2 elliptical trainers, same exercise, totally different calorie counts

jameshaslam

Hi. Every couple of days, I like to do a 30 minute fat burn program on a Precor Adaptive Motion Trainer at the YMCA. I consistently burn just over 350 calories doing this.

However, today that machine wasnt available, so I went on a Matrix elliptical instead. It was pretty much the same thing, and I felt like I worked harder and sweated more, but only got 228 calories?!?!

Now I know different machines will give different values, but they are WAY off.
Thats a 65% difference.

So should I ignore the Matrix and enter 350 anyway, or has Precor been lying to me?

James

ScubaSteve1962

they both have probably been lying to you. I noticed a big difference in calories burned when I started using a HRM, it would give me more calories even though they both were getting my heart rate from the same sensor. For me that's the good thing about using a activity monitor no matter what machine I use the calorie burn will still be the same. If you use the Polar H7 sensor, you can use an app on your phone, and the machine will give you your actual heart rate, and adjust the levels for you.

professionalHobbyist

I count the step calorie value on my pedeter when I do the cardio glide or stepper

I never enter those machine numbers. I eat my calories per The app and lose weight to the plan schedule.

I am also a skeptic on those machine values, like many others.

SimoneBee12

Those machines are so bad at estimating calorie burns, especially if they don't know your weight/height. A 35% difference is definitely expected (your math was off) because they are just so unreliable.

A HRM is definitely the way to go, it's the most accurate you can get, although it's not 100%, it's closer than those machines.

jameshaslam

ok thanks for the tips. I will look into getting a HRM! In the meantime, what value do you think I should enter?

jameshaslam

Also I entered my weight as 190lb on both machines, but the precor also asks for my height and age, whereas the matrix just wanted weight

joepratt503

What I do is work the same program on either machine (so match the time/resist intervals) and then just manually add whatever calorie burn I usually add on my "regular" machine. Truth is, there isn't much reason to worry about it unless you have specific calorie burn goals that are outside of your normal weight loss plan. If you track every day, you know what your food SHOULD look like based on your daily activity so just stick with that and get on the more familiar machine the next day.