HRM showing calories burned

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kaned_ferret
kaned_ferret Posts: 618 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've been doing soem research, read through various threads, looked about online. I have decided I want a heart rate monitor so that I can get an accurate burn reading for my workouts. I think the polar is where I'm going to be looking, but I just wanted to ask experienced people about this.

It seems that the ft4 is the first in the range that gives a calorie burn amount for a workout, is this right? I really don't care about having features like the time etc as all I want is a gadget to tell me how many calories I burn, end of! But the cheapest I have found the ft4 is for £54 - that's a bit steep seeing as I'm currently unemployed!

I am happy to hear what people have to say about any hrm - and if it means I have to save up for one of these then so be it. If there are any other gadgets that just record your calorie burn, tell me! And, if anyone knows of any offers that are going, (UK), please post them. Or if any of you guys have one that you don't use, I'm interested lol!

Replies

  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
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    1) I love your profile pic :love:
    2) yes.

    FT4 is a great model. I own a Polar HRM too. Mine is 1 step above, the FT40. Owned it for over 2 years just recently had to replace the battery. Works great! the only advice I'd give is be careful when it comes to washing the strap. Due to neglience on my part I've had to replace it, 2x.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    Polar is an excellent brand to have.. and the FT4 is good for just the basics.

    Just want to point out that HRM's don't tell you exactly what you burn.. They take your info, plus heart rate, plug it into a formula and then spit out a calorie estimation... and granted some estimations are more accurate then others, but nothing will ever be able to 100% tell you what you burn.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    I've had a couple of HRMs in my time, and a Garmin Forerunner combining HRM with GPS. Polar is definitely the go-to brand and the FT4 does everything you need in the best value-for-money package.

    Personally, however, I've ditched HRMs altogether. The faff of putting them on and getting them set up was delaying me getting out of the house (I'm a "path of least resistance" girl) and I spent longer planning my sessions than doing them! Also seeing a high heart rate made me feel a workout was hard and want to slow down even though I wasn't finding it hard beforehand.

    For me, MFP and free apps like Cardiotrainer give me a good-enough estimate for calorie burn - I understand the calculation for walking and running is fairly standard for a certain weight/height/sex combination anyhow.

    However, if you're using it to design an HRM based training programme that will with time make your long, easy sessions easier and your tough sessions faster, it is well worth the investment and a bit of hard sums.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
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    Oh and bear in mind that an HRM will not give an accurate calorie burn when carrying out day-to-day activities as its calculations are based on elevated heart rates, or when swimming as it does not transmit through water.
  • kaned_ferret
    kaned_ferret Posts: 618 Member
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    thanks guys - I wasn't going to worry about a HRM until I did a wii zumba session the other day if I'm honest! As Berry said, I usually just log time / speed for my run sessions to get a calorie estimate, which I was happy with - it was only after this 20 minutes of zumba that I suddenly decided I HAD to know what the calorie burn was, because I was sweating profusely - and NO exercise has ever done that to me before lol!

    Oh for a modern enough mobile to get these helpful apps lmao :)
  • jayessica
    jayessica Posts: 12 Member
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    I have had a Mio HRM for over a year and it's been pretty accurate and there's no chest strap. You can get a basic model on Amazon for $50 if you want to start there and then if you want something with more features then maybe a Polar. I use mine everyday and I just now changed the batteries. I love it and will probably purchase another Mio before a Polar mainly because of the chest strap.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    Don't buy a Timex HRM. I have one and the calorie burn is not accurate at all. It basically doubles the amount actually burned.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    If you are going to bother with this, FT4 would be my recommendation, if only because Polar seems to work with every bit of gym kit ever made, no questions asked....

    The thing is, they are really, really useful for about a month when you can calibrate the MFP calories / exercise machine against your HRM calculated ones - but once you know this the thing becomes redundant - unless you are doing genuine heart rate training (which I recommend but its far from the only way to train).

    If you can live with the idea of a second hand one, you can normally pick up FT4's for £25 on ebay.
  • kyle4jem
    kyle4jem Posts: 1,400 Member
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    I have an FT4 and it's brilliantly simple to use and I'm glad I own it, but as mikeyrp mentioned, you use it lots in the beginning and then less often, unless you are a big fan of cardio where you might want to be disciplined enough to use it every session.

    If the FT4's price tag is a bit steep, you might want to check out the following link. It's an HRS being sold by Lloyds Pharmacy and it's only £12.99. The have them online and also instore methinks, but as I have my FT4 I'm not really in the market for another HRM.

    http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/lloydspharmacy-watch-and-heart-rate-monitor-35281

    Once thing I would say when using an HRM, it's quite good to work out your own BMR and TDEE to see whether or not MFP's calculations are accurate for you. Also, once you know your TDEE you need to work out your TDEE/min and then subtract that from any value your HRM advises as you would have burnt those Calories just by going about your normal daily business they are not Exercise bonus calories.

    Good luck!
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    If anyone cares - you can download the garmin fit app for the iphone and use that with the garmin HRM (though I cant work out if this calculates your calories based on heart rate or not)!!! Sadly you need to pay £40 for the heart rate receiver. probably not the best ever value for money... Apparently some android devices have ANT+ receivers as standard so its worth looking at that too. App costs £0.70 so no problem there.

    The nice thing about this is that it does mean you can use your iPhone instead of your GPS watch if, say, you forget to charge it or don't take it with you when travelling abroad. Looks very similar to run meter otherwise.

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