Calories calculated on heart rate monitor, are they accurate?

M

mikuchan

0
Calories calculated on heart rate monitor, are they the least bit accurate?
Or should I just disregard them?

My trainer told me they were somewhat accurate, but I would like your input on this..

I understand many factor are involved in the calorie burning process, not just heart rate, but still, I mean, I don't know...


Thank you for your help (Hope this hasnt been discussed before!)
 
not very accurate, no. And they wouldn't account for what you burn after exercise with EPOC (google it if you don't know what it is)
 
Sorry this is abit of topic but its about calories. On the treadmills etc at the cardio machines it says how many calories you burn. Don't you burn more if you are bigger as in fat?

Thanks//
 
The problem with heart rates is that they use a formula which was created to predict the safest possible amount of stress for people with heart problems. This formula was taken and been exploited ever since. The fact is that, if you count the calories that you burn during exercise and not focus on your diet, then there will be trouble. The more you exercise, the more accustomed your heart becomes, and this will be mirrored by a significant drop of your heart rate, which, in turn, will show that you burn less and less calories during the same running distances for example. Make sure that you eat at least 500 kcal more than your BMR when you are exercising, and don't worry about it that much. If you are trying to lose weight, by eating your BMR calories and exercising you will lose a lot for sure, if you are trying to build muscle, then i would recommend at least 1000 calories over your BMR and adjust according to the results you see in the mirror . Hope that this will help you a bit.
 
The heavier you are, the more energy is required to do something.

The calories burnt is usually a guess based on the average person doing the activity. You may do more or less the energy output. I did a crazy experiment once with it on the treadmill. Another person ran for 10 minutes mile. Then I came on it, being a person of larger size, I ran the mile in about 8 minutes and the calories output was exactly the same. So it seems the calories burnt is based on the mile counter rather than the actually output which may or may not be correct.

Anyway, if you want something "fairly" accurate, you should at least be able to input your weight and height and that should give you a "fairly' good idea on the amount you burn.

However, don't let it get to you. Basically, exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, and you'll be golden, really.
 
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