HRM question...

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divid
divid Posts: 68 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I find that some days I do the same amount of a work out in the same amount of time..and the HRM says I burn different calories. Maybe I should know the answer to this but I've never used a HRM before. Am I doing something wrong? Do certain aspects affect the amount of calories the hrm is saying are burnt?
Thanks for the help!

Replies

  • ZyheeMoongazer
    ZyheeMoongazer Posts: 343 Member
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    Its all based on your heart rate. A minor change in intensity will change your heart rate.
  • sksummers61
    sksummers61 Posts: 11 Member
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    I've seen the same thing, I've learned to be more attentive to cleaning the chest strap and the contacts. Some days it seems like I put in the same effort and the results are a lot lower.

    I've also noticed recently that after 6 months it is harder to get my rate up as high as I used to.
  • mogriff1
    mogriff1 Posts: 325 Member
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    When I get inconsistancies, I usually wipe the sensors with a wet cloth (water only) and that does the trick. In addition, make sure to always wet the sensors before wearing.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    A HRM doesn't know what you are doing. It estimates what you are doing--it assumes that the changes that it detects in your heart rate are due to changes in aerobic intensity.

    However, many things can affect heart rate--heat, stress, illness, lack of sleep, etc. Even though these things have little or no effect on calorie burn, the HRM interprets it all as changes in exercise intensity and spits out different numbers.

    The more variable the exercise activity -- a class vs treadmill walking, for example--the more inconsistencies you are going to see.

    Just one more reason why HRM calorie numbers need to be interpreted with a lot of caution.
  • divid
    divid Posts: 68 Member
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    hmmm... I have one of the watch ones..i don't know if that makes a difference or not.
    I've just been wearing it when I'm walking ..I do the same length and usually in the same time but I guess some days are hotter than others or maybe I stop once or twice and that makes a difference? So confusing ! lol

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