Are the miles on the elliptical accurate?
jenniator
Posts: 475 Member
Hey everyone I have a strange question. I know the accuracy of the calorie burn rate is way off on machines like the elliptical, but what about the mile counting machine? Are the miles accurate on a elliptical? Just something I've been curious about ha ha.
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Miles of what?
So....no.
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The miles "run" according to the machine - ? What is not to understand about that?0
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They aren't accurate on a treadmill.
Since all an elliptical does is get you better at using the elliptical, I don't use it so I can't say0 -
--derp
(Edited to add: "derp" meant I wrote something stupid and wanted to remove it; I was not replying to anyone else. LOL)0 -
Hey everyone I have a strange question. I know the accuracy of the calorie burn rate is way off on machines like the elliptical, but what about the mile counting machine? Are the miles accurate on a elliptical? Just something I've been curious about ha ha.
They're not accurate in any practical or meaningful way.
Are they consistent? Meaning, if you did the same pace for the same time on the same machine, would the numbers match up? Probably. So you can use the "miles" to track your progress, as in "I went X miles in Y time."
Are they reproducible in another modality? Meaning, if you can go 5 miles on an elliptical, does that mean you can run 5 miles? Probably not. They will correlate, for sure, because the fitter you are in one thing, the fitter you are in everything, but it's not a 1 to 1 proportion.0 -
Just found this on LiveStrong.com:Depending on the model, an elliptical machine generally displays distance in miles, kilometers or steps. Since the stride of each step is the same length, the amount of miles or kilometers is determined by how many steps you complete. Since changes in elevation would naturally shorten or extend a person’s stride, the total miles calculated by the elliptical machine are often referred to as an estimation rather than an exact count.
So there you have it.
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lishie_rebooted wrote: »They aren't accurate on a treadmill.
Since all an elliptical does is get you better at using the elliptical, I don't use it so I can't say
What does that mean? It's a cardio machine like a treadmill is, designed to get HR up isn't it?0 -
The miles "run" according to the machine - ? What is not to understand about that?
The machine doesn't move.
A treadmill has an IRL analog. So does a stationary bike. An elliptical does not - it's a made up biomechanical motion and "miles" doesn't make much sense in that context.
So...no. Not accurate/meaningful.0 -
The machine doesn't move but the pedals do - it does the same thing a stationary bike does, which also records "miles" based on revolutions of the wheel...doesn't it?
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lishie_rebooted wrote: »They aren't accurate on a treadmill.
Since all an elliptical does is get you better at using the elliptical, I don't use it so I can't say
What does that mean? It's a cardio machine like a treadmill is, designed to get HR up isn't it?
But a treadmill and the upright bike have a translatable point.
An elliptical doesn't.
I can walk/run on a treadmill and my improvements there will translate outside, same with a bike.
The elliptical gets you better at the elliptical.0 -
you can always head out on one of these and find out...
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Highly doubt it.0
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GuitarJerry wrote: »lishie_rebooted wrote: »lishie_rebooted wrote: »They aren't accurate on a treadmill.
Since all an elliptical does is get you better at using the elliptical, I don't use it so I can't say
What does that mean? It's a cardio machine like a treadmill is, designed to get HR up isn't it?
But a treadmill and the upright bike have a translatable point.
An elliptical doesn't.
I can walk/run on a treadmill and my improvements there will translate outside, same with a bike.
The elliptical gets you better at the elliptical.
Wrong. See picture above.
i personally think that the elliptical can build your cardio endurance, and it's great when you have an injury that may get exacerbated with the impact from running, or if you just want to give your legs a bit of a break.
but you can't train for a 5k on an elliptical.
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No.
The gym I go to every elliptical is a little different and I get different numbers on all of them. So is my fit bit.
Doesn't really matter much to me though. I know how many hours a week I am putting in. That is the number I care about.0 -
yes, they probably are based on stride pattern and RPM but a mile on the elliptical does not equal a mile run, walked, biked, etc. when it comes to cals burned or effort. They are the same distance only. Just like driving a mile doesn't take as much effort as running one.0
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GuitarJerry wrote: »lishie_rebooted wrote: »lishie_rebooted wrote: »They aren't accurate on a treadmill.
Since all an elliptical does is get you better at using the elliptical, I don't use it so I can't say
What does that mean? It's a cardio machine like a treadmill is, designed to get HR up isn't it?
But a treadmill and the upright bike have a translatable point.
An elliptical doesn't.
I can walk/run on a treadmill and my improvements there will translate outside, same with a bike.
The elliptical gets you better at the elliptical.
Wrong. See picture above.
Sorry, the "wrong" is at your end. The mileage from a stationary elliptical machine will have virtually no correlation with mileage on that variant of a bicycle.
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Doesn't matter much. Use time and intensity, which is much more meaningful for calorie estimation.
Even outdoors, it not the same running 2 miles uphill than downhill.0 -
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GuitarJerry wrote: »Capt_Apollo wrote: »GuitarJerry wrote: »lishie_rebooted wrote: »lishie_rebooted wrote: »They aren't accurate on a treadmill.
Since all an elliptical does is get you better at using the elliptical, I don't use it so I can't say
What does that mean? It's a cardio machine like a treadmill is, designed to get HR up isn't it?
But a treadmill and the upright bike have a translatable point.
An elliptical doesn't.
I can walk/run on a treadmill and my improvements there will translate outside, same with a bike.
The elliptical gets you better at the elliptical.
Wrong. See picture above.
i personally think that the elliptical can build your cardio endurance, and it's great when you have an injury that may get exacerbated with the impact from running, or if you just want to give your legs a bit of a break.
but you can't train for a 5k on an elliptical.
Yes you can. Geez. You people need to educate yourselves. Of course you can use it as PART of your training.
i have done many races, and i'll agree that a treadmill, indoor bike, and elliptical can be useful in training, but you cannot do the whole thing indoors.
if you do the treadmill the whole time, a person will struggle on the road on race day.
also...0 -
Offtopic: I always thought that an elliptical was closer to cross-country skiing than anything else.0
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All I know is that the elliptical kicks my butt and gives me a good workout, causes me to sweat, takes my breath, and gets my heart pumping really hard... without hurting my feet/ankles. I like that.0
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If I were training to run a marathon, I'd probably be running outside.0
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I only use the elliptical for cardio and set a decent resistance ..I don't run
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ruggedshutter wrote: »Offtopic: I always thought that an elliptical was closer to cross-country skiing than anything else.
I think that depends on the age of the elliptical.
I'm not sure if the newer models would but I've seen some old ones that were called "ellipticals" but reminded me of skiing...0 -
Nordic-Tracs!0
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This looks like something I could hurt myself on. LOL
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This discussion has been closed.
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