Double question! Painful hips + calorie count on HRM?

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aliciagudino
aliciagudino Posts: 59 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Maybe I should have posted this as separate questions, but oooooh well...

My first question for anyone, is I was wondering if my HRM is giving me an accurate count of cals burned. I know everyone is different, but for anyone who might burn about the same as I do and such, just looking for opinions! I have the PolarFT4, and I wear it when I go for a walk/jog (also my 30DS)...when I do my walk.jog, I normally go for about an hour. I fast pace walk, and then I'll jog for a few minutes, fast walk, job, etc...today, I jogged the majority of the time (most of the time getting towards the end of the trail I'll jog the last 10/15 min)....my HRM tells me I burn about 680-700 calories. Do you think this is accurate? I've never owned a HRM before so I have nothing to compare it to. MFP way quite a bit lower. I am 26,5'9" and weigh about 195 lbs. My HR goes to a steady 175-180ish when I'm jogging, even though my range says it should be about 165 at the highest. I just wanted to make sure my HRM is not out of whack, that seems like A LOT of cals, but hey, I'll take it! I am a tired, sweaty mess when I am done!

My 2nd question, my hips have been really hurting lately. It's been about 2 weeks since they've hurt (pretty much when I started doing a lot of walking) and I thought a few days of no exercising would help, but today as soon as I went back to my walking, they hurt. (by the way, they were still sore even after not exercising, but I could at least walk normal without limping and looking like a penguin) I'm not sure how to exactly describe the pain, other than that they feel extremely bruised. When I walk, they hurt. Like I'm very sore. It only started happening when I would go for long walks and such. About a year ago I went to the doctor, because they were hurting, but they just said I maybe pulled a muscle. Eventually it went away, but now that I started exercising again, the walking/jogging brought it back. When I press around the area of my hips, the pain feels like it's right on the top of the bone. I can press around the bone and it's a tiny bit sore, but when I press on the bone, that's when it hurts. Today my left hip is way worse than my right, it actually hurts to the touch. Does anyone have any opinions on this? I don't want to stop walking, I mean, it's walking...I don't know how just walking, even without the jogging, for say an hour, could hurt my hips THIS much.

Any opinions/advice/help at all regarding either questions would be appreciated, thanks guys!

Replies

  • aliciagudino
    aliciagudino Posts: 59 Member
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    Hello? Anyone?!
  • _TastySnoBalls_
    _TastySnoBalls_ Posts: 1,298 Member
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    not sure about the HRM, as far as the hips, try throwing in a day of yoga or some really good stretching. i have sporadic hip issues as well from a bad knee...and this helps me. good luck.

    edited to add: or try a physical therapist, or instead of a regular M.D...try an orthopaedic surgeon or something, they'll (hopefully) at least take some xrays or something and see what's going on.
  • TrinaJ11
    TrinaJ11 Posts: 159 Member
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    Your stats aren't tooo far from mine..I'd say that's a pretty accurate burn based on my own results.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    your hip issue could be from tight hip flexor.. have you tried hip opener stretch or hip flexor stretch?
  • Heather_Rider
    Heather_Rider Posts: 1,159 Member
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    about the pain: I have the SAME issue, and while i am not trying to diagnose you, hips are a huge 'pressure point" for fibromyalgia. Maybe you could see a specialist? Search one locally who knows about fibro.. you dont want to just go to any doctor, because some have personal beliefs that fibro does NOT exist... tell that to MY hips!

    Idk about the heart monitor.. i have yet to get one.. seen people who swear by them, and people who tink the same as you & wonder if they are tracking correctly. As far as i can say on that... if you are being honest with your calories and staying on goal, you should lose weight, if you arent, or you are gaining then chances are your meter is wrong. There is no reason why you shouldnt lose weight if your calories are correct, because ultimately *and yes i know this is controversal* ultimately its calories out verses calories in. (and im not saying you SHOULDNT work out.. just for those prudes who are going to jump my tail) lol
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    My first question for anyone, is I was wondering if my HRM is giving me an accurate count of cals burned. I know everyone is different, but for anyone who might burn about the same as I do and such, just looking for opinions! I have the PolarFT4, and I wear it when I go for a walk/jog (also my 30DS)...when I do my walk.jog, I normally go for about an hour. I fast pace walk, and then I'll jog for a few minutes, fast walk, job, etc...today, I jogged the majority of the time (most of the time getting towards the end of the trail I'll jog the last 10/15 min)....my HRM tells me I burn about 680-700 calories. Do you think this is accurate? I've never owned a HRM before so I have nothing to compare it to. MFP way quite a bit lower. I am 26,5'9" and weigh about 195 lbs. My HR goes to a steady 175-180ish when I'm jogging, even though my range says it should be about 165 at the highest. I just wanted to make sure my HRM is not out of whack, that seems like A LOT of cals, but hey, I'll take it! I am a tired, sweaty mess when I am done!

    My 2nd question, my hips have been really hurting lately. It's been about 2 weeks since they've hurt (pretty much when I started doing a lot of walking) and I thought a few days of no exercising would help, but today as soon as I went back to my walking, they hurt. (by the way, they were still sore even after not exercising, but I could at least walk normal without limping and looking like a penguin) I'm not sure how to exactly describe the pain, other than that they feel extremely bruised. When I walk, they hurt. Like I'm very sore. It only started happening when I would go for long walks and such. About a year ago I went to the doctor, because they were hurting, but they just said I maybe pulled a muscle. Eventually it went away, but now that I started exercising again, the walking/jogging brought it back. When I press around the area of my hips, the pain feels like it's right on the top of the bone. I can press around the bone and it's a tiny bit sore, but when I press on the bone, that's when it hurts. Today my left hip is way worse than my right, it actually hurts to the touch. Does anyone have any opinions on this? I don't want to stop walking, I mean, it's walking...I don't know how just walking, even without the jogging, for say an hour, could hurt my hips THIS much.

    Any opinions/advice/help at all regarding either questions would be appreciated, thanks guys!

    HRM accuracy, and how to improve it.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/459580-polar-hrm-calorie-burn-estimate-accuracy-study

    If your HRM says your HRmax based on age (220-age) is 165, and you are hitting 175-180, your real HRmax is most obviously high.
    So yes, you are getting a very inflated calorie burn figure. The HRM thinks you are working out higher than your HRmax, so more intense than possible you might say - so that get's high calorie burn.

    Now, that is rather high HR too, you don't want to do that every day.

    Use the spreadsheet referenced in the Topic, the HRM tab, and the section on figuring out your real HRmax, plus some advice on zones and working out smart to get the most results from your effort.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/620206-spreadsheet-for-bmr-tdee-deficit-calcs-mfp-tweaks-hrm

    Regarding the hip, I've had that too, some people are prone to it if it's the same issue. Wearing of the layer in the joint that should be providing some lubrication.
    Genetics, past abuse, ect, can cause premature wear.

    Turned out years later I discovered mine was due to unequal leg length, only one hip hurt like that. Just like an internal pain to the hip, movement just screamed pain.

    Took an arthritis med's the Dr prescribed. Can't remember the name, but it's a med that was found to cause pretty bad liver problems, and even though it wasn't taken off the market, they sharply restricted it's use since then.
  • JJinWI
    JJinWI Posts: 197 Member
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    Have your vitmin D level checked. Long story short, I had horrendous hip pain, especially laying on my side in bed. Turns out my level was 7 and normal is 30. Once I got my level back to normal, my hip pain and all sorts of other aches and pains went away.

    Good luck!
  • historygirldd
    historygirldd Posts: 209 Member
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    You could also try a chiropractor. Your spine might be out of line. My Chiropractor has helped my hip issues.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    For the hrm, yesterday I walked/ran 5 miles in 68 minutes, and my burn was 682 according to my hrm (I'm 5'7.5"), and the treadmill wasn't that far off, so I'd say that your hrm was probably at least in the right range. When you were running, your heart rate was at around 90 percent of your theoretical max - when I'm in that range, I have to really focus on my breathing, there is no way I can say more than one word at a time, and I can maintain it for around 5 minutes at the most before I have to slow down to recover. If this sounds like how you were feeling, then I would say your burn was probably fairly accurate.

    For the hips, my hips feel like that when my pelvis has twisted and caused my legs to be essentially different lengths. A short visit to my chiropracter levels out my pelvis and takes the pain away. (If you look at my back progress pic in the bikini in my profile, you can see what I'm talking about, the top of my pelvis isn't level).
  • leia_ophelia
    leia_ophelia Posts: 44 Member
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    I have the same FT4 HRM and I love ir. I find that if I use it with an exercise machine that it gives about the same calories burned. However if I use it at rest, it gives me higher rest calories compared to what myfitness pal. So if I do a vigorous exercise (I ocnsider this to be HR > 130 bpm)I take the value as it is. But if I do a not so vigorous exercise for a long time, I consider the HRM value as an over estimate and record a smaller value (about 75% of the HR monitor calories)
    BTW your heart rate is really high? I try to maintain my heart rate in the Cardio range that my HRM prescribes. If I do go higher than that, it would be only for a short period of time.
    As for the hips, it would be good to visit a physio, and do some nice hip stretches
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I have the same FT4 HRM and I love ir. I find that if I use it with an exercise machine that it gives about the same calories burned. However if I use it at rest, it gives me higher rest calories compared to what myfitness pal. So if I do a vigorous exercise (I ocnsider this to be HR > 130 bpm)I take the value as it is. But if I do a not so vigorous exercise for a long time, I consider the HRM value as an over estimate and record a smaller value (about 75% of the HR monitor calories)
    BTW your heart rate is really high? I try to maintain my heart rate in the Cardio range that my HRM prescribes. If I do go higher than that, it would be only for a short period of time.
    As for the hips, it would be good to visit a physio, and do some nice hip stretches

    Vast majority of HRM's aren't valid for estimating calories burned outside of steady state aerobic, so between 90-160 depending on your range.

    Calm daily activity, or anaerobic HIIT or weight lfiting will all be incorrect.

    But you can easily be trusting it down to 90.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    RE Q2: It sounds like you need to stretch your hip flexors more. You should be able to Google Hip Flexor stretches and find a fair amount of info. :)
  • aliciagudino
    aliciagudino Posts: 59 Member
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    Thanks for all your responses! I will make sure I find the right range my heart rate should be. My range is 145-165 as per my HRM, when I fast walk, like as fast as I can until I start to look weird, my heart rate will go to about 140, sometimes 142 or so. When I jog, it's impossible to stay at 165, I jog pretty slow as it is, but even then it's still at least 170. I don't usually jog and have my heart rate that high for very long. I usually don't jog for more than 10 minutes at a time, or less, so I get my heart rate up and down and up and down. I will look into that website though, thanks!

    Thanks for your opinions on my hips! Unfortunately, I can't afford health insurance, so I doubt I will go see a chiropractor. But I think I may go back to my doctor again and mention some of the things you guys mentioned and see if she has any new ideas. The only thing she did was test me for arthiritis because it runs in my family, but was negative. And Vitamin D, never even thought about that, I will mention that too, thanks! I will also check into hip flexors. The only stretching I do is the ones they tell me to do in my video =/ I am new to exercising regularly, so I don't know much about stretching!

    Thanks again guys!
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i wouldn worry about the heart rate zones, especially if you don't know what your V02 max is. the age based ranges are just estimates which might not be valid for you so i dont even pay attention to them.

    i frequently workout in what is considered anaerobic stage for my age and considering how long i can sustain it that means it'snot anaerobic.

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