Heart Rate Monitor "Calories Burned" vs. MFP

AmyParker979
AmyParker979 Posts: 84 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a heart rate monitor that I love because I love seeing the progress. I've added my gender, age, weight, height and all the other specs to the thing so I feel like it's got to be pretty accurate. This morning I burned 467 calories (per the watch) waking just under a 20 minute mile (30 minutes) but when I tracked that speed and amount of time, the calories burned on MFP was about half.

Anyone else have this issue? What's the best way to make them "jive"? I'd hate to lie about what I'm doing to make the calories fit but I'd hate to lose out on burned calories. Catch 22?

Amy

Replies

  • Angelfromokc
    Angelfromokc Posts: 56 Member
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  • Angelfromokc
    Angelfromokc Posts: 56 Member
    Does your monitor have the chest strap? I usually go by what my watch says which I have the chest strap and my walks are about 100 calories per 20 minutes if I'm walking a good pace.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Wow - 467 sounds high. Check your settings & try it again.

    As far as MFP numbers matching - they won't. The HRM measures your height, weight, age, gender AND fitness level. MFP cannot measure fitness level, so (I assume) they use an average.

    If you are new to exercise - the calories burned will be high. After you've been at it awhile - the numbers will go down. As for 467 calories ... that "could" be accurate. Were you VERY out of breath? Was your heart really pumping? Hilly terrain & lots of arm pumping helps. This is why chest strap HRMs tend to be more accurate.
  • AmyParker979
    AmyParker979 Posts: 84 Member
    @Angel - I do have the chest strap, which is why I think it's even more accurate.

    @TeaBea - I am horribly out of shape. It was hard to have a conversation, especially on the incline at the end. My hear rate average was 143 and hit 171 during the large incline.

    How would you guys recommend I record on MFP - using the actual exercise or finding the calorie count and going with that? (For example - using 60 minutes vs. 30 minutes at the correct exercise to make the cal count correct)?
  • Angelfromokc
    Angelfromokc Posts: 56 Member
    Hmm that's crazy! I'm way out of shape also. I'm looking to lose like 150 pounds out of shape lol when I'm working out my heart rate is usually 150-180 which I try to avoid bc that's high in my opinion.
  • poetinmyheart
    poetinmyheart Posts: 29 Member
    Create your own exercise and label it HRM Walking or however you want. That's how I do mine. MFP Is just an estimate. If you're using a HRM with strap you should never go by MFP just so it looks "right"

    I have my own exercises, like HRM Walking, HRM Gym Workout, HRM Bicycle, etc. I just put in the numbers and save it and next time I fill it in again.
  • orange_you_glad
    orange_you_glad Posts: 38 Member
    It's possible that your HRM is accurate. I've been using an HRM for about 8 months now, and I've discovered a few things:

    1. First, I have a "maximum" amount of calories I can hit within an hour, regardless of the activity (and regardless of what MFP thinks I can burn in that time) -- about 650 cals. I'm sure it varies from person to person, and for me, as I've gotten more fit, this number has actually slowly crept up, because I can sustain a higher effort for much longer.

    2. It took a long time of using my HRM religiously each time I worked out and assessing the difficulty of each workout to get a sense for how much I would burn. Now I know that for high intensity workouts, I burn up to 11-12 cals a minute, but that for my hiking, rowing, and other medium-intensity activities, it's closer to 8-9 cals a minute. This is a great way to double-check my burn for an individual workout.

    3. MFP is, for me, wildly off in its calculations of how much I burn, to the point that I don't use their numbers at all anymore. I row several morning a week for an hour or more, and MFP thinks that I should burn 1100 cals or more (!!) during that time. My trusty HRM usually puts me closer to 550.

    Be patient, and use your HRM every time you exercise. You could also even try wearing it for a whole day (in the shower, while you sleep, everything) to get a sense for how many cals you burn in a day.
  • AmyParker979
    AmyParker979 Posts: 84 Member
    Create your own exercise and label it HRM Walking or however you want. That's how I do mine. MFP Is just an estimate. If you're using a HRM with strap you should never go by MFP just so it looks "right"

    I have my own exercises, like HRM Walking, HRM Gym Workout, HRM Bicycle, etc. I just put in the numbers and save it and next time I fill it in again.

    That's brilliant! I'm new here and I probably wouldn't have figured that out. :) Thanks!
  • AmyParker979
    AmyParker979 Posts: 84 Member
    3. MFP is, for me, wildly off in its calculations of how much I burn, to the point that I don't use their numbers at all anymore. I row several morning a week for an hour or more, and MFP thinks that I should burn 1100 cals or more (!!) during that time. My trusty HRM usually puts me closer to 550.

    Be patient, and use your HRM every time you exercise. You could also even try wearing it for a whole day (in the shower, while you sleep, everything) to get a sense for how many cals you burn in a day.

    That's good to know. I've always wondered how they got those calculations - especially since we're all very much different.

    Thanks everyone for the advice!!
  • Fit4lifestlouisbethpennington
    Fit4lifestlouisbethpennington Posts: 51
    Everyone is completely different. The only true way to know how many calories u burn at various heart rates is to do a metabolic assessment. U can go to www.newleaffitness.com to search a location near u. For some, the calculation from the HRM is more accurate whereas for others, the calculation the MFP uses is more accurate.

    Also, on HRM the calculation will change by the number u put n for your VO2 max. That is a number that u will also get after doing a metabolic assessment.
  • stephanie1133
    stephanie1133 Posts: 211
    As long as what you input in your HRM is accurate, I would say that is closer to what you actually burned than what MFP assumes. MFP's calcs do not take into consideration what your actual heart rate was while doing the exercise.

    Whenever I wear my HRM to the gym I get a very different number than what MFP says. If I do the elliptical for 20 mins my watch says I burned like 150 cals, maybe less if I don't push hard. MFP will say like 250! But when I run I burn more on my HRM than what MFP says.

    When aiming to eat back exercise calories, this can make a pretty big difference.

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