Thoretical calorie consumption question (Read 922 times)

Although there are some inherent errors in the calculation, you can get a rough estimate of calories expended through using a heart rate monitor, calibrated to your age, gender, weight, height, and known (or estimated) min/max heart rate range. My cheap one from Costco (~$40) works fine for this purpose. Again, it's an estimate, but if you are interested in putting a number on something like "estimated expenditure" rather than just trusting your "perceived exertion," it is a useful tool. I use it b/c I am a terrible judge of my perceived exertion. I think I am sweating and working my tail off, and my hr is in the "low" range, or I feel great, and I am near my 80%. (This suggestion is not to bring on the whole Maff controversy, just to help out with giving some data to the conversation.) HTH.

Oooh!!! I like that! Wish I'd known that esp when I was a newbie.

For the most part, my HRM says I burn about 110 to 140 calories per mile depending on intensity. I weigh 155 lbs on average. Here's an interesting entry from my running log where I did a 4x400 workout in 66 to 70 seconds per lap with a lot of walking recovery: Total Distance: 2 miles. Average Pace: 19:05/mile. Calories/mile: 254. Average HR: 138. Max HR: 179 It would seem that Polar's HRM is using some sort of math that can adjust the calorie burn estimate based on total time or time at high heart rates. I bet if I went out and actually ran 2 miles at 19:05 per mile it would say I burned 110 calories or less per mile.

Then later on the following week, during a similarly intense 400 meter workout my HRM reported a calorie burn of 158 per mile. I did a 5x400 in 64 to 75 seconds per lap with my average lap time being 66 seconds, and with much less recovery time. Earlier I did a 13x400 with no walking recovery at all, just jogging for 200 meters in 60 seconds between reps, at an average lap time of 86 seconds, and it reported that I burned 135 calories per mile. On the 15th of this month I ran 0.94 miles at 4:12/mile pace and it reported that I burned 140 calories. I guess in conclusion, I have no clue how it figures calories.