Calculating Calories Burnt using Heart Rate

alexsmith01
alexsmith01 Posts: 350 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
I brought a heart rate monitor - basically so I can monitor my heart rate while running, to see improvements in fitness levels, however it was quite cheap so don't really know if I can trust the calories it says I burn.

Does anyone use a formula for calculating calories burnt based on average heart rate? I had a quick google but no luck finding any that look legit.

I currently just use MFP calculated calories based on my speed, but seeing as I have the HRM, I thought it would be better to calculate calories burnt a bit more accurately. If there are no good formulas around, I will probably just use the lower of MFP and the HRM, as I know MFP overestimates, and I suspect as this was a cheap HRM it probably will too.

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    if your HRM has a chest strap you should be OK, especially if you've set it up with your age height weight and V02 information
  • b0t23
    b0t23 Posts: 260 Member
    "Calculate the calories burned if you're female. This is given by the equation calories burned = (0.074 x age in years - 0.05741 x weight in pounds + 0.4472 x average heart rate - 20.4022) x time elapsed / 4.184.

    For an example calculation, a 43-year-old female weighing 143 pounds exercised for 45 minutes with an average heart rate during the session of 141 bpm: (0.074 x 43 - 0.05741 x 143 + 0.4472 x 141 - 20.4022) x 45 / 4.184 = 405 calories during your exercise session. "


    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/73315-calculate-calories-burned-based-heart/#ixzz1qvuWnmDw
  • ClascyParra
    ClascyParra Posts: 85
    bump...
    thanks for posting that site and info
  • Nalgh94
    Nalgh94 Posts: 181 Member
    bump, this is useful....i guess my HRM was overestimating calories burned but not by much
  • ahavoc
    ahavoc Posts: 464 Member
    I actually did an experiment where I wore my hrm while I sat and did nothing but watch tv. It turned out my heart rate monitor said i had burn 120 calories just breathing, digesting and existing. That comes to 2 calories a minute. So now I take what my hrm says and I subtract what I would have burned if I was just lazing around. So if I worked out 45 minutes, I subtract 90 from what my hrm says I burned. I find that that figure is much closer to the machines and what mfp says I would burn for my age, weight etc.

    This site here:

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    has great info on Vo2 max etc.

    also, http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/calorie-calculator.html has great calculators
  • alexsmith01
    alexsmith01 Posts: 350 Member
    I actually did an experiment where I wore my hrm while I sat and did nothing but watch tv. It turned out my heart rate monitor said i had burn 120 calories just breathing, digesting and existing. That comes to 2 calories a minute. So now I take what my hrm says and I subtract what I would have burned if I was just lazing around. So if I worked out 45 minutes, I subtract 90 from what my hrm says I burned. I find that that figure is much closer to the machines and what mfp says I would burn for my age, weight etc.

    This site here:

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    has great info on Vo2 max etc.

    also, http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/calorie-calculator.html has great calculators

    That's a good idea! will subtract that as well, I didn't think about that haha.
  • alexsmith01
    alexsmith01 Posts: 350 Member
    "Calculate the calories burned if you're female. This is given by the equation calories burned = (0.074 x age in years - 0.05741 x weight in pounds + 0.4472 x average heart rate - 20.4022) x time elapsed / 4.184.

    For an example calculation, a 43-year-old female weighing 143 pounds exercised for 45 minutes with an average heart rate during the session of 141 bpm: (0.074 x 43 - 0.05741 x 143 + 0.4472 x 141 - 20.4022) x 45 / 4.184 = 405 calories during your exercise session. "


    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/73315-calculate-calories-burned-based-heart/#ixzz1qvuWnmDw

    Are the livestrong articles written by professionals? I wasn't sure whether or not to trust this - although the site is awesome and has great info, sometimes the articles seem a bit dodgy.
  • Tourney3p0
    Tourney3p0 Posts: 290 Member
    Are the livestrong articles written by professionals? I wasn't sure whether or not to trust this - although the site is awesome and has great info, sometimes the articles seem a bit dodgy.

    Professionals or not, the HRM calculations are done by people whose livelihoods literally depend upon being able to approximate a decent formula. Given the two results, I wouldn't trust one over the other. I know that Polar goes out of their way to keep their calculation secret, and they're known for being pretty accurate. The true equation is not known, but there are varying degrees of accuracy. Without some sort of citation and some hard numbers backing it up, any results are just as valid as any other.
  • CommeSu1
    CommeSu1 Posts: 1 Member
    Livestrong.com is sometimes dodgy...great example: one of their tools calculates BMR to be greater than RMR, which is incorrect (by definition). The Livestrong site references another site rather than a textbook or publication. There are plenty of such references to cite.

    I agree with other comments that the pamphlets that come with any of the HRMs are a good source and use formulas that are widely used in the exercise physiology field. HRMs only do as well as the data entered into them (correct weight, age, gender, etc)..

    Also important is subtracting the "lazying around on the couch" energy expenditure, which is usually assumed to be ~1 kcal/min. So if you exercise 60 min, you should subtract 60 kcal from what your HRM tells you.
  • TrishasTime
    TrishasTime Posts: 588 Member
    bump

Categories