Research

Energy balance

A modified heart rate (HR) method using minute-by-minute monitoring and a subject-specific 'FLEX' threshold accurately estimates total energy expenditure (TEE) in healthy adults when validated against whole-body calorimetry.

To accurately estimate your daily calorie burn using a heart rate monitor, you cannot rely on an average heart rate. You must perform a personal calibration session involving rest and light exercise to establish your unique heart rate-to-energy-expenditure relationship. Use a monitor that records minute-by-minute data and apply a 'FLEX' threshold to distinguish between sedentary time (estimated via basal metabolic rate) and active time (calculated via your calibration curve).

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The satisfactory predictive power and low cost of the method makes it suitable for many field and epidemiological applications.
Sana M. Ceesay et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 1989

Why this rating

Controlled laboratory study with gold-standard calorimetry validation, though small sample size (n=20).

Source

The use of heart rate monitoring in the estimation of energy expenditure: a validation study using indirect whole-body calorimetry

Sana M. Ceesay et al. · British Journal Of Nutrition · 1989

DOI 10.1079/bjn19890107

cross_sectional · n=20Cited 317×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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