HRM verses Machines!

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spazwgeo
spazwgeo Posts: 70 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so about 2 weeks ago I bought myself a heart rate monitor and am finding that I am burning much less calories than what the machines and mfp have told me in the past. Why is this? Does it have to do with the fact that I may not be in as good of shape as the machines in the gym think that I am?

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  • spazwgeo
    spazwgeo Posts: 70 Member
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    Anyone?!? :(
  • dburdi02
    dburdi02 Posts: 16 Member
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    Machines are inaccurate since they don't ask for gender, height, and weight; they provide a generic calculation. Some HRM are also more accurate than others. Since you've entered all your information and the HRM is attached to you monitoring your effort, I would rely on the HRM. The majority of us would be surprised by wearing a monitor to find we aren't pushing as hard as we could/should be. Good luck
  • spazwgeo
    spazwgeo Posts: 70 Member
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    Thank you...I have been using my HRM to enter calories. It just makes me wonder now if that is why I may have been at a stand still with my weight loss cause of entering too many calories in to computer before. It is a huge difference some days.
  • princessjarvis
    princessjarvis Posts: 97
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    I totally had this problem before I bought a HRM!

    I was going off the times and MFP guesstimations of what I had burnt. When I bought my HRm adn started using it i was burning less than I thought but since ive stuck to what my HRM says and not MFP on exercise, I have been loosing weight and getting fitter my the day!!

    I actually LOVE me HRM!! x
  • witheredorchid
    witheredorchid Posts: 164 Member
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    I'm pretty lucky in that area. I bought an HRM a few weeks ago and compared to the machines I use it was almost spot on. It probably has to do with the fact that I work out in the Cardiac Rehab Gym at my work though lol. Those things need to be accurate.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Ok so about 2 weeks ago I bought myself a heart rate monitor and am finding that I am burning much less calories than what the machines and mfp have told me in the past. Why is this? Does it have to do with the fact that I may not be in as good of shape as the machines in the gym think that I am?

    If you are burning less calories there is a good chance you are in better shape then the machine thinks you are. Calories burned comes down to age, gender, weight, V02Max, level of intensity(Heart rate is used to estimate this), height. If you don't input the info into the machine it will be wrong. MFP does not know your V02Max or intensity, so can be quite a bit off as well.
  • DoingitWell
    DoingitWell Posts: 560 Member
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    Hopefull my HRM will arrive today so I can seriously start making better progress. Since I use DVDs more than machines, the HRM is a nec essity.
  • agentscully514
    agentscully514 Posts: 616 Member
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    The machines are notoriously inaccurate. Use the HRM because it is measuring your real effort.
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,360 Member
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    I had the exact problem!
    My HRM gave me less calories than the gym machines. I trust my HRM more though and use the calories it displays, (and I eat them back!).
    My reason is based on two things:
    1. Gym machines don't use as much information about you as a HRM does to make its calculations.
    2. I work for a company that calibrates lab equipment for the pharmaceutical industry. I know that all devices that measure something need to be calibrated on a regular basis as they tend to drift over time and use. I'm pretty sure my gym doesn't get a technician in to calibrate all those treadmills, ellipticals and Bikes, even though they are used constantly by a wide variety of people. My HRM is in use many less hours and by one person and it can use its GPS function to check itself.
  • chub_b_gone
    chub_b_gone Posts: 18 Member
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    Go by the HRM and I hope its one w/ a chest strap bc the one w/out can also be inaccurate. I always burn way more calories then the machines say. Really the only way for the machine to be accurate is to hold the sensors the entire work out and who wants to do that.

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