New HRM owner - what do i do?

rinnismom
rinnismom Posts: 190
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
alright, here's the thing...

i've followed closely when people were talking about their hrm usage. i have been motivated enough to get one, for starters. secondly, after failing, i got my fiance to help me get the thing set up (date, time, age, weight, v02... hooray for him!!). i saw where someone was talking about how you can use your hrm to get a more accurate reading of what your daily caloric burnage really is. that's what i need advice on.

do you wear it for a series of days, then find the average between the days? i want to get a more accurate number to apply to my goal page.

are their any other things about having and using the hrm that are pertinent? please, anything you can share will certainly be appreciated.

Replies

  • JoJo_fat2fab
    JoJo_fat2fab Posts: 297 Member
    Bump
  • wickedcricket
    wickedcricket Posts: 1,246 Member
    me too. is it supposed to be that complicated? and how do u set it up for intervals?
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    hi, i have had one for 4 days and love it. I use it for exercise only, which varies each time. I'm guessing but as you have eluded too; to get an average you need to wear it for 5 days while waking, and not exercising, total calories up and divide. Is that what you meant? Cus its what i would do.

    Hoping this helps even just a little bit.
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    by the way i have a polar FT4 which doesn't the vo2 bit on it
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    i've followed closely when people were talking about their hrm usage. i have been motivated enough to get one, for starters. secondly, after failing, i got my fiance to help me get the thing set up (date, time, age, weight, v02... hooray for him!!). i saw where someone was talking about how you can use your hrm to get a more accurate reading of what your daily caloric burnage really is. that's what i need advice on.

    Forget about the HRM as a means of getting calories on normal daily activities.

    The formulas are only valid for aerobic activities between about 90-150 bpm.
    Anything outside of that is way off, and anything anaerobic, like weight lifting, can't be very accurate either.

    It is only valid for aerobic type exercise.
    http://www.braydenwm.com/cal_vs_hr_ref_paper.pdf

    At least you got a good one.
    Here's what to know about it's accuracy potential.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/459580-polar-hrm-calorie-burn-estimate-accuracy-study

    And here's how to get it setup as accurately as possible.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/466973-i-want-to-test-for-my-max-heart-rate-vo2-max

    What it will be great for is training.
    As you get fitter 3 months out, you can confirm you are putting the same effort into your workouts, and not just keeping the same pace.
  • pukekolive
    pukekolive Posts: 237 Member
    your HRM easures your heart rate while you are exercising and delivers a calorie burn to you that is personalised re weight, heartrate, V02Max etc. It is this calorie burn that you add in when you log your exercise. MFP can only give an average figure for the average person as it doe not know your heartrate.

    To roughly check that your HRM is giving you a good figure there are a number of website where you can enter in your hearrate for the exercise:

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
    http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

    My HRM gives me my actual heartrate in real time during my exercise and after the exercise is finished the average heartrate for the whole time and the peak heartrate
  • muzmacol
    muzmacol Posts: 358 Member
    having read further posts, i think i'll shut up.
  • wickedcricket
    wickedcricket Posts: 1,246 Member
    question- not even sure it will apply here. with 30 mins activity at approx 110 HR (170bpm) I'm burning approx 150-165 cals. This is basically maintenance isn't it? I need to work out at least an hour? more than an hour?

    I'm pretty sure I need to amp up my exercise but 30 mins kicks my butt ... you have to keep your heart rate high for an hour or more? How long should I 'train' for this to happen before I consult the dr? am I gonna die?
  • heggleston921
    heggleston921 Posts: 41 Member
    bump
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    question- not even sure it will apply here. with 30 mins activity at approx 110 HR (170bpm) I'm burning approx 150-165 cals. This is basically maintenance isn't it? I need to work out at least an hour? more than an hour?

    I'm pretty sure I need to amp up my exercise but 30 mins kicks my butt ... you have to keep your heart rate high for an hour or more? How long should I 'train' for this to happen before I consult the dr? am I gonna die?

    Your comment doesn't make sense, is the HR 110, or is the HR 170? Both would of course be bpm.

    No it is not maintenance, no you don't have to do it for an hour or more for it to be meaningful, yes you can make 30 min very meaningful, actually better than 60 if desired.

    For 30 min, at that calorie burn, I could see 110 was your avg HR.
    If you really were hitting 170, you need to back it off big time, since you are just starting out.
    Back off the pace, less resistance, whatever activity it was getting it up there, too high HR, you could cause problems easily.
  • bzmommy34
    bzmommy34 Posts: 229 Member
    bump
  • rinnismom
    rinnismom Posts: 190
    having read further posts, i think i'll shut up.

    that's how i feel sometimes, too, lol.
  • rinnismom
    rinnismom Posts: 190
    i appreciate all of the responses. i really didn't know about some of this and it's nice to see that a hrm is a learning experience that (hopefully) one day i can help educate another in. i read topics posted about hrms and it seemed simple enough. i guess i was overconfident.

    thank you all again. i certainly will be using the links provided.
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