Accuracy of calories burned while biking

[nscrbug]

Comparing your stopwatch pulse is a really good idea.

Do you have the new "premium" soft strap? Those are notorious ...

Yes..it is the premium soft strap...which means what exactly? Are these straps known to cause inaccurate readings?

[OakLeaf]

Yes..it is the premium soft strap...which means what exactly? Are these straps known to cause inaccurate readings?

Yep. Known to lose contact if you're too wet, too dry, wearing the wrong kind of fabric ... I've got the old hard strap so I don't really know the ins and outs and whether there's much you can do short of replacing it, but take a look at the Garmin user forums.

[DarcyInOregon]

Linda, if you don't solve the problem, you can ask your question at the Garmin Forums: https://forums.garmin.com/

When I was new to using the Garmin some years ago, I got low heart rate readings over a ride when I didn't check my heart rate before starting out to make sure the chest strap was transmitting correctly. I learned to always check the heart rate before putting the Garmin on my bike, and that solved the problem. Sometimes the chest strap was too loose. Othertimes, the bra band bumped out the chest strap, which interfered with transmission. When you are checking your heart rate after turning on the Garmin, the heart rate should be about the same as if you are at home washing dishes, i.e. standing up and doing a bit of body movement, not sitting or sleeping. If fussing with the strap and clothing isn't effective, then put a new battery in the chest strap, and if that doesn't work, then try asking in the Garmin Forums.

Once you get the Garmin to working for you, you will love it. Just about every cyclist in the two training groups in which I participate have a Garmin and there are zero complaints as to accuracy.

[bellissima]

nscrbug, The new Garmin uses Prediction of functional aerobic capacity without exercise testing as one of the parameters to calculate your calories, make sure that your "Activity Class" is set up correctly on your device profile, also the gender, age, weight and height values have to be correct as this would cause a low or high calorie values depending on the activity class setting. You may have to change the Activity Class settings in order to get more accurate calorie count reading.

[nscrbug]

nscrbug, The new Garmin uses Prediction of functional aerobic capacity without exercise testing as one of the parameters to calculate your calories, make sure that your "Activity Class" is set up correctly on your device profile, also the gender, age, weight and height values have to be correct as this would cause a low or high calorie values depending on the activity class setting. You may have to change the Activity Class settings in order to get more accurate calorie count reading.

Hmmm...okay, since I don't actually have my Garmin right in front of me...can anyone tell me what the different "activity classes" are? And how would one determine which class is the correct one? I'm sure I entered a value in for this field, but at the moment I can't remember what it was. Can anyone help?

Linda

[Blueberry]

Hmmm...okay, since I don't actually have my Garmin right in front of me...can anyone tell me what the different "activity classes" are? And how would one determine which class is the correct one? I'm sure I entered a value in for this field, but at the moment I can't remember what it was. Can anyone help?

Linda

You can find the chart here (that's the Quick Start for the 310XT, but I don't think the classes differ. It's a number (1-10) that gives the device an idea of how much you exercise and with what frequency.

[nscrbug]

You can find the chart here (that's the Quick Start for the 310XT, but I don't think the classes differ. It's a number (1-10) that gives the device an idea of how much you exercise and with what frequency.

Thank you!!! I just updated this info in my settings on Garmin Connect...although I am certain that I entered this info on the actual Edge 500 unit itself. I chose to enter a "9" for activity class, even though I'm actually more like a "10", which is over 15 hours/week. I'm at the gym a minimum of 3 hours, 5 days/week...in addition to my long weekend rides which can typically be anywhere between 3-5 hours. Yes...I exercise a LOT. We'll see what happens on my ride tomorrow, with my HR & calorie burn. I'll post an update.

Linda

[nscrbug]

Darcy...I've been perusing the Garmin forums for the past 2 days. I've found several threads discussing the "low calorie burn" issue, but haven't really come across a solution for it. So...my plan of action is to test the unit against my own pulse rate before I ride, and then change the battery in the HR strap to see if that helps. I've only had it for a little over a month, so I'm guessing it's not a low battery issue...but for $5, I'll give it a shot. I'm also going to buy a bottle of HR gel to use on the contacts. I'm fairly certain that my bra is not the cause, because I position the HR strap underneath the bottom band of my bra and it generally doesn't budge at all. IF, after all these attempts, I'm still not getting any love...then I will contact Garmin about getting a replacement strap...maybe I got a bum one.

[MollyJ]

I have a Polar FT 7, which is pretty basic. I came into HRM's and more aggressive bicycling through weight loss. I lost and have kept off for more than a year about 47 pounds.

Here's the news: As you become more conditioned,your calorie burn falls. Just ain't fair. But if I understand the physiology correctly, being more physically active kicks up your basal metabolic burn somewhat. You benefit from being more active and less sendentary.

I used the weight loss web site Calorie King and they have estimators for exercise (you can eat back calories burned with exercise). The commonly accepted scuttlebutt was that the estimates were high and the numbers you got with an HRM are "more accurate" and uniformly lower than the estimates. This has tended to be my experience also.

But they are really scientific best guesses, though I think they are not all wrong.

With exercise I have seen my resting heart rate drop. I did an estimation of body fat at my local YMCA (not the gold standard,which is an immersion test).

But with my new bike (did I mention I have new Trek Madone?) my plan is to work on cadence and then I will be interested to see if this kicks up my calorie burn.

Try not to focus on one number. Look at a constellation of data. There is no doubt that the "king" of calorie burn exercise is running. But I like biking. And that beats being a couch potato any day.

[shootingstar]

What do people do after they have lost weight and measured calories during the weight loss process? Do you still do it this carefully?

Hopefully some people reach a point that they know instinctively how much and what to eat works for them in accordance to a rough guessestimate of their exercising activity.

[azfiddle]

For me, it's still a guessing game- I stayed even for a while, gained a few pounds, dropped all but one and stayed there for a couple months, but the next time I seem I went up, I seem to have found an equilibrium that is 3 lbs above my goal. So I'm riding 100 miles a week but can't seem to get these 3 lbs off. It's all about counting and tracking and I think I haven't been as good at that.

Interesting how the Garmin gave a more realistic result w/o the HRM.

nscrbug - did you ever try contacting Garmin to ask them about the discrepancy? My DH did not have any other ideas...

[hulagirl]

coming into this late but my hubby has an extremely low HR.

He's in the 40's sometimes.

Has had ER people totally FREAK OUT on him.

But, he's a marathon runner and in very fine shape.

My HR just getting out of the house is your average HR on the bike! My Max is 180ish. My resting is in the 60-70 range.

When I run with my husband, I get into the 150's while he's MAYBE at 100.

But when we bike, I average lower than he does as I'm a more efficient biker. (on a lighter bike too)

If you know your resting HR, it will tell you a lot about your results. If you are not working hard enough to get that HR up, you won't burn the calories. You are efficient. Your heart is strong. (as long as you have a good recovery HR too!) And the better you are at something, the less you will have to work at it.

You do sound like my husband, very low HR. And that's just what you have to work with. Make sure you enter your resting HR in the garmin as well. That will help change the calculations.