The Calorie Counting Exercise Machine Myth

I woke up this morning only to find the ground coated with a dusting of snow. It was unexpected, since I haven’t been monitoring any weather reports, but hey – that’s New England weather!

Needless to say, my 10 minute drive to the gym took double the time, cutting down on my scheduled workout (I have to finish by 7:00 a.m. in order to leave enough time to commute to work). So, I focused on just doing some light cardio today – and was astonished at what I found.

For starters, I did my usual stretching routine. This is important, to avoid cramping and injuries. Then, I climbed on the Cybex arc trainer for a total of 45 minutes. I used a resistance level of 17, and increased my incline up to 9, and at times, 10. It’s important to tinker with resistance and incline since, although you’re not lifting weights, this still helps with strength training and heart rate zones.

When I was done with the short workout today, the exercise machine predicted a total of 550 calories burned. Then, when I looked down at my Polar FT60 heart rate monitoring watch – which calculates using my weight, height and heart rate – it estimated 421 calories burned (with a fat burn percentage of 20, which is awesome).

The result of 45 minutes on an arc trainer. Resistance level set at 17, and incline varied from 9 to 10.

This is more than a 100 calorie difference, which should serve as a helpful reminder to all – don’t assume the exercise machine is always accurate. No, I’m not encouraging everyone out there to buy a heart rate monitor, fuel band, or any fancy gadget that works similarly to a Polar watch. But, you should be cognizant of this factor, as it can lead to altered calorie counts (if your training or diet program consists of calorie tracking).

Happy Friday to all! Enjoy the weekend, and remember to squeeze at least one workout in. 🙂

Review: Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor Watch

In one of my very first blog posts, I was pondering purchasing the Polar FT4 HRM watch, a basic HRM that counts calories burned and lets you know what heart rate zone you’re in, and which zone you should be targeting. I was really close to clicking “Add to Cart”, but with my birthday being a few weeks away, decided to hold off just in case someone was reading the post and wanted to buy it for me as a gift.

And on my birthday, I was greeted with one of the best gifts of all time (not exaggerating here – a gift that’s stylish, PURPLE, and helps improve my health – what more could I want) – a Polar FT60 HRM watch from my boyfriend who knows me like the back of his hand. 🙂

The Polar FT60 HRM watch – I love it!

After spending some time reading the manual (I can’t stress the importance of researching fitness gear – I didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot and use it incorrectly), I started off by selecting my sex, weight, height and then took a fitness test. The Polar fitness test doesn’t require any laps around the house or anything – I just had to lay down for about 5 minutes with the heart rate monitor around my chest, and in a few minutes, it read my heart rate and set up a training program for me.

Then, I had to choose from three end goals – to lose weight, improve fitness, or maximize fitness. This was a toughie for me, as all three sound like a great plan. But, since I already lost a significant amount of weight over the past year (see before and after post here), I decided the next logical step was to improve my fitness.

What’s great about the Polar FT60 is it does everything a basic HRM watch does and more, including a personal trainer program that each week, gives you new goals to reach in terms of calories burned. Also, it tells you what zone – between heart rate zones 1, 2 and 3 – that you should be spending more time in, and tracks the percentage of fat calories burned. It’s a great motivator, and all of my past data files since I first worked out with it are stored right on the watch.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking not just for a basic HRM watch, but for one that motivates you and gives you new, challenging goals to reach each and every week. It’s like a built in personal trainer, right on my wrist. I love it (a big thanks to Kenny for the best gift ever)!

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with or sponsored by Polar to write such a positive review. I just really enjoy using the company’s FT60 HRM watch.