Crazy Results with MY POLAR

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runnerjenn0708
runnerjenn0708 Posts: 400 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, I thought I would share my experience I had this weekend with you guys!!

Saturday afternoon I decided I needed to add a POLAR watch to my diet and exercise "MUSTS". I'm crazy happy I did so!! Apparently I had been clocking, if you will, WAY too may calories burned, and did this because the machines (elliptical, treadmill) was telling me so. After wearing my Polar, what was suppose to be a 958 calories burn according to the treadmill, was ACTUALLY a 648 calories burn. For someone like me who tries and LIKES eating back as many calories as possible, this was EYE opening!!

Just my thoughts, but at the end of the day, don't trust anything 100%. :) I love my watch, and plan to continue using it and burning the RIGHT amount of calories!!

I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Monday!!

Jenn

Replies

  • godroxmysox
    godroxmysox Posts: 1,491 Member
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    I had the same realization after my Wednesday night kickboxing class...mfp had me logging at 739, but I was actually burning only 450 =-0
  • WillieEverlearn
    WillieEverlearn Posts: 87 Member
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    Polar is great for tracking. I've noticed a pretty wide disparity between machine tracking (ellipticals and treadmills) and actual calories burned--often due to just hitting "start" on the machines without inputting my age and weight.

    Interestingly, I also noticed when tracking my first elliptical here on MFP, it calculated quite a few more calories burned than I'd calculated; I edited the entry to make it match my calculations.
  • puppywalker
    puppywalker Posts: 109 Member
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    Which model to you have? I see a lot of posts about the FT7. I've thought of getting one.
  • Jarvis95
    Jarvis95 Posts: 157 Member
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    i have the exact same results with my polar, with the elliptical / arc trainer, it's ridiculous!! i'm pretty good with the treadmill though, weird eh!! and yea, i think it's important to eat back ex cals, but not if they are wrong :D
  • sammys1girly
    sammys1girly Posts: 1,045 Member
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    Polar is great for tracking. I've noticed a pretty wide disparity between machine tracking (ellipticals and treadmills) and actual calories burned--often due to just hitting "start" on the machines without inputting my age and weight.

    Interestingly, I also noticed when tracking my first elliptical here on MFP, it calculated quite a few more calories burned than I'd calculated; I edited the entry to make it match my calculations.

    I've noticed lots of people get on a machine and don't enter their weight. I think it makes a big difference. I can't afford a Polar right now but am losing weight by going by the machine's calculations, so it can't be too far off.
  • IMDABOMBthe0wife0DABEAST
    IMDABOMBthe0wife0DABEAST Posts: 124 Member
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    We are experiencing the same thing with our new Polar HRM's. The one good thing is that we did not eat our exercise calories back in most cases, and we were still losing the lbs. WE try not to stress about it. The one thing additional I noticed was that before on my bike I would have days where my heart rate would go crazy high and I thought it was a fluke, but asked my doctor about it. Yesterday during our evening walk my HRM heart rate went up to 220, so I apparently have some heart rate issues that I need to discuss more with my doctor. A 220 heart rate for a moderate walk is scary.
  • mrandolph69
    mrandolph69 Posts: 197 Member
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    Which model to you have? I see a lot of posts about the FT7. I've thought of getting one.

    Puppywalker,

    I have the Polar FT7 and love it. I, too, noticed a big discrepancy between the calories burned according to the Polar v. MFP. That made it worth the money all by itself. It also allows me to make sure I am within my target heart rate range, something I was below when trying to gauge it on my own.

    As much as I love my FT7, after getting it I noticed some features of some of the other Polar models that, if I had noticed them before, might have persuaded me to try them instead. My advice would be to got to the Polar website and compare the models before buying one.
  • runnerjenn0708
    runnerjenn0708 Posts: 400 Member
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    Which model to you have? I see a lot of posts about the FT7. I've thought of getting one.

    Thats the one i got .. The FT7 :) Love it!!
  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
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    I got the FT4 about 6 weeks ago and couldn't live without it now. One of the best purchases I've ever made!
  • runnerjenn0708
    runnerjenn0708 Posts: 400 Member
    Options
    We are experiencing the same thing with our new Polar HRM's. The one good thing is that we did not eat our exercise calories back in most cases, and we were still losing the lbs. WE try not to stress about it. The one thing additional I noticed was that before on my bike I would have days where my heart rate would go crazy high and I thought it was a fluke, but asked my doctor about it. Yesterday during our evening walk my HRM heart rate went up to 220, so I apparently have some heart rate issues that I need to discuss more with my doctor. A 220 heart rate for a moderate walk is scary.

    WOWOWOW!! No it's NOT!! You're so correct!! I too have been feeling something different going on with my heart ... When I realized that I would spike at 170-180 my body would get the chills ALL over - I was told my body was going into a slight shock, trying to cool itself down... With my watch, I can just TAP that rate and KNOW to come down.
  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
    Options
    We are experiencing the same thing with our new Polar HRM's. The one good thing is that we did not eat our exercise calories back in most cases, and we were still losing the lbs. WE try not to stress about it. The one thing additional I noticed was that before on my bike I would have days where my heart rate would go crazy high and I thought it was a fluke, but asked my doctor about it. Yesterday during our evening walk my HRM heart rate went up to 220, so I apparently have some heart rate issues that I need to discuss more with my doctor. A 220 heart rate for a moderate walk is scary.

    For your sake I hope the heart rate fluctuation on the walk is a watch malfunction, but if not, maybe having the HRM is a good thing to remind you to see your doctor.
  • puppywalker
    puppywalker Posts: 109 Member
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    Which model to you have? I see a lot of posts about the FT7. I've thought of getting one.

    Puppywalker,

    I have the Polar FT7 and love it. I, too, noticed a big discrepancy between the calories burned according to the Polar v. MFP. That made it worth the money all by itself. It also allows me to make sure I am within my target heart rate range, something I was below when trying to gauge it on my own.

    As much as I love my FT7, after getting it I noticed some features of some of the other Polar models that, if I had noticed them before, might have persuaded me to try them instead. My advice would be to got to the Polar website and compare the models before buying one.

    Thanks for the advice!
  • lmmbjb
    lmmbjb Posts: 4 Member
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    I think when it reads 220, it's probably lost the signal for a bit. My HRM does that, also. Usually if I readjust it, it will work fine.

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