Question on Threadmills/eliptical (treadmills, burn, workout, machines)

[usmcmotort]

When you're on a cardio machine and you put in your weight and age, how accurate is the machine in telling you how much calories you're burning?

[DennyCrane]

Not very. Manufacturers make a lot of assumptions about the user. Instead of looking at the calories burned, pay attention to what direction the number is going. For example, if you did an hour one day and it said you burned 600 calories and the next day, you did an hour and it said you burned 650 calories, that's a good thing. But whatever you do, don't take those readings at face value. I usually look at them and assume at best I burned half.

[davey123]

Originally Posted by usmcmotort

When you're on a cardio machine and you put in your weight and age, how accurate is the machine in telling you how much calories you're burning?

When it comes to the amount of calories burned, I do not put a lot of stock in the accuracy of any of the exercise machines. I do not know how they "norm" those machines. However, everyone's metabolism rate is different. So, that has to be factored into the process. I think that what's important on the Treadmill is the duration of time you are exercising, and the distance. Those typically are accurate. And, of course, I would argue that they are also most important.

[LynnePatrice]

I think more accurate would be an online calculator.

Put your weight in and then your activity. It should give you a good indication of approximate calories burned.

I've used so many elliptical machines over the years and the difference in the calories they computed for the same time/distance/effort is INSANE!!

[mjohnson4381]

I think the machines generally assume you're 150 pounds and that you're pushing yourself at a very high level. I could be wrong, though.

[stevemorse]

the most accurate way is to estimate the reading at 20 percent less. So if its says 400 calories the real reading is more like 320 calories.

[JanuaryGirl]

I had the same question.

Based on your answers, I'm wondering how online calculators (or anything else) could be more accurate than treadmills that have you enter your age/weight. What else would it be based on besides age, weight, and time/intensity?

Also, just curious why machines would over estimate calories... if it's based on fitness level and I'm somewhat out of shape (heart rate somewhat higher than for your average person while exercising), then isn't it likely to under estimate calories burned?

I've recently started tracking calories/food content along with exercising 5 days a week, but it's hard to tell if I'm on track without knowing how many calories are getting burned.

[lola8822]

It's not meant to be exact, just a pretty good guestimate. Some of the newer elipticals ask you to put in height, take your weight, age and ask for your heart rate every so often, those are typically more accurate but could be off

[CaptainNJ]

i doubt they have any relationship with reality. it makes little difference, you shouldnt be working on cardio machines if your purpose is to burn calories. you should be cutting the calories out of your diet and you should be lifting heavy weights (as heavy as you can handle while making really ugly strained faces). cardio is for stamina and heart health. do it at the end of the workout for a little extra calories burned but if you push yourself to the limit, who cares what a computer reading says?

[davey123]

Originally Posted by CaptainNJ

if you push yourself to the limit, who cares what a computer reading says?

I think that this is the critical -- take home point!