Garmin Watches - Gear - Runner's World

Finney71

28/09/2011 at 21:42

hi all, i have just moved up from a garmin305 to a 405cx,can anybody tell me how accurate they are with the calorie counts,when running for 2yrs with the 305 it was telling me i was burning around 125/130 calories per mile which i thought was great,then when i moved to 405 with the same information inputted in the 405 says im only burning around 94/96 calories per mile,which one is right coz if its the 405 then i'll be gutted as ive been led to believe in burning a higher rate?

Regards

Finney

Chris.52

30/09/2011 at 22:03

It must depend on what you tell it your weight is, and I think also on how much you climb. I don't know if the vertical distance it uses is the true one or the stupidly exaggerated one that's usually its first choice. E.g. if I run miles round a track, it will first tell me I've climbed ~500m and then correct itself to show correctly that the track is 1-2 m higher at one end than the other.

DAM

30/09/2011 at 23:28

I could be wrong here but I think that the 405cx differs from the 305 in the way it calculates calories burned. I believe that the 305/405 use just your weight and distance but the cx involves heart rate in the equation which Garmin claim gives more accurate results.
If I use my 405cx without the heart rate monitor it claims I burn far more calories than when i run with it.
Having said that, I'm led to beleive that there's no real way to reliably monitor calories burned anyway.

Edited: 30/09/2011 at 23:29

martin barghati

01/10/2011 at 18:56

hey finney,

i dont think there is any exact science to measuring calories expended.

i,ve always worked on the basis that when running your going to burn between 300 to 380 for 30mins work, but also remember that when you finish your run your metabolism is increased which then burns even more cals at rest.

Finney71

02/10/2011 at 01:05

Thanks for your replys,but like my missus said ive been running for 2yrs now should i still be counting calories,and concentrating more on my fitness and health.?

martin barghati

02/10/2011 at 08:09

When i first started training i was i was really overweight(6-2 and 17.5 stone). At this point i was obsessed with cal counting, then i started to realize that as long as i pushed myself and concentrate more on fitness and beating my personal bests that cals would take care of themself.

My advice to you finney is forget about cals and concentrate on getting quicker.

Finney71

05/10/2011 at 20:32

thanks all i think this sums up my question.

Intermanaut

05/10/2011 at 20:37

You may as well ignore elevation data from a device that uses satellites to make the calculation.

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