HRMs vs. MFP calorie counts

amandagyeoman
amandagyeoman Posts: 88 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone else have serious discrepances between their heart rate monitor and what My Fitness Pal says when you plug in your daily exercise? I just purchased a Polar HRM on the recommendation of a friend who is actually a personal trainer. She swears by them. But my exercise reads MUCH lower calories burnt than what MFP tells me I've burnt. Which should I trust?

Replies

  • xMonroeMisfit
    xMonroeMisfit Posts: 411 Member
    Same here, i trust my HRM. I would always trust something that is consistently measuring my HR against my resting HR to tell me what level of activity my body is at.

    I believe when you choose something like cleaning, vigrorous..MFP assumes youre keeping a high HR level at all times...which im almost sure no one does unless youre running inbetween cleaning.

    my HR changes very much when i am working out.
  • dlpnrn2b
    dlpnrn2b Posts: 441 Member
    I agree!! I trust my HR monitor any day over a "guesstimate" My polar tells me I've burned at the least 50-100 more calories then a machine or chart!!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,420 Member
    I personally find the HRM to give a lower reading than MFP's numbers.

    I think you should pick one or the other and stick to it. I use the HRM numbers.
  • jjs22
    jjs22 Posts: 156
    Its important to keep in mind that _both_ measurements are wrong.

    The MFP number is probably more wrong, as it has no information to go on : How "vigorous" was the cleaning ? How good a shape is the person in ? etc.

    But the number from a HRM is also wrong. The only thing it can get right is your heart rate. After that, there's still a lot of guessing. Is your body burning fats, carbs, or protein ? Are you excited or bored ? Did you drink any caffeine ? Lots things affect your heart rate besides burning calories, and a simple strap across your chest can't know all of them. So keep in mind that the number from a HRM (even though it looks like a "scientific" fact) is just a guess for an average person on an average day.

    Also, the *only* time the HRM's guess is likely to be close to the truth is for steady aerobic activity. If you exercise intermittently, or if you are doing resistance-type training, the watch will still read out a number, but it's not going to correspond to reality.

    [edit] Don't get me wrong ! I own and use a HRM. It's a great tool. But the tool I trust the most is the scale. Over the long term, it always knows best.
  • dlpnrn2b
    dlpnrn2b Posts: 441 Member
    Good post :) thanks.. and I divorced my scale to marry my tape measure :)
  • danielleisms
    danielleisms Posts: 42 Member
    Use the HRM numbers! You should have done a test when you set it up and also entered your age, height, weight, etc. So it will be more accurate for you.
  • nkechio23
    nkechio23 Posts: 30 Member
    When I first got mine I was super disappointed because MFP was giving me a high number for calories burned ( For example 30 minutes on stationary bike according to MFP was 300 and when i checked on HRM it was about half that)

    I trust my HRM more and it definetly has pushed me harder so that I can burn more calories.
  • amandagyeoman
    amandagyeoman Posts: 88 Member
    Thank you everyone for your help. I was the same way, getting disappointed I wasn't reaching the calories burnt based on MFP. So much useful information here! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
  • vnsaroja
    vnsaroja Posts: 19 Member
    good one!!

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