Which calorie count?

Starqueg

I bought a hrm this weekend, so today was my first day wearing it during a cardio workout.  I now know that the hrm on the machine I was using is accurate (or both were wrong in the same way).  My question is, which number do I believe in terms of calories?  MFP, HRM, or the machine?

MFP says 302

the machine said 319

HRM said 237.27

TIA for the help.

firsttimersluck

HRM. 

The machine is RARELY accurate. Your HRM is on you at all times. MFP never checks your heart rate, and the machine may or may not accurately check your heart rate after measuring it for 15 seconds. 

Also, my rule is when in doubt, go with the concervative number. 

Sarah5200

Depends - which type of HRM did you buy? If it's a wrist watch type, they can be inaccurate. I'd look up reviews of the type you bought. If it's a chest strap, it's likely to be quite accurate provided that you've got the right settings (age, weight, gender, etc).

Don't pay attention to what the machines say, those things can be all kinds of wonky. I find that MFP is not always accurate either. For instance, golfing, using a cart, burns 490 calories apparently in about 2 hours. Nope. I found when I was using my HRM that I burned less than I thought that I did based on MFP calculations in low intensity activity, but often more than MFP calculated for high intensity activity.

Long story short, I'd trust the HRM out of those three.

Starqueg

That's what I figured.  I have a hopefully decent New Balance HRM with a chest strap.  I was going to buy one by Polar, but the Target by me doesn't carry Polar.  

I'm going to assume the HR part of the HRM is accurate, since I checked it multiple times during my workout and compared it with the machine.  They said the same thing repeatedly, even after it had changed.  

This does lead me to wonder just how these machines calculate calories burned, and how they can be so far off.

J&K10910

Do you put your weight and height and age into the machine?  You SHOULD put those things into your HRM.  If you don't put them into the machine, there's your discrepancy.

Your HRM is going to be the most accurate.

cnf2013

The machines are off because most only ask your weight and age. Most base it off of the average weight for man, unless it asks for gender. Plus, the older and more used a machine is, the less accurate they get.