For those of you with Heart Rate Monitors...

iKapuniai
iKapuniai Posts: 594 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
How much more accurate have you found your Heart Rate Monitor to be as opposed to the calorie count that MFP gives you when you enter in your exercise/activity for the day, or the amount of calories burned shown on cardio equipment you find at the gym?

I'm contemplating getting a HRM but the one I want is about $80 +/- and I'm wondering if it's worth it for me to spend that amount of money if all I really want it for is more accurate calorie counts.

Anyone got some input and/or experience in the differences? Appreciate it!

Love and Alohas,
Ihilani Kapuniai

Replies

  • 0PhAtDaDdY
    0PhAtDaDdY Posts: 569 Member
    Mine is sometimes very close however the heavier the person the more calories you will burn so each one of us is different.. Get you one, I love mine. Polar FT7
  • sreeves200
    sreeves200 Posts: 17 Member
    Bump
  • AnninStPaul
    AnninStPaul Posts: 1,372 Member
    Mine is sometimes very close however the heavier the person the more calories you will burn so each one of us is different.. Get you one, I love mine. Polar FT7

    My recumbent bike is completely off. It reports a heart rate at least 1/3 lower than my HRM, and calorie burn 25-50% higher. I have the Polar FT4 and love it.
  • xmommyof2boysx
    xmommyof2boysx Posts: 114 Member
    MFP was at least 50 or more calories off..sometimes over estimating and sometimes under estimating. I do love the convenience of no guessing. I know exactly what I am burning and can eat accordingly. It's worth it for me..
  • tageekly
    tageekly Posts: 3,755 Member
    I have a Polar FT7 and found it much more accurate. For yoga and pilates MFP was too low, for hiking and elliptical MFP was too high. It's much nicer having one because you know what the reality of your food intake should be and how hard you're really working - I find I push harder now that I can see my heart rate dropping, especially during at home workouts.
  • sahmed15
    sahmed15 Posts: 20 Member
    Polar FT7 FTW! Love it, can't work out without it!

    It also helps me hit my target heart rate and makes me push myself harder. When I work out on a treadmill, the treadmill is usually 50-100 calories lower than what I've actually burned.
  • jakejacobsen
    jakejacobsen Posts: 584 Member
    I love mine (Polar ft7) it has helped me get a maximum burn/time by changing up the resestiance on the machines. I found going hard the whole time burned less then up and down. The machine gives you more burn for the intensity on higher but for me going up and down gave me a extra 200 or so in the same 30 min workout
  • keldawm
    keldawm Posts: 35 Member
    I have a Garmin watch I got for tri training and it came with the HRM. I use it for all of my activities. I have entered in a couple of runs here and it has been off @ 50 calories. I love mine and do recommend them!
  • lunamare
    lunamare Posts: 569 Member
    Does anyone have the most recent Consumer Reports study on HRMs? I don't have a subscription but I'm curious what their picks were.
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
    I've found that MFP shows less of a calorie burn than my HRM - which is good to know. This varies from person to person of course. I've heard from a lot of people that it's quite the opposite.
  • mizjohnston
    mizjohnston Posts: 196 Member
    I hear Polar is the way to go. I just got a sportline one from Walmart for around $50.00. MFP usually calculates far to high for me. I just can't believe what it says, its too high. I feel my heart rate monitor is accurate because I use the chest strap.
  • mdorman8313
    mdorman8313 Posts: 109 Member
    MFP almost always overestimates the amount of calories burned for me. I totally recommend an HRM. I agree, it's nice to not have to guess at what calories you burnt that day.
  • curlyclo
    curlyclo Posts: 243 Member
    MFP usually overestimates by about 100 cals or so for me. Great to have an HRM. :)
  • bhall33
    bhall33 Posts: 55 Member
    MFP said an hour at my boxing class would be 548. I then bought one (Polar FT7) went to my next class and it was 1800 so thats a drastic difference.
  • Jade_Butterfly
    Jade_Butterfly Posts: 2,963 Member
    Well I have found a huge difference in calorie burns since getting mine. . For the exercises that I do. . MFP was either giving me way too high a calorie burn or not enough, although for Zumba I used High impact aerobics and it wasn't to drastically different. .

    I was originally going to get a polar HRM, but when I had difficulty finding them. . I didn't feel like ordering online and waiting so I bought a SPORTLINE at Walmart with a chest strap which was only $47 and it works great!

    Wish you the best of luck in your endeavor~!:flowerforyou:
  • iKapuniai
    iKapuniai Posts: 594 Member
    Wow... thank you all for your replies and experiences, I appreciate the feedback! Whenever I think about getting a HRM I get really excited and pumped about it, so I might just stop thinking about it and just get it lol

    Thank you all again!!

    Love and Alohas,
    Ihilani Kapuniai
This discussion has been closed.

Categories