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logged my heart rate and now im confused (lol math)

AFluffyNyamma
AFluffyNyamma Posts: 99 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So I decided to experiment and log my heart rate throughout the day on a slow morning work day. I did this because I wanted a better understanding about my TDEE and here is the results:

Done with my polar ft7 weight 119, height 5'

Hours- cals burn- avg hr-max hr

1:00:00. 160. 94. 134

1:00:19. 208. 104. 128

1:00:00. 145. 93. 135

1:00:00. 136. 90. 159

1:00:25. 125. 88. 120

1:00:00. 116. . 86. 118

00:30:01. 70. 92. 159

Okay I have a generally easy desk job. First hour I was getting ready for work

Second hour I had a caffeine rush at work

Third I was coming down and the rest was just me at work taking quick breaks and using the stairs sometimes...

What's this even mean? How can I use this data to estimate my tdee? Also when I do cardio I often hit 170+ which I believe may be unhealthy but I don't feel like its a workout if I don't . Also if I can feel like I can push it my heart rate gets pretty high. Highest ever was 196 hmmm

Thoughts? At home I generally have the same activity of going up and down stairs and moving a lot

Replies

  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
    I would first use your polar and then also take a hand measurement (i.e. feel your pulse in your neck and manually figure it out)..........two of the trainers at my gym have problems with their polar regularly being 20-30 BPM higher than what their HR actually is.

    If that's accurate, my guess is you have a high resting heart rate, which could potentially mean you have high blood pressure....so get fit but be careful.

    When I figured out my TDEE I just used my resting heart rate.I kind of think you might be overthinking it a it with all these numbers.......sure it's interesting, but if it's just through the day, I don't know that it's going to really help you. Take your resting rate when you get up in the a.m. and use that.
  • AFluffyNyamma
    AFluffyNyamma Posts: 99 Member
    I would first use your polar and then also take a hand measurement (i.e. feel your pulse in your neck and manually figure it out)..........two of the trainers at my gym have problems with their polar regularly being 20-30 BPM higher than what their HR actually is.

    If that's accurate, my guess is you have a high resting heart rate, which could potentially mean you have high blood pressure....so get fit but be careful.

    When I figured out my TDEE I just used my resting heart rate.I kind of think you might be overthinking it a it with all these numbers.......sure it's interesting, but if it's just through the day, I don't know that it's going to really help you. Take your resting rate when you get up in the a.m. and use that.

    Thanks for the heads up, I just did and it was spot on actually (freaked me out a little) but my doc says my bp is normal and the assistants never comment on my heart rate before. When I was larger I did have some palpitations that were off but after some study it wasn't an issue.

    And ah thanks I was wondering what to set my activity to seeing as I thought I had minimal exertion but I find myself working up a sweat and stuff during the day normally... Thanks again yeah my resting heart rate seems to be in the mid 80s
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Polar HRMs are not meant to track your calorie burn in a normal day. They were designed to track Aerobic/elevated heart rate exercise over a period of time only.

    Read this from a MFP member who has been in the fitness industry for decades:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472


    [/b]
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    You need a BodyBugg or similar type device if you intend to use it all day for TDEE.
  • AFluffyNyamma
    AFluffyNyamma Posts: 99 Member
    Polar HRMs are not meant to track your calorie burn in a normal day. They were designed to track Aerobic/elevated heart rate exercise over a period of time only.

    Read this from a MFP member who has been in the fitness industry for decades:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472


    [/b]

    I understand that, it was for purely curiosity's sake. I didn't want to purchase a fitbit or whatnot but I figured it would be fairly accurate in smaller increments. ;)

    I use my polar for the right reasons, I just wanted to see where my heart rate was at during the day and I got surprising results as I thought my resting heart rate was lower.
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