Polar F4 vs Life Fitness Elliptical (interference? accuracy?

Selk68
Selk68 Posts: 39 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
This was from around mid-January - when I first started doing the elliptical. I believe I had it set at resistance = 5.
Elapsed Time: 13:00
Calories: 144
Average Speed: 2.49 MPH
Average Heart Rate: 141
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This was from last night. I usually set the resistance to 9 now; however I sprained my right ankle/foot and bruised my left knee the other day during a fall and it still hurts quite a bit, so I had it set to resistance 1 so I could tolerate the movement. I was also moving a bit slower than what would be "normal" for me at this time for the same reason. I was wearing the Polar F4 while on the elliptical for my first time; and, I noticed the Heart Rate never really went above 111 and was still being recorded - even when I wasn't touching the handles. My heart rate would normally be higher. I'm guessing the machine was picking up the signal from the Polar HRM; but, that being the case, why would the calories burned be so much different on the elliptical than they were on the F4?
Elapsed Time: 30:22
Calories: 264
Average Speed: 2.58 MPH
Average Heart Rate: 104
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This was also from last night. My first time using the used Polar F4 I just bought yesterday morning while on the elliptical. It seemed to work fine when I mowed the yard in the morning; but, the calories burned are MUCH lower than what the elliptical shows. The "heart" was flashing and numbers were moving, so it didn't seem like any interference was blocking the transmission (completely anyway?).
Elapsed Time: 31:42
Max HR: 124
Calories: 134
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I'm going to try to do 30 minutes on resistance 1 again tonight; but, instead of wearing the HRM on my arm, I'm going to see about placing it somewhere else - to keep it away from the elliptical's display 'n all... If that doesn't make any significant difference, then which set of 'stats' would I consider to be more accurate?

Thanks in advance for any insight y'all may be able to shed 'n have a great day!
Lisa
:)

Replies

  • Selk68
    Selk68 Posts: 39 Member
    anyone???
  • tlynnweb
    tlynnweb Posts: 201 Member
    Do u have it set to your age\weight, etc?
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    Assuming you have set up your HRM correctly I'd be inclined to believe it over the machine. I don't use ellipticals but intuition tells me that 1.8 miles @ 2.6 mph and a MHR of 124 would be under 200 cal (my session on the treadmill this morning (35 min + 5 min cool down) showed 410 cal on the machine and 345 on my HRM starting @ 4.0mph and working up to 4.5mph)
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I have an FT4 that gives a different calorie burn number than the interfacing machines at my gym. The treadmill and elliptical give me a lower number than the Polar. The HR numbers do always match up though.

    I go with my HRM's number for calories burned because it has more info about me. The machines just know my weight, while the HRM can take my age and gender into account as well.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    The machine can read your HR from the monitor, but it doesn't use it for calculating any values.

    Your watch is reading the signal, the machine is reading the signal - don't worry about the receivers being next to each other.
    The problem is when there are 2 sending units next to each other (another person) and you get misreads.

    Your watch and monitor are paired up digitally, but the monitor sends out analog signal too for the machine to pick up, and that could be interfered with.

    But again, machine is just displaying the HR, not using it in any calcs.
  • Selk68
    Selk68 Posts: 39 Member
    Thanks Y'all...

    I have both set-up for my current weight 'n all... The elliptical has my age & weight. The HRM has my gender, height, age & weight.

    I wasn't sure if one or both may be causing interference with the other - since the elliptical always shows my HR higher - even when I have the resistance real low (I had it set at 1 the day before, too - because of the pain from the sprains and bruising; and, it still showed higher than an average of 104. I had no idea the HRM would feed info to the elliptical (pleasant surprise, if it works right... *smiles*).

    I will continue to experiment with placement of the HRM and see what happens....

    Thanks again ~ your input is much appreciated!!!
    :)


    edit to add: Thx heybales (your response showed up as I was typing I guess)... I was wondering about the interference (obviously - lol); but, yeah... Thanks ~ that makes sense! :)
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