Danmar
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
For my birthday my DW bought me one of those heart rate monitor watches (Polar). This gives me all kinds of data relating to my daily workouts. The key for me is calories burned. This is determined by an algorithm based on average heart rate during the workout. So this results in a wide range of results depending on how I do in any given workout. For a 45 minute workout the calories can range from 600-800 generally higher on the elliptical vs the spinning bike. This confuses me as I thought the definition of a "calorie" was related to energy expended (eg the energy required to raise the temp of water one degree, or something). This watch seems to think a calorie is defined as how high my heart rate goes. I had to input an estimated fitness level (max VO2 level) so I am thinking the whole exercise is an approximation based on various fitness levels? A very fit person would burn fewer calories than someone doing the same workout who is not fit?
Has anyone else wondered about this? If so have you figured it out?
Has anyone else wondered about this? If so have you figured it out?