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Calorie burn calculation widely varies between Fitbit & Garmin

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‎06-04-2016 10:22

‎06-04-2016 10:22

I have a Garmin Forerunner 230 HRM/GPS, and also a Fitbit Blaze.  I use both when I run, and there calculation of every element of my run is very similar (time, distance, heart rate, pace, etc.) with one major exception ... calories burned.  For example, todays run: 

 

Fitbit Blaze:

Distance 5.70m, time 1:14, average HR 116 BPM, Calories burned 798

 

Garmin Forerunner:

Distance 5.72m, time 1:14, average HR 121 BPM, Calories burned 538

 

So there is a 260 calorie difference in the same activity.  The Fitbit calculates 48% more calorie burn for the same exact activity.  And it is not just an isolated event/exception ... this happens on every run.  This does not make sense to me, and I honestly am not sure which one to believe.  Can anyone help with this?

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‎06-04-2016 10:42

‎06-04-2016 10:42

@Matapper So calorie estimation for Fitbit will depend on BMR (based on gender, age, height, and weight), activity detected by the tracker, and will also take heart rate into account. I can't speak to how Garmin estimates calorie burn since calorie estimation can vary across different products.

Andrew | Community Moderator, Fitbit

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‎06-04-2016 10:52 - edited ‎06-04-2016 10:54

‎06-04-2016 10:52 - edited ‎06-04-2016 10:54

Disclaimer : have no knowledge of Garman.

Calculating caloric burn strickly through math is not an exact science. Studies have even shown that even those mouth units(the standard used) have inconsistencies.

Calories burnt have a lot to do with age, weight, height, and the persons physical fitness.

The more parameters that can be monitored the closer the estamate will be.

A larger more powerful engine will burn less fuel doing the same work performed  by a smaller engine. Is this being considered by the unit,  Fitbit using the resting heart rate gould have an idea, i dont know about Garman. 

 

All of these things need to be taken into consideration when figureing out the calories burnt. Here is where the fun begins,  science has not come up with a single formula that works for all. Every manufacturer uses their own proprietary algorhythms.

So which one is closer to being correct? 

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