Calories Burnt - HRM vs Fitness Machine

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zorbaru
zorbaru Posts: 1,077 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So today i got my new heart rate monitor so i was keen to go to the gym to see if i burn the same or more than the machines at the gym were telling me. i anticipated that the machines underestimated.

i knew that the machines could pick up the readings from a polar monitor, so i was pretty stoked that my dunlop reading was also being displayed on the screen. Sweet.

Now, after 27 mins on the treadmill the difference in the readings were astonishing. esp since the machine was using the same heart rate as my watch. My watch told me i had burnt 450 calories while the machine only said 333.

so my question is which is more accurate. my guess (hopefully) would be the HRM as it takes my height, weight, age and gender as input where as the fitness machine only accepts weight, so it doesnt have my zones etc to work from.

can anyone shed some light on the matter?

Replies

  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
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    I would go by the HRM. Afterall, this is why you purchased the heart rate monitor, right? Gym machines that I have used tend to over inflate calorie burn. So does my elliptical at home. I purchased a Polar FT7 HRM because I wanted a more accurate reading during my workouts and I have enjoyed having it.
  • Lillemi82
    Lillemi82 Posts: 21
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    Hi,

    I'm actually experiencing the reverse. My HRM is telling me I burn way less than the machines do.
    I trust way more in the HRM, although I wish I could have taken the machine's number, haha.
  • Nelski
    Nelski Posts: 1,607 Member
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    Your HRM will be the more accurate number since it takes in to account your sex, age, height & weight.
  • Lahdidahdah
    Lahdidahdah Posts: 33
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    My polar does the same thing; the machine is way under. . .my trainer said that the polar was the more accurate because it is closest to your hear and monitoring it, where the machines are basing it on standard measurements.
  • MamaJilldo
    MamaJilldo Posts: 63 Member
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    I just recently purchased a HRM as well, and the watch read out should be more accurate than your workout machine because it is taking into account your sex, height and weight as well as how long you've been working out (the longer you keep your HR up, the more cals you burn) or intervals with an up and down HR etc.
  • aimeeturner
    aimeeturner Posts: 225 Member
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    I always go with my HRM's numbers. Unfortunately, mine is always much lower than the machine's. For example, I did 60 minutes of the cross-trainer yesterday...the machine said I burned 600, but my HRM said 500.
  • mowu
    mowu Posts: 245 Member
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    I'm not sure there is an easy answer to this......I for one wonder if the machine is also measuring the watts you put out (ergometer function). In that case the machine may be right, as it will then be monitoring just how much energy it puts out for you to work with (or how many wats you pump into it to break depending on which type of machine it is).

    Personally I go with my HRM so as to get comparable numbers from exercise to exercise (cycling, running and so on) and not have any doubt about whether or not the algorithms in the different machines are the same.
  • SpaceMarkus
    SpaceMarkus Posts: 651
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    It's kind of a crap shoot. HRM's and Machines can be so wildly all over the board with your calories readings I would go with the lowest just to be safe. I know when I was using an HRM and doing Insanity it would tell me I was burning 1200 cals a workout. I have a bodybugg now and I'm seeing more like 600cals. That would explain why my first round I didn't lose any weight. I was eating 600+ calories more than I should have!

    HRM's were designed to measure your heartrate. Someone decided to throw in a quick equation to calculate calories and now they're selling like hot cakes.
  • jfinnivan
    jfinnivan Posts: 360 Member
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    Make sure you take the number given by the HRM, and subtract your daily maintenance calories (BMR plus activities). For me, I have to subtract 80 calories per hour of exercise. Also, I don't completely trust the numbers, so I only eat half my exercise calories. It's worked for me so far.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I would go with the HRM... I've never heard of dunlop brand, so I can't say as to how accurate it is but if it has all of your info, its prob. pretty accurate.
  • bookyeti
    bookyeti Posts: 544 Member
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    Make sure you take the number given by the HRM, and subtract your daily maintenance calories (BMR plus activities). For me, I have to subtract 80 calories per hour of exercise.
    *head scratch* I thought MFP did this for you?
  • jfinnivan
    jfinnivan Posts: 360 Member
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    No. MFP doesn't know about heart rate monitors. The calorie burn number your HRM gives you is the total calories burned, which includes both the normal calories your body would burn without the exercise, PLUS the calories you burned with the exercise. MFP already takes into account the normal daily calories. So, if I work out for an hour, and my HRM shows 180 calories burned, I log this as 100 calories worth of exercise.
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,360 Member
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    Yesterday I did 30 min. on the elliptical. It asks for weight and age, plus it gets the heart rate from the monitor.
    MFP says I burned 455 calories
    The machine said 250
    and my new Polar heart rate monitor read only 111!
    Boy, color me confused! I double checked if the monitor had the correct settings and it was all correctly entered.
    The elliptical machines are only a few months old and work fine.
    My daughter says stick with the machine numbers since I've been losing just over 5 pounds a month and I'm comfortable with the food. But, I hate to think I'm fooling myself.
  • zorbaru
    zorbaru Posts: 1,077 Member
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    The MFP numbers are only really a guide. when the person entered the excersise in for the first time, their "vigorous" effort may be equal to your "moderate" effort or whatever.

    i just punch in the numbers and change the calories to match my device unless its something i didnt have a readout from.

    i might borrow a friends HRM and see what that comes up with.

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