Accurate calorie burn? Help! :S

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  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    cheshirecatastrophe wrote: »
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    MirandaKeeler wrote: »
    II worked out on an elliptical today for one hour. (Switching between moderate and high effort) It said Average speed: 5.13 MPH, Average heart rate: 168, Calories burned: 840. That calorie count seems high to me. What do you think? Any great devices to use?

    Yes, that is extremely high.

    That speed on an elliptical will be roughly equivalent to walking ~3.5mph. So you can estimate your burn as...

    3.5 * 0.35 * body weight in pounds

    So if you're 150 pounds -> ~180 calories.

    That's not accounting for resistance or incline...

    It doesn't have to.

    All you really need to know is how far you can run in the same time period. If you can't run for that long, then walking will do.

    That sets the upper bound, and you can safely know that your actual burn will not be higher than that.

    Sorry, I don't get that. Wouldn't that calculation give you the lower bound, and increasing resistance give you an increase in calories the way walking up an incline would? If two people go the same speed for the same distance but one is at zero resistance and one is at full, they aren't going to burn the same number of calories.

    Running is basically the best calorie-burner out there in terms of matched effort. So whatever effort you are putting in on the elliptical--which would be affected by resistance and incline--duplicate that amount of effort in running. That will give you the upper boundary. I generally figure I burn 50-60% of running calories on the elliptical for the same perceived effort.

    Actually there was a study that showed it was only slightly higher according to http://www.builtlean.com/2012/04/20/elliptical-vs-treadmill/

    "A study by the Medical College of Wisconsin found the average calories burned jogging on a treadmill for one hour was 705 to 866. By comparison, an estimate by Health Status found using an elliptical trainer for one hour will burn approximately 773 calories. Based on these and other similar studies, the treadmill may have a slight advantage in calorie burn, although oftentimes the amount of variance is considered negligible compared to the elliptical.
    In terms of fat loss and increased aerobic capacity, another study found that people using a stair climber, treadmill, and elliptical at similar exercise intensities experienced similar physiological changes in 12 a week program."

    It's the results that count though eg log half, check weight loss, adjust over time

    Reeeally. That is SUPER interesting. I wonder if it has something to do with being able to push yourself harder on the elliptical if you are not a trained runner? (That is my experience as a now-runner, previously-not).

    Thanks!

    Agreed. As someone who can't run due to knee problems, it makes me feel better about my heavy use of the elliptical!

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