How many calories will I burn on a treadmill going 5mph at an incline of 5% ?

Laureani
Laureani Posts: 134 Member
edited November 11 in Fitness and Exercise
I weight 198lbs and I'm going to run on the treadmill for 60 minutes today for 5mph at an incline of 5%. Some calculators told me I would burn 940 calories, 898 and MFP told me 808 calories. Does that count decreasing it to a speed of say 3mph for 3 minutes to take a breather or do I have to go 5mph for the entire hour??? That's not possible for me. How do I calculate how much I'm burning??? I heard heart rate monitors do that but I'm not sure nor do I have a heart rate monitor and I don't know if the treadmill's heart rate monitor is accurate, thanks.

Replies

  • pope705
    pope705 Posts: 109 Member
    Most treadmills are set to a generic average person's caloric burn. You may burn more if you are less in shape. You may burn less. Running for an hour on a treadmill sucks btw. Make sure you have a movie to watch or audio books or something to distract you. HRM are the best way to calculate your burn. The actual number is not important unless you are eating back your calories.
  • Cacheola
    Cacheola Posts: 50 Member
    Without a HR monitor, you'll have to go by the calc. 5% is a decent incline. 1-2 is similar to a flat road. I'd get bored running for an hour straight and it can also be hard on your knees and hips, especially if you're overweight. I usually run a mile then do something else, run a mile then do something else...
  • Huppdiwupp
    Huppdiwupp Posts: 50 Member
    In order to burn ~900 kcal in an hour, you would have to run approximately 7.5 mph (assuming just wind resistance), so 5.5mph at a gradient of 5.5% seems reasonable. Of course, if you take breaks or slow down, you will use less energy during that time (or alternatively, it would take you longer than one hour to tun 5.5 miles and burn ~900 kcal).
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    pope705 wrote: »
    Most treadmills are set to a generic average person's caloric burn. You may burn more if you are less in shape. You may burn less. Running for an hour on a treadmill sucks btw. Make sure you have a movie to watch or audio books or something to distract you. HRM are the best way to calculate your burn. The actual number is not important unless you are eating back your calories.

    I've ran on a treadmill for an hour before but I was never sure if the calorie burn was accurate
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    Cacheola wrote: »
    Without a HR monitor, you'll have to go by the calc. 5% is a decent incline. 1-2 is similar to a flat road. I'd get bored running for an hour straight and it can also be hard on your knees and hips, especially if you're overweight. I usually run a mile then do something else, run a mile then do something else...

    The treadmill has an HRM, do you think that'd be accurate?
  • perseverance14
    perseverance14 Posts: 1,364 Member
    What kind of an HRM, the kind you keep your hands on? If so, no. My treadmill is always 100 calories more than I actually burned according to my HRM.
  • MLThornton17
    MLThornton17 Posts: 1 Member
    I just went to the doctor today to discuss my issues with weight loss. She suggested I do 40-60 minute workouts. I asked about eating those calories back, she said maybe just eat a protein after the workout, but not to eat back all of the calories. She also recommended I eat 1200-1500 calories. I'm just confused because MFP community says so many different things. :\
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    What kind of an HRM, the kind you keep your hands on? If so, no. My treadmill is always 100 calories more than I actually burned according to my HRM.

    yeah its the kind you keep your hands on. I decide to just underestimate my calorie burn till I can get a good HRM... what kind do you recommenced to calculate my calorie burn as well as my heart rate there's so many on amazon I'm not sure which to purchase???
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    I just went to the doctor today to discuss my issues with weight loss. She suggested I do 40-60 minute workouts. I asked about eating those calories back, she said maybe just eat a protein after the workout, but not to eat back all of the calories. She also recommended I eat 1200-1500 calories. I'm just confused because MFP community says so many different things. :\

    Yeah I'm currently eating only 1400 a day.. an hour at the gym seems reasonable for me because I usually don't get tired after 30 minutes. Yeah I've noticed eating back all my calories isn't really helping me so I'll prolly just stick to a small amount of protein afterwards.
  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    Hi! I'm about 135 lbs and in decent shape. I powerwalk on the flat track at about 5mph (HR monitor, GPS tracking).I can do this for one hour straight, no breathers, no break. It burns a good 500 calories at my size. I think that's a pretty good number. Your estimates might be close to accurate, as actual running burns more calories. However, one hour is rough. Maybe you should consider powerwalking, too. At this speed, it will burn out your lungs as well as your glutes, if you are really making an effort. I find it much easier on the joints, too. You might not be able to walk this fast on an incline, but you can always work up to it!
    Good luck!
  • tjthomaa527
    tjthomaa527 Posts: 8 Member
    I just finished my 30 minute walk, I burned 300 calories, walking 3mph but I did walk 5mph for 5 minutes. I weigh 175lbs. I was at a 5% incline. I dont know exactly how to answer your question but thats my personal experience.
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    Running on a flat surface burns .63*weight in pounds*distance, at any speed.

    The general statistic I've seen says each % of incline increases calories burned by 10%, but I've never seen science to back that up. Apparently there is an equation that takes a PhD to understand.

    Here's some tables. #4 is what you're looking for. You can change the display weight under #6.
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    h7463 wrote: »
    Hi! I'm about 135 lbs and in decent shape. I powerwalk on the flat track at about 5mph (HR monitor, GPS tracking).I can do this for one hour straight, no breathers, no break. It burns a good 500 calories at my size. I think that's a pretty good number. Your estimates might be close to accurate, as actual running burns more calories. However, one hour is rough. Maybe you should consider powerwalking, too. At this speed, it will burn out your lungs as well as your glutes, if you are really making an effort. I find it much easier on the joints, too. You might not be able to walk this fast on an incline, but you can always work up to it!
    Good luck!

    I'm not out of shape I wrestled for 3 years straight and only recently stopped. I just don't think I'm going to go for an hour straight without reducing my speed.
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    Running on a flat surface burns .63*weight in pounds*distance, at any speed.

    The general statistic I've seen says each % of incline increases calories burned by 10%, but I've never seen science to back that up. Apparently there is an equation that takes a PhD to understand.

    Here's some tables. #4 is what you're looking for. You can change the display weight under #6.

    Okay, thanks
  • gainer39911
    gainer39911 Posts: 125 Member
    You give your weight as 198 lb and age as 19 yrs. Assuming you are 5 ft 6 in, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is about 72 kcal/hr. The Compendium of Physical Activities (https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/) which gives metabolic factors (METs) for a wide range of physical activities, lists a MET value of 9.8 for walking up a 3% grade at 5 mph. Multiplying the MET by your BMR and the exercise time gives calories expended. So, 1 hour at a MET of 9.8 and a BMR of 72 kcal/hr, give a calories expenditure of (9.8x1x72)=706 kcal. If the treadmill truly simulates a 5% grade, the calorie expenditure would be greater by about 10%, or closer to 800 kcal/hr.
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    You give your weight as 198 lb and age as 19 yrs. Assuming you are 5 ft 6 in, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is about 72 kcal/hr. The Compendium of Physical Activities (https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/) which gives metabolic factors (METs) for a wide range of physical activities, lists a MET value of 9.8 for walking up a 3% grade at 5 mph. Multiplying the MET by your BMR and the exercise time gives calories expended. So, 1 hour at a MET of 9.8 and a BMR of 72 kcal/hr, give a calories expenditure of (9.8x1x72)=706 kcal. If the treadmill truly simulates a 5% grade, the calorie expenditure would be greater by about 10%, or closer to 800 kcal/hr.

    Ah awesome
  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
    Laureani wrote: »
    h7463 wrote: »
    Hi! I'm about 135 lbs and in decent shape. I powerwalk on the flat track at about 5mph (HR monitor, GPS tracking).I can do this for one hour straight, no breathers, no break. It burns a good 500 calories at my size. I think that's a pretty good number. Your estimates might be close to accurate, as actual running burns more calories. However, one hour is rough. Maybe you should consider powerwalking, too. At this speed, it will burn out your lungs as well as your glutes, if you are really making an effort. I find it much easier on the joints, too. You might not be able to walk this fast on an incline, but you can always work up to it!
    Good luck!

    I'm not out of shape I wrestled for 3 years straight and only recently stopped. I just don't think I'm going to go for an hour straight without reducing my speed.
    I understand. The 'in shape' remark was in reference to my ability to burn calories. Less 'in shape' burns more. So my numbers are more on the lower end.
    I've never been on a treadmill in my life.... If I absolutely have to walk, run, or do sprint drills, I do it on the track.. It's actually more exhausting, as the treadmill will set the speed. Outdoors, I really have to pick myself up and GO....lol.
    But if I have to chose between running and powerwalking for a sustainable cardio exercise, just to burn some extra calories, I'd pick powerwalking any time. Safer for my ankles, anyway! :D
  • Cacheola
    Cacheola Posts: 50 Member
    Laureani wrote: »
    Cacheola wrote: »
    Without a HR monitor, you'll have to go by the calc. 5% is a decent incline. 1-2 is similar to a flat road. I'd get bored running for an hour straight and it can also be hard on your knees and hips, especially if you're overweight. I usually run a mile then do something else, run a mile then do something else...

    The treadmill has an HRM, do you think that'd be accurate?

    The treadmill I use connects to my HRM strap automatically. But even when I enter my weight and age, its ~2/3 the calories my HRM claims. Also, the BPM fluctuates greatly. I wouldn't put too much faith in it.
  • gainer39911
    gainer39911 Posts: 125 Member

    Laureani wrote: »
    Cacheola wrote: »
    Without a HR monitor, you'll have to go by the calc. 5% is a decent incline. 1-2 is similar to a flat road. I'd get bored running for an hour straight and it can also be hard on your knees and hips, especially if you're overweight. I usually run a mile then do something else, run a mile then do something else...

    The treadmill has an HRM, do you think that'd be accurate?

    We have a treadmill that has hand grips that measure HR. It is completely unreliable. It also has a chest strap that communicates to the treadmill directly, which may be accurate but I do not use that because I have a Garmin GPS with HRM. The Garmin software provides a calorie count, but it is biased low, so I calculate energy expenditure (EE) using an equation that relates it to age, weight and average HR. There are separate equations for men and women. I will copy them below, along with a citation of the source. Use the equation to calculate your EE rate (kCal/min) and multiply that by the minutes of exercise time. In my experience, the results are similar to what I get inputting the exercise into the MFP tracker. The original paper also has an equation that also depends on VO2-Max, but that made only a modest improvement in the accuracy of the equation so I use the one below. Note that this equation yields gross EE, so it's best to convert it to net EE by subtracting your basal metabolic rate x exercise time. As a first approximation, that's about 1 kCal/min.

    “Prediction of energy expenditure from heart rate monitoring during submaximal exercise”, Keytel, L.R., Goedecke, J.H., Noakes, T.D., Hiiloskorpi, H., Laukkanen, R., van der Merwe, L., Lambert, E.V., Journal of Sports Sciences, March 01, 2005.

    Men: EE (kCal/min) = (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x HR + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age) / 4.184
    Women:EE (kCal/min) = (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x HR - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age) / 4.184
  • gainer39911
    gainer39911 Posts: 125 Member
    Laureani wrote: »
    Cacheola wrote: »
    Without a HR monitor, you'll have to go by the calc. 5% is a decent incline. 1-2 is similar to a flat road. I'd get bored running for an hour straight and it can also be hard on your knees and hips, especially if you're overweight. I usually run a mile then do something else, run a mile then do something else...

    The treadmill has an HRM, do you think that'd be accurate?

    We have a treadmill that has hand grips that measure HR. It is completely unreliable. It also has a chest strap that communicates to the treadmill directly, which may be accurate but I do not use that because I have a Garmin GPS with HRM. The Garmin software provides a calorie count, but it is biased low, so I calculate energy expenditure (EE) using an equation that relates it to age, weight and average HR. There are separate equations for men and women. I will copy them below, along with a citation of the source. Use the equation to calculate your EE rate (kCal/min) and multiply that by the minutes of exercise time. In my experience, the results are similar to what I get inputting the exercise into the MFP tracker. The original paper also has an equation that also depends on VO2-Max, but that made only a modest improvement in the accuracy of the equation so I use the one below. Note that this equation yields gross EE, so it's best to convert it to net EE by subtracting your basal metabolic rate x exercise time. As a first approximation, that's about 1 kCal/min.

    “Prediction of energy expenditure from heart rate monitoring during submaximal exercise”, Keytel, L.R., Goedecke, J.H., Noakes, T.D., Hiiloskorpi, H., Laukkanen, R., van der Merwe, L., Lambert, E.V., Journal of Sports Sciences, March 01, 2005.

    Men: EE (kCal/min) = (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x HR + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age) / 4.184
    Women:EE (kCal/min) = (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x HR - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age) / 4.184

    Should have noted that weight is in kg, age is in years, and HR is in beats/minute.

  • sjaplo
    sjaplo Posts: 974 Member
    Just a safety note - continually running uphill (you said 5% incline) can lead to shin and hamstring issues. I run 1% incline until the last few minutes of my treadmill run.
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    sjaplo wrote: »
    Just a safety note - continually running uphill (you said 5% incline) can lead to shin and hamstring issues. I run 1% incline until the last few minutes of my treadmill run.

    Okay.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    sjaplo wrote: »
    Just a safety note - continually running uphill (you said 5% incline) can lead to shin and hamstring issues. I run 1% incline until the last few minutes of my treadmill run.

    ^this^
  • Laureani
    Laureani Posts: 134 Member
    Laureani wrote: »
    Cacheola wrote: »
    Without a HR monitor, you'll have to go by the calc. 5% is a decent incline. 1-2 is similar to a flat road. I'd get bored running for an hour straight and it can also be hard on your knees and hips, especially if you're overweight. I usually run a mile then do something else, run a mile then do something else...

    The treadmill has an HRM, do you think that'd be accurate?

    We have a treadmill that has hand grips that measure HR. It is completely unreliable. It also has a chest strap that communicates to the treadmill directly, which may be accurate but I do not use that because I have a Garmin GPS with HRM. The Garmin software provides a calorie count, but it is biased low, so I calculate energy expenditure (EE) using an equation that relates it to age, weight and average HR. There are separate equations for men and women. I will copy them below, along with a citation of the source. Use the equation to calculate your EE rate (kCal/min) and multiply that by the minutes of exercise time. In my experience, the results are similar to what I get inputting the exercise into the MFP tracker. The original paper also has an equation that also depends on VO2-Max, but that made only a modest improvement in the accuracy of the equation so I use the one below. Note that this equation yields gross EE, so it's best to convert it to net EE by subtracting your basal metabolic rate x exercise time. As a first approximation, that's about 1 kCal/min.

    “Prediction of energy expenditure from heart rate monitoring during submaximal exercise”, Keytel, L.R., Goedecke, J.H., Noakes, T.D., Hiiloskorpi, H., Laukkanen, R., van der Merwe, L., Lambert, E.V., Journal of Sports Sciences, March 01, 2005.

    Men: EE (kCal/min) = (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x HR + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age) / 4.184
    Women:EE (kCal/min) = (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x HR - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age) / 4.184

    Should have noted that weight is in kg, age is in years, and HR is in beats/minute.

    Okay, thank you for the information
This discussion has been closed.