Frustrated with my HRM

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Nessc
Nessc Posts: 137 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know this has probably been talked about before, but please bear with me.....I don't understand what is going on with my HRM. I have the Reebok Precision XT HRM and when I exercise on the elliptical, the elliptical shows me to have burned 239 cal. My HRM shows me to only burn 159 cal...Why the big difference? I've seen other posts where people say the HRM shows to have burnt more calories than the elliptical, but mine is the opposite. Any suggestions or advice? Thanks!:flowerforyou: :drinker:

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  • Nessc
    Nessc Posts: 137 Member
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    I know this has probably been talked about before, but please bear with me.....I don't understand what is going on with my HRM. I have the Reebok Precision XT HRM and when I exercise on the elliptical, the elliptical shows me to have burned 239 cal. My HRM shows me to only burn 159 cal...Why the big difference? I've seen other posts where people say the HRM shows to have burnt more calories than the elliptical, but mine is the opposite. Any suggestions or advice? Thanks!:flowerforyou: :drinker:
  • livinwell
    livinwell Posts: 47
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    Did you enter all of your info? age and weight? I have the same one and it always shows that I burn much more on my elliptical then the machine does. I suggest going through the programming routine and make sure you enter all of your data. Hope this helps:flowerforyou:
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
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    Hmm. Well I don't know anything about that HRM - is that one where you have to push and hold the buttons, or does it continuously monitor heart rate via chest band? If it has a chest band and you're fairly certain it's making contact and monitoring correctly (double check it if you have to) then go with the HRM. Machines just aren't reliable . . . also,do you enter age and weight on the machine and/or your HRM? Those variables can make a difference.
  • pixiestick
    pixiestick Posts: 839 Member
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    how long have been using the elliptical... it could be that your body is used to this exercise and is doing what it's supposed to... as in, conserve energy. Try doing something different for a few weeks.

    This happened to me with the stair-stepper. At the beginning, I was burning almost 450 cals in 25 minutes. But a month in, my body just decided that I didn't need to use that many cals to do the same old thing--I thought my HRM was broken at the time too. I started switching it up and was able to get the same calorie burn doing other stuff.
  • Nessc
    Nessc Posts: 137 Member
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    Did you enter all of your info? age and weight? I have the same one and it always shows that I burn much more on my elliptical then the machine does. I suggest going through the programming routine and make sure you enter all of your data. Hope this helps:flowerforyou:

    Yes, I entered all my info on the HRM...I'm the only one that uses it...I won't let my husband or my kids use it because I have programmed especially for me..Thanks, anyway!
  • Nessc
    Nessc Posts: 137 Member
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    Hmm. Well I don't know anything about that HRM - is that one where you have to push and hold the buttons, or does it continuously monitor heart rate via chest band? If it has a chest band and you're fairly certain it's making contact and monitoring correctly (double check it if you have to) then go with the HRM. Machines just aren't reliable . . . also,do you enter age and weight on the machine and/or your HRM? Those variables can make a difference.

    My HRM works continuously to monitor the heart rate. It has a chest band and I've already checked to make sure that it is fitting properly...The elliptical is one that I purchased, brand-new, and there was no way to personalize it. However, I did enter my info on the HRM...thanks for the info!!
  • Nessc
    Nessc Posts: 137 Member
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    how long have been using the elliptical... it could be that your body is used to this exercise and is doing what it's supposed to... as in, conserve energy. Try doing something different for a few weeks.

    This happened to me with the stair-stepper. At the beginning, I was burning almost 450 cals in 25 minutes. But a month in, my body just decided that I didn't need to use that many cals to do the same old thing--I thought my HRM was broken at the time too. I started switching it up and was able to get the same calorie burn doing other stuff.

    I've only been doing the elliptical for about a month. The elliptical that I have is the one that you can change the strides from either a 12, 14, or an 18. Use the 18. I was doing a resistance of 1, but it has smart workouts on it and I've been doing workout number 3 for the past week. Even in the beginning when I first got the elliptical, the HRM showed me to burn fewer calories than it. Could it be that I'm not getting my heart rate up to where I burn more calories...Oh, the workout is for 20 minutes, which is the best that I can do at this time. Thanks for the help!!
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
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    I burn less than the elliptical displays with my HRM.
    Unless I run, I burn less than the treadmill shows too.
  • jljohnson
    jljohnson Posts: 719 Member
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    My HRM works continuously to monitor the heart rate. It has a chest band and I've already checked to make sure that it is fitting properly...The elliptical is one that I purchased, brand-new, and there was no way to personalize it. However, I did enter my info on the HRM...thanks for the info!!

    I purchased my elliptical brand new as well, and it has always comes in well over my HRM (usually by at least 100 calories). However, I used a really nice one at a hotel fitness center and it calculated under my HRM. I truly believe that the more you're able to personalize the device the closer it will be.
  • singfree
    singfree Posts: 1,591 Member
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    I have the Reebok Precision HRM and it is a great tool. I've tried it under a variety of exercises and found that it shows fewer cals burned than what the machine indicates. My bicycling cals are higher on the HRM than the estimates are per mile on some biking websites.

    For the money the Reebok is a great tool! I'm well pleased with the performance.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    the elliptical machine is a generalization

    the HRM is your body wt/ht/age and heartrate all combined.

    Sorry. You are just more fit than you thought you were:wink:
  • TCASMEY
    TCASMEY Posts: 1,405 Member
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    I own the reebok HRM also and it is always under what my eliptical shows. I trust the HRM more because it is personalized to my height, weight and fitness level. My eliptical has no way to enter data about me so the number it comes up with is a generalization. It is a bummer thogh because before I got my HRM I thought I could burn around 1000 calories when I was on the eliptical for an hour, now with the HRM I find out it is anywhere from 600-700 calories burned in that hour.
  • altazin0907
    altazin0907 Posts: 188 Member
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    I have a Polar F6 and when I do the elliptical my HRM is always atleast 100 calories less then the machine. HRM's are more accurate than your machine, trust it!:flowerforyou:
  • burnone
    burnone Posts: 1
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    Check out this site that gives calories burned for types of exercise. I think it confirms that the HRM is much more accurate than the machine.
    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/sm00109

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