just got my polar FT4, now I have some questions

jonzo21
jonzo21 Posts: 446 Member
edited October 5 in Fitness and Exercise
So I did a test run, did level 3 of the 30DS and it said in 27 minutes I burned 282 calories. I'm wondering how accurate that is

going through the results, it says I was in my zone for nearly 18 minutes. And my average BPM was 151. So should I just calculate my calories burned in my zone using my average? I really don't know how this works yet

Replies

  • skierxjes
    skierxjes Posts: 926 Member
    I input into MFP whatever the HRM says I burned. I also have the FT4
  • whiskey9890
    whiskey9890 Posts: 652 Member
    the way i understand it is if you burnt 282 cals thats what you burnt. the zones refer to how long you spent in either the aerobic (getting fit)zone or the weight loss zone, i can't remember which its set to, anytime out of the zone you are still in the other unless you were really giving it some and ended up anaerobically exercising which aint great or sustainable for our sort of stuff.

    either way you burnt those those cals

    if you go onto the polar website there is a section that explains more about zones and how to set them
  • skierxjes
    skierxjes Posts: 926 Member
    the way i understand it is if you burnt 282 cals thats what you burnt. the zones refer to how long you spent in either the aerobic (getting fit)zone or the weight loss zone, i can't remember which its set to, anytime out of the zone you are still in the other unless you were really giving it some and ended up anaerobically exercising which aint great or sustainable for our sort of stuff.

    either way you burnt those those cals

    if you go onto the polar website there is a section that explains more about zones and how to set them

    this haha i didn't feel like typing all of that. you still burned 282 calories.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    You don't have to calculate anything, you just go with the calories it tells you. :-) The average heartrate and time in the zone are just info for you, you don't have to use those to calculate anything. Some of your time 'out of the zone' was probably going higher than the max - that happens to me a lot. I get up to 170-172 every now and then which is over the 'zone' that comes preset on there. So I'm not 'in the zone' but still obviously working my butt off. LOL

    I did day 1 level 1 of 30DS today and my polar told me I burned about 201 calories - I'm 140 lbs and was not able to keep up with quite everything, so I'm thinking since you're profile says you're a bit bigger and since you're doing a higher level, 282 sounds totally reasonable.
  • alecta337
    alecta337 Posts: 622 Member
    I don't know about the FT4, but if you input your weight and age and there's a chest strap, its about as accurate as you're ever going to get without using expensive hospital equipment.

    I am currently in school for biomedical engineering and we did an accuracy study on HR measured by Polar FT40 and it was very very accurate
  • alecta337
    alecta337 Posts: 622 Member
    double post =[
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,380 Member
    I don't know about the FT4, but if you input your weight and age and there's a chest strap, its about as accurate as you're ever going to get without using expensive hospital equipment.

    You do, and there is. :-)
  • Red5446
    Red5446 Posts: 17 Member
    Did you input your age and other physical information? These HR monitors are pretty accurate, and they take into account gender, height, weight, and age. It will be off if it's not calibrated for your body.
    It's kind of a fun reward to have to reset your monitor for your new weight when you have a loss. Only if it's the same as my Polar, you can only add weight, so you have to hit the damn button until you get to the max and it rolls over to the min weight, and then pay attention so you don't blow past the weight you want because you went on autopilot. :-/ I really do love the Polar HRMs though!
  • jonzo21
    jonzo21 Posts: 446 Member
    yeah I inputted all my stats, so I guess its accurate. Thanks a bunch for the info guys, and I will definitely read the polar website for more info!
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