Another HRM question

Id be skeptical on any reading that has you at a caloric burn of more than 10cal/min

I've spoken to Physical Therapists, Registered Dietitians and my family physician about HRMs.. The PT and RD gave me some good info on models and brands. Getting a HRM at the local discount chain store for < $40-$50 will likely yield results that should be viewed with skepticism.

My physician (BTW she is a HUGE exercise enthusiast) gave me some good info. She said, that the American College of Sports Medicine and the "British Journal of Medicine" have put various heart rate monitors to the test over the years. Obviously the better HRMs are more adept at providing better accuracy. If the HRM is not accounting for Age, and resting heart rate, the accuracy will be limited to roughly 75%.

In these aforementioned studies, the measurement of calories expended has a non-significant margin of error, meaning the difference between the control and the Polar monitor is not enough to skew your results. These studies revealed that entering your actual VO2 max and maximum heart rather than having it calculated by the formula, yields only a 12 percent overestimate of calorie expenditure versus a 33 percent overestimate with lesser HRMs. More simply stated, a quality HRM can provide results that are 88% accurate on a regular basis....and in many cases accuracy at even higher %.

I use a German-made HRM called a Sigma PC. This HRM will sync to MANY machines such that the HR displayed is very close (often identical) to that on my wrist watch. The machines OFTEN use a standard calculation of a "typical" exerciser to determine calories burned. This typical exerciser likely bears little resemblance to you, me, or the next person that will use the machine. As mentioned, adding the values critical to a more accurate caloric calculation (i.e. gender, age, weight, resting HR) are key to getting a caloric burn that is anywhere close to accurate. Since many machines do not typically take these values into consideration....I view the caloric burn totals displayed on these machines as a SWAG (Simply a Wild *kitten* Guess).

Well, clearly this won't be a problem for you but often when I'm working out the bra slips under my HRM strap (and this is when the strap is as tight as I can make it!!!). Obviously this skews the results.

Anyway, was the strap tight enough?
did you get it damp prior to the workout?
What kind of HRM are you using?
Have you tried doing a sitting test? (IE: See how much the HRM calculates you're burning as you just sit and do nothing?)

It's hard to say if this is an accurate reading or not but I'm probably use a number between the machine and the HRM as your burned cals.

Anyway, was the strap tight enough? - I assumed it was. It certainly left an imprint on my body when I took it off.

did you get it damp prior to the workout? - Yes

What kind of HRM are you using? - Polar FT7 (I think that's the name...it definitely is a Polar and it definitely has a 7 in it)

Have you tried doing a sitting test? - No. All I did was what the manual recommended, which was to let it get a reading before starting to exercise. Basically, once it gave me a reading, I would start almost immediately afterward.

I wouldn't presume the HRM is malfunctioning but if I were you I'd do a sitting down test and just see how much it says you're burning when you're not exercising. If the number doesn't seem too outrageous then I'd presume it's working.

Like I said, I highly doubt your bra is slipping under the strap and messing things up so it should be okay!