HRM and MFP calories

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nataliebmadueno
nataliebmadueno Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I have an FT4 HRM and it says that i burned 545 calories in 88 minutes of riding my bike. My average HR was 129 with a max of 143 and i was in zone an hour and 1 minute of that time. My bike pedometer app says i had an average of 8.5 miles per hour. According to MFP with that speed it says I only burned 389 calories. quite a difference. I want to trust my HRM because it sure feels like i burned that much lol

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  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    If you want to know with certainty, you either need to hire some scientists to do invasive tests, or get a power meter for your bike.

    What kind of bike was it? How much elevation gain (total uphill) did your ride involve? Were you on smooth tires or knobby ones? Lot of wind?

    Did you have fun? :)
  • nataliebmadueno
    nataliebmadueno Posts: 8 Member
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    I was just riding around in circles around the tennis courts at my apartments. There is a bike trail, but my kids get tired too soon for me so it's easier if I just have them bring toys and their bikes and we all ride around in circles lol its a mountain bike with 6 speeds, i keep it on the speed with most resistance. And there was some wind and it's actually pretty warm today as well. Doesn't matter where i ride my bike if you in circles or on the trail i always have a blast :):)
  • maeggggan
    maeggggan Posts: 71 Member
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    i trust my heart rate monitor over the machines. in your heart rate monitor it factors in height, weight, and such.
  • ConicalFern
    ConicalFern Posts: 121 Member
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    I would go with the HRM value - MFP values could be with any bike with any terrain - your HRM gives you a value that's more reflective of the energy you actually used.

  • nataliebmadueno
    nataliebmadueno Posts: 8 Member
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    I actually have my weight set about 5 lbs lower in my HRM than what my scale says so that way i can be sure im not overestimating. besides 5 lbs could easily be water weight or a good bowel movement lol
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Your HRM may not be accurate but at least it's personal to you and should be reasonably consistent.
    That's good enough.
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    Assuming you used "Bicycling, <10 mph, leisure (cycling, biking, bike riding)" the calories estimated is probably based on:

    Taylor, H., D. R. J. Jacobs, et al. (1978). "A questionnaire for the assessment of leisure time physical activities." Journal of Chronic Disease 31: 741-755. (Taylor Code 115)

    A closer read might give you a fudge factor on how to adjust based on the speed differential. Good luck on that with the HRM.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    nataliebmadueno wrote: »
    I actually have my weight set about 5 lbs lower in my HRM than what my scale says so that way i can be sure im not overestimating. besides 5 lbs could easily be water weight or a good bowel movement lol

    I hope you keep a plunger handy!

    OP the real number probably is somewhere between those 2. At 8.5 mph for the sake of rounding we'll call it 90 min would be a distance of just under 13 miles or 20.8km. According to my Garmin I'll burn about 550cal riding the same distance in about 50 min (my bike commute to work) and I'm pushing 200lbs.

    Short of buying a power metre (I wish I could afford one...) it's guesswork. Why not just take the average of the 2 numbers?

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