Another Polar FT4 Question

derek2680
derek2680 Posts: 48 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I bought my Polar FT4 HRM this week and used it at the gym. It was fairly close on calories burned to the machine I was on. So, I figured it was working accurately. In 37 minutes on the elliptical I burned 480, but the machine 500. I can deal with that. Today I wore it while I went golfing. We walked the nine holes and it took 95 minutes. We were probably walking around 2-2.5mph the whole time. My HR rarely got over 125, but when I finished the training session on the polar it said 867 cals burned. That seems almost impossible. If going 5mph on a machine only burns 480 in 37minute. Does this sound accurate to you? Do I have to reset all my settings at the beginning of each training session? Thanks for you thoughts and ideas.
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Replies

  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    From what I have heard for non exercise purposes they aren't very accurate or for extremely long periods of time with stopping and stuff. For that you would probably need one of those fitbit step counter things.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    I did a 31 minute hike up a mountain yesterday and it said I burned 230, that amt does seem unnaturally high for something like playing golf. See what MFP has under its calorie counts for golf.
  • Patty_Petz
    Patty_Petz Posts: 91
    Did you change the intensity of your workout to reflect a light workout for the golf vs. high intensity for the elliptical? Otherwise the Polar will be looking for you to be in the same zone for the two very different workouts.
  • Gilbrod
    Gilbrod Posts: 1,216 Member
    Research how many calories you burn while you sleep. Maybe that will help ease your mind.
  • ashiggins
    ashiggins Posts: 144 Member
    I've heard that HRMs aren't really made to be used for very low intensity workouts like walking (or golfing). But don't quote me on that!
  • harlanJEN
    harlanJEN Posts: 1,089 Member
    From what I have heard for non exercise purposes they aren't very accurate or for extremely long periods of time with stopping and stuff. For that you would probably need one of those fitbit step counter things.

    Lol .... That's right !! HRMs not designed for everyday, ordinary activities. FitBit is designed to keep us aware of what our daily activity level is .... You know, when we are not "officially" working out. I have both. Tools in my arsenal. FitBits, conversely, should not be relied upon to give accurate calorie burns.
  • DMUND
    DMUND Posts: 299 Member
    Did you change the intensity of your workout to reflect a light workout for the golf vs. high intensity for the elliptical? Otherwise the Polar will be looking for you to be in the same zone for the two very different workouts.

    How do you do this? I recently got a Polar FT4 and well, to be honest....got it set up and then didn't look at the manual again. Didn't realize this is something that needs to be done. Guess that will teach me to start reading the manual!
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    You shouldn't be wearing it for activities that don't get your heart rate in your zone at least. At that point you are pretty much just on BMR burns anyway. (figure out your TDEE, divide it by 24, and you will know how many cals you burn in an hour WITHOUT exercising).

    Either way, that does seem ridiculously high. :ohwell:
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    Did you change the intensity of your workout to reflect a light workout for the golf vs. high intensity for the elliptical? Otherwise the Polar will be looking for you to be in the same zone for the two very different workouts.

    No idea what you are talking about, I don't think the FT4's have that option. Regardless, your "zone" is supposed to be where you are most effectively burning calories, so it doesn't make sense that there are different zones for different activities.
  • StephTheBookworm
    StephTheBookworm Posts: 177 Member
    I always trust mine... so I hope it's right! :smile: I use it for speed walking (usually 4 MPH though) as well as the elliptical, bike, etc.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    Did you change the intensity of your workout to reflect a light workout for the golf vs. high intensity for the elliptical? Otherwise the Polar will be looking for you to be in the same zone for the two very different workouts.

    How do you do this? I recently got a Polar FT4 and well, to be honest....got it set up and then didn't look at the manual again. Didn't realize this is something that needs to be done. Guess that will teach me to start reading the manual!

    Don't worry the little manual that came with it tells you nothing about setting it up. Mainly how to set up the strap and about washing it and stuff. I think there is a more in depth manual online.

    What I believe they are talking about is the zone settings. You go to settings, then training settings and then zone limits. You can change the range of your heart rate zone depending on what you need.

    ETA- But I thought your HR zone was supposed to stay the same no matter what activity you are doing?
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    ETA- But I thought your HR zone was supposed to stay the same no matter what activity you are doing?

    I bet this is for people who have abnormal heart rates? I have heard some people's are really fast or slow and therefore HRMs miscalculate by alot. If one could manual adjust their zone that might help this....but that sounds really technical, doctor should probably be involved....
  • derek2680
    derek2680 Posts: 48 Member
    Ok, so what I am hearing basically only use for high intensity workouts? Not for walks and things like that. That seems like a joke since so many just starting there weight lose goals are not able to do much more than walk. When I walked on the treadmill the Polar and treadmill had very close cals burned after 15 minutes. It should do the trick for lifting weights then? That is the biggest reason I bought it. I had no clue what I was burning while lifting and doing intervals for an hour.
  • Patty_Petz
    Patty_Petz Posts: 91
    ETA- But I thought your HR zone was supposed to stay the same no matter what activity you are doing?

    You are supposed to be able to adjust the monitor to the level of activity you are doing...my heartrate during a 4.0mph walk is no where near the same as a 7.5mph run and I need to be able to monitor it during the different levels of activity - thus the ability of the monitor to adjust to my intensity levels. I burn a hell of a lot more calories running than I do walking and that is the point. As I get in better shape and my weight and RHR changes, my ranges for activity will also change and this can be adjusted on my Polar FT4 as well.

    I use my HRM for lifting, for walking, for HIIT - but I adjust it to monitor my activity level intensity. As long as you continue to keep your stats current on your Polar, you should be able to use it for whatever activity you want. Just remember to keep an eye on the monitor and make sure you are within the recommended HR range to get the best benefit.

    It does have it's limitations as all things do, but a HRM is only as good as the person using it.

    OP - there is a lot of great information out there on the Polars and what they are capable of doing, it's a quick search away. I hope you find all the great stuff a HRM can do and get all the benefits out of it that are there. Please don't get discouraged by this thread, I think there is a great deal of misleading information posted here.
  • MinkyMoo13
    MinkyMoo13 Posts: 354 Member
    Ok, so what I am hearing basically only use for high intensity workouts? Not for walks and things like that. That seems like a joke since so many just starting there weight lose goals are not able to do much more than walk. When I walked on the treadmill the Polar and treadmill had very close cals burned after 15 minutes. It should do the trick for lifting weights then? That is the biggest reason I bought it. I had no clue what I was burning while lifting and doing intervals for an hour.

    I know what you mean I would like to know what i burn from just walking (purposefully walking not just a leisurely stroll) my dad is on MFP and he plays golf he uses the MFP guide for his cals burned.

    I have had a fitbit it was too intelligent for me. Told me how many calories i had burned just sitting still it then completely died on me so i got a refund. I then got a Polar activity Monitor which was OK it measured steps taken and how active i had been but again it wasn't very accurate and took ages to register when i had started moving. I now have a cheap HRM from eBay which i was recommended but i think mines faulty as it give unrealistic calories burned! I am currently after a FT4 when i can afford it as i've heard the best reviews on it from real people on here.
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,544 Member
    I have both the Polar F4 and a Body Fit Media and I am a golfer. I have worn my HRM when golfing and the calorie count is very, very close to what my Body Media gives me. Both numbers are less than what MFP gives but I figure that is because the MFP number is general and I live in Florida land of the flat. What you have to remember is that calorie count includes the calories you would have burned by being alive so you would need to back out those existence calories (in my case it's 1.1 per minute times the number of minutes played) to get your exercise calories. I usually don't go to that trouble but I also don't eat all my exercise calories. I don't vary the settings on my HRM either for playing golf, lifting weight or doing a spin class.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    An FT4 isn't really going to help weight lifting calories burned either. Standard HRMs are really only designed to be truly accurate when they are worn during a dedicated activity, during which your heart rate is at least as high as the minimum HR in your "zone". It's how their internal formulas are set up to calculate calories.

    Polar does make a model, I think it's the FT80, that's actually designed for use while lifting weights. I don't have all the info on it, I'm sure it's available online, but I saw it when I had to replace my HRM recently.
  • derek2680
    derek2680 Posts: 48 Member
    I am getting more lost with every post. What is the purpose of a HRM if you are someone who uses the gym? Since the machines I use all gave a very comparable cal count to the Polar why not just go off of them. I was under the assumption from older threads on here is people get them to get a cal count while lifting, walking, golfing, playing bball, hiking, etc.. things where there is not a machine to count for you. From what it sounds like that is not the case and I wasted $80.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    Ok, so what I am hearing basically only use for high intensity workouts? Not for walks and things like that. That seems like a joke since so many just starting there weight lose goals are not able to do much more than walk. When I walked on the treadmill the Polar and treadmill had very close cals burned after 15 minutes. It should do the trick for lifting weights then? That is the biggest reason I bought it. I had no clue what I was burning while lifting and doing intervals for an hour.

    I wouldn't say that. I use mine while hiking. The key is that you need to keep your heart rate within the zone that is in your training settings. From what I see other people saying it seems as if it uses a formula based on your time and exertion in your zone.

    I don't know how accurate it would be for golfing though unless your heart rate was up the whole time. Isn't there a lot of stopping and standing around while golfing with little exertion? Never played golf, sorry.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    MY HRM numbers, and my BMF numbers for what I burn are always way lower than what the machines say.

    The ARC trainer is consistently about 300 calories more than my HRM and the treadmill is about the same. In the most extreme case, I once used a machine that cycled past 1000 calories burned and started recounting from 1 again. My HRM and BMF both recorded about a 550 calorie burn for me.

    And think about about a treadmill - turn it on, set it to 6mph on a 1.5 incline, enter you age and weight...then just sit next to it and read for an hour. It's going to give you a calorie burn based on everything that you entered into, but does it reflect what it thinks a person would have burned based on all of the metrics entered using it's basic calculations. So how accurate do you really think it is for what you're actually exerting?

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