Can I trust what the HRM tells me?

andrea185
andrea185 Posts: 10
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys! Newbie here! I joined up about a week and a half ago and so far I love this site! I've lost about 4 pounds in the last couple of weeks and am looking to lose about 40 total. My DH gave me his Polar HRM to use when working out (I'm not sure which one it is...it has a chest band and is a couple of years old) and when I used it today it said I burned 600 calories during a 50 minute workout to a DVD. This seems really high. Granted, I'm seriously out of shape so I was huffing and puffing the whole time...is this why the calorie burn was so high? Am I doing something wrong?

Replies

  • andrea185
    andrea185 Posts: 10
    Hi guys! Newbie here! I joined up about a week and a half ago and so far I love this site! I've lost about 4 pounds in the last couple of weeks and am looking to lose about 40 total. My DH gave me his Polar HRM to use when working out (I'm not sure which one it is...it has a chest band and is a couple of years old) and when I used it today it said I burned 600 calories during a 50 minute workout to a DVD. This seems really high. Granted, I'm seriously out of shape so I was huffing and puffing the whole time...is this why the calorie burn was so high? Am I doing something wrong?
  • raincloud
    raincloud Posts: 405 Member
    Did you enter your stats in correctly? (Height, age, weight, sex)? If you didn't then I'd say it is wrong, if not... maybe? It is high.
  • lunglady
    lunglady Posts: 526 Member
    you missed a very interesting discussion about it last week. I think you can still find it under "recent posts" :smile: .
  • andrea185
    andrea185 Posts: 10
    Did you enter your stats in correctly? (Height, age, weight, sex)? If you didn't then I'd say it is wrong, if not... maybe? It is high.

    *enter homer simpson-like head smack here* I didn't enter my stats...it was working as though I was my 6'6" 205# husband. I've changed it now...how much should I adjust today's totals by?
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    gee, and I was going to say it was probably pretty close... I burned 600 calories today (according to machines) in an hour at the gym (30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes rowing machine-level 9, 15 minutes stairstepper).

    For all you who are going to say that machines may be innacurate, my HRM says I burned 1503 calories in that hour. And it is a good one, with a chest strap. I have just learned to divide my HRM totals by 3 in the past to get an approximation. But now that I'm getting in better shape, I notice that it's not quite by 3 anymore... Hmmmm....Have to come up with a more current calculation.
  • andrea185
    andrea185 Posts: 10
    gee, and I was going to say it was probably pretty close... I burned 600 calories today (according to machines) in an hour at the gym (30 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes rowing machine-level 9, 15 minutes stairstepper).

    For all you who are going to say that machines may be innacurate, my HRM says I burned 1503 calories in that hour. And it is a good one, with a chest strap. I have just learned to divide my HRM totals by 3 in the past to get an approximation. But now that I'm getting in better shape, I notice that it's not quite by 3 anymore... Hmmmm....Have to come up with a more current calculation.

    Why do you divide by 3? Sorry! Newbie!
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member

    Why do you divide by 3? Sorry! Newbie!

    I divide by 3 because that was what it took to get me to the machine totals... lol

    For example, if my HRM read 1800, the machines would say 600. But like I said, as I am getting in better shape, it's not quite 3 anymore...
  • jim_weldon
    jim_weldon Posts: 23 Member
    I have used a Polar FS3 for a few years. It doesn't give calories burned - just heart-rate. The heart-rate tables that you can find anywhere on the internet are not at all accurate for me. I have a higher heart-rate than they show. Lifetime Fitness used to have one on their website that I downloaded some time ago.

    The ‘real’ way to know your heart-rate is to basically hurt yourself & sleep – then do some math… The “hurt yourself” means finding your max heart-rate (MHR). The “sleep” means find your resting heart-rate (RHR). The “math” is as follows:

    Heart Rate % of usable Max = ((MHR - RHR) * P) + RHR <-where "P" is the % of max...

    One last comment… When I do activities that cause me to 'squat' my HRM appears to give very inaccurate information (eg: 230 beats per minute! Enough for an aneurism). An example of this is riding my bike after a big lunch, or doing flip-turns in the pool during a swim. The “crunched” position makes it act flaky. If I don’t do a good-enough job licking the probes on the strap that goes around my chest (tastes salty), I don’t get good readings either.

    Never Give UP!
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    lol... licking your strap... I always furtively look around the locker room, lick my finger and run it across! I never have a problem with it not reading, except if my bra strap works it's way under it... But I bet you don't have that problem, Jim
  • Chellekk
    Chellekk Posts: 421 Member
    From all the posts not knowing what to use...

    I myself "tested" a few sports I play. So far, they are about the same as MFP, giving the fact that I wasn't picking the correct intensity originally and now do.

    Test some out for yourself and then decide which ones are accurate and usable.
  • andrea185
    andrea185 Posts: 10

    Why do you divide by 3? Sorry! Newbie!

    I divide by 3 because that was what it took to get me to the machine totals... lol

    For example, if my HRM read 1800, the machines would say 600. But like I said, as I am getting in better shape, it's not quite 3 anymore...

    So should I be doing some kind of calculation now that I have it set up properly?
  • Chellekk
    Chellekk Posts: 421 Member
    I don't calculate anything besides...

    HRM total, minus my Resting heart rate.

    If you were to just sit there for an hour...you'd burn "X " amount of calories (which is already part of your daily calorie intake), so that shouldn't be included.

    So far...I feel the numbers are good and I've used machines in the gym for years.
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member

    So should I be doing some kind of calculation now that I have it set up properly?

    You probably won't have to. I only did because of the wild difference between my HRM and the readouts at the gym. When I'm at the gym, I just use their numbers, when I do stuff that doesn't keep calories for me, I wear my HRM and figure the percentage. There's no way I could be burning 1800 calories in an hour... So, I do the percentage and guestimate...
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    I don't calculate anything besides...

    HRM total, minus my Resting heart rate.

    If you were to just sit there for an hour...you'd burn "X " amount of calories (which is already part of your daily calorie intake), so that shouldn't be included.

    So far...I feel the numbers are good and I've used machines in the gym for years.

    I use the numbers from the machines when I use them. But if I take a class or swim or something, that doesn't figure my numbers for me, I use my HRM. I just have to adjust for the difference that I've always seen between my HRM and the machines.
  • andrea185
    andrea185 Posts: 10
    Thanks guys! :drinker:
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