Do we really need HRM?

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spottedlee
spottedlee Posts: 372
in Fitness and Exercise
I just had an interesting email from my doctor and I have to agree with her...

First,, what is a real purpose of HRM? Many of you said "more accurate measurment of calories burned." If that is true,, something wrong with the number here........

She wrote:
"Your heart rate does not equal your metabolism. The top athletes have a slow heart rate at 50-60 beats per minute and do not have a slow metabolism."

The way she puts it,, it's your metabolism, not the HR to determine the calories burn. Think about it,, how many of us are parents,, we spend what it seems like zillion hours chasing our active toodler and cleaning up after our messy teenagers and we still can't lose,, right? Being a parent is active,, we should be losing wieght for the most part but many can't.

I noticed that people debated whetever to eat back the calories burned or not. No one can really agree which website is accurate to determine the burnt calories but they can be close though, I think the safe bet is,, just eat back HALF of MFP says....

::: getting off my soapbox:::

Replies

  • HMonsterX
    HMonsterX Posts: 3,000 Member
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    I never think it's 100% accurate, but it's better than just guessing! :)
  • dreamangel18105
    dreamangel18105 Posts: 115 Member
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    Nothing can really be 100% accurate, and I think if you accept that, then that's step one. But all I know is that my number on my HRM is SO DIFFERENT from the number MFP or any gym machine has ever given me. And since starting with my HRM, I've had much better progress with workouts, feel more motivated, and like that I can monitor my heart rate so I know whether or not I'm working TOO HARD or NOT HARD ENOUGH. I love my HRM and would be lost without it. Is it for everyone? No, of course not.
  • CityOnAHill
    CityOnAHill Posts: 136 Member
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    I never think it's 100% accurate, but it's better than just guessing! :)

    I totally agree. And I, for one, need to know where I'm at. I get a rush at the end of the workout to see how many calories were burned according to my HRM. For that reason alone, yes, I "need" the HRM.
  • MissHellsing
    MissHellsing Posts: 133 Member
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    I never think it's 100% accurate, but it's better than just guessing! :)

    I def agree with this. Instead of guessing and wondering how much you did it gives you a ball park figure of how much you've done.
  • PB67
    PB67 Posts: 376
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    ^^This is exactly why I think MFP's system of baseline+exercise calories is problematic.

    People tend to underestimate intake and overestimate calories burned during exercise.
  • dannylives
    dannylives Posts: 611
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    Losing weight is not about metabolism. Metabolism is about metabolism.
    A faster metabolism helps you to lose weight but the ACTUAL WAY you lose weight is to burn more calories than you eat. HRM's help you to know how many calories you burn during a workout a little more accurately. By wearing a HRM I found out that I needed to increase my workouts to 90 minutes a day. Today I burned 1380 calories. I plan to do this like 4 more times this week.
  • mcjabber
    mcjabber Posts: 374 Member
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    I LOVE my HRM. But I don't think it's a god... I feel like it makes a way closer estimate than MFP, particularly for the bazillion active things I do that are not listed on this website. I also like actually watching what my heart rate is while I work out.
  • capriciousmoon
    capriciousmoon Posts: 1,263 Member
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    If something is a normal part of your day your body is going to adapt to it, so you won't burn as many calories doing it. So after a while you won't burn as much chasing your kids or cleaning the house.

    A HRM will use your heart rate along with age, weight, and height to estimate how many calories you burned. I still check it against this site and go with whichever number is lower. It can be a good motivator, being able to easily see how long you have worked out and how long you were able to stay in your target heart rate, but to be honest... sometimes I do think it was a waste of money.

    The only things I feel that I really need to be able to lose weight are...

    - good walking shoes
    - food scale and measuring cups
    - a food journal
    - healthy foods and water
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I think it's a nice toy but it is definitley not essential - I've lost all my weight by using MFP or Runkeeper estimates for calories burnt (which are usually pretty close) and eating back almost all of those calories.

    But then I don't own any exercise DVDs or protein shakes either.... call me old fashioned but I just don't think any of those things are necessary.

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