell
    tnbagwell Posts: 7
    I suddenly gained two pounds after losing a pound a week for 9 months straight when I started using a HRM, so I know they can overestimate. One thing I learned is that you have to subtract your BMR calories from your workout. For example, I may burn 400 calories in a 60 minute cardio class but, at my weight, I would have burned 60 calories anyway (1 calorie per minute) during that time frame just being alive. Once I started subtracting those calories and eating back calories accordingly, the number on the scale started to go back down. Here's a link to a site where you can calculate your BMR. When you figure out how many calories per minute you burn, you should subtract that from the number displayed on your HRM.


    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

    Good luck!

    You know, I've been working on losing weight for 6 months now, and that had never occurred to me when recording exercise calories. Where I am now, that's 100 calories an hour...certainly not a negligible difference.

    Thanks...
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
    I had a newbalance touch style HRM 1st and it estimated a much higher calorie burn than the Polar ft7 with the chest strap. I am going with the lower numbers as I do not want to overestimate and the Polar is closer to what my machines tell me.

    HRM are not the end all of calorie burning, you have to calibrate and have one with the chest strap.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    You don't mention speed, which along with weight, is the only relevant factor.

    At "average" walking speeds (3.0-4.0 mph) at your weight, you are burning 200-300 calories in 40 minutes.
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