How dishonest is the eliptical?

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ivylaurenolsen
ivylaurenolsen Posts: 56 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I know that people usually say that the machines are usually too high when they say how many calories you have burned...how much are they off? For every 30 minutes of intervals on the eliptical it says I am burning 280 calories. When I log it on MFP it seems high too. I weigh 138 and I'm 20...about how much am I actually burning?
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Replies

  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    it sounds about right to me if you're working hard. Maybe just log it as 250 to be sure
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Depends on your intensity. Personally, I'm 138 5'4 and old. I burn about 280ish in 30 minutes on the elliptical, but the machine says 350ish. Notice the ish part? This is why most only eat back a portion of exercise calories. I believe usually the machines are overestimated by 40% ISH.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Various factors will come into play. If I push really hard I can get about 200 gross calories (machine says 300+) in 20-25 mins. However if I go light like I did today that same 20 mins was only about 52 gross calories (machine said 120).

    Log 50% of your calorie burn for now and re-evaluate in a couple weeks. If you end up losing faster than expected, you can eat a bit more than 50% back (maybe try 60). If you end up losing slower than expected, eat a bit less than 50% back (maybe try 40). Then just keep adjusting till your losing weight at the desired healthy rate.
  • skbrodie
    skbrodie Posts: 81 Member
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    Mine says I burn 600ish calories in about an hour. I only log 200. I've heard it's about 300cal/hour but I'm not really sure.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    most recommend only eating back 50% of calorie burned estimates...
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    I saw it steal $20 from my wallet. When I asked about it the elliptical lied to my face.

    But they seem to have this code of honour when it comes to calories burned where they tell the truth or atleast the best estimate they can give.

    So elipticals, dishonest? Depends on the topic.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    Merkavar wrote: »
    I saw it steal $20 from my wallet. When I asked about it the elliptical lied to my face.

    But they seem to have this code of honour when it comes to calories burned where they tell the truth or atleast the best estimate they can give.

    So elipticals, dishonest? Depends on the topic.

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  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,721 Member
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    The elliptical is a dirty liar.
  • KarlaH9801
    KarlaH9801 Posts: 362 Member
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    When my machine tells me 350 for 30 minutes of "meh"-speed, and 580 for 50 minutes booty-busting speed, I don't trust it. But, I agree with the other posters. If you do eat back exercise cals, aim for half.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    There's about a 20% margin of error in these calculations, so err on the side of caution whatever your goal is.

    The calculation is only based on RPMs & resistance, but there's the variable of your effort - are you pushing & pulling the handles? Are you pushing down with your feet, staying on the balls on the uplift, and pushing down through the heels on the downstrokes? All this will impact your caloric output.
  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
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    Bumping this thread instead of starting my own since the subject is so close...

    Does anyone have a good online calculator for the eliptical that is more dependable than what the gym elipticals read? I've seem some great suggestion for running calculators, swimming calculators, etc, but I haven't seen one for elips.

    At my gym, it's the eliptical or nothing for cardio, which is better than nothing, IMO. And I don't eat back my calories. I'd just like to see what I might actually be burning for my height/weight/age.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    And I don't eat back my calories. I'd just like to see what I might actually be burning for my height/weight/age.

    if you dont eat them back, it doesnt really matter ;)

    as has been said, the variables are too much, your height, weight, effort, intensity, etc all go into play. for ME - based on HRM (which is not infallible, either) I burn between 550-600 in an hour. On the highest (most difficult) setting and using pretty much everything I've got. It used to be more (I've lost 50 pounds). I still have more to go, and as I lose weight, the burn is less.

  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    And I don't eat back my calories. I'd just like to see what I might actually be burning for my height/weight/age.

    if you dont eat them back, it doesnt really matter ;)

    as has been said, the variables are too much, your height, weight, effort, intensity, etc all go into play. for ME - based on HRM (which is not infallible, either) I burn between 550-600 in an hour. On the highest (most difficult) setting and using pretty much everything I've got. It used to be more (I've lost 50 pounds). I still have more to go, and as I lose weight, the burn is less.

    Yeah - I've been considering getting an HRM just because of my need for "guestimates". I take a lot of asthma medication though - which is like shooting adrenaline straight into the lungs, so I'm not sure how much that would mess with the number. That's the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger.
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    ellipticals can be dead on accurate or grossly wrong. It is less about the machine as it is about your habits. The variables that affect the accuracy of the calorie burn are things like resistance, incline, speed, your weight, etc.

    I use an elliptical regularly, but I just simply go by the calorie burn on my fitbit. I use a relatively high resistance/level and go at a pretty fast clip so the fitbit is probably conservative. I've used an HRM before and in my case, it is always pretty close to botht he machine and the fitbit, so I don't worry much about it.

    However, if I go on a light level, the machine count is WAY off.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    And I don't eat back my calories. I'd just like to see what I might actually be burning for my height/weight/age.

    if you dont eat them back, it doesnt really matter ;)

    as has been said, the variables are too much, your height, weight, effort, intensity, etc all go into play. for ME - based on HRM (which is not infallible, either) I burn between 550-600 in an hour. On the highest (most difficult) setting and using pretty much everything I've got. It used to be more (I've lost 50 pounds). I still have more to go, and as I lose weight, the burn is less.

    Yeah - I've been considering getting an HRM just because of my need for "guestimates". I take a lot of asthma medication though - which is like shooting adrenaline straight into the lungs, so I'm not sure how much that would mess with the number. That's the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger.

    i borrow one from a friend every couple of weeks to see where I'm at ;)

    i dont know if having asthma would affect it in any way? just remember, its still only a best guess and can only be used for steady state cardio (so you cant put it on and wear it all day, or use it for HIIT workouts, or yoga or pilates, or for anything where you rest) - i only use it for the elliptical and for zumba - because they are CONSTANT movement. i dont even use it for water zumba because the pace is so much slower (to me, anyways LOL)
  • ManiacalLaugh
    ManiacalLaugh Posts: 1,048 Member
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    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    ManiacalLaugh wrote: »
    And I don't eat back my calories. I'd just like to see what I might actually be burning for my height/weight/age.

    if you dont eat them back, it doesnt really matter ;)

    as has been said, the variables are too much, your height, weight, effort, intensity, etc all go into play. for ME - based on HRM (which is not infallible, either) I burn between 550-600 in an hour. On the highest (most difficult) setting and using pretty much everything I've got. It used to be more (I've lost 50 pounds). I still have more to go, and as I lose weight, the burn is less.

    Yeah - I've been considering getting an HRM just because of my need for "guestimates". I take a lot of asthma medication though - which is like shooting adrenaline straight into the lungs, so I'm not sure how much that would mess with the number. That's the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger.

    i borrow one from a friend every couple of weeks to see where I'm at ;)

    i dont know if having asthma would affect it in any way? just remember, its still only a best guess and can only be used for steady state cardio (so you cant put it on and wear it all day, or use it for HIIT workouts, or yoga or pilates, or for anything where you rest) - i only use it for the elliptical and for zumba - because they are CONSTANT movement. i dont even use it for water zumba because the pace is so much slower (to me, anyways LOL)

    XS yeah - and everything I do is interval training.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,929 Member
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    Everything is a guess. Sometimes surprisingly accurate since many little errors cancel each other out. The 50% eat back rule is not a final answer. It SHOULD always be followed by "and adjust your caloric eat back based on a review of your results every few weeks"
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
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    Most of my cardio in the gym is on two different ellipticals and I have never logged what the elliptical says I burn. I always subtract 50-100 calories off what it tells me, depending on the machine I use. Plus, as someone says, your age, current weight affects the outcome as does the intensity and resistance.

    As I am more of a "more bang for your buck" kind of gal, I typically will do an elliptical routine that is about 40 minutes of intervals. Based on an incline of 1-10 and a resistance of 1-100, I will do a 5 minute warm-up on an incline of 3 and a resistance of 35. Then I ramp things up, switching from an incline of 6 and resistance of 75 all the way up to an incline of 10 and resistance of 100. I find that the higher incline allows me to better handle the 100 resistance (go figure). In 40 minutes on one particular machine, it says I burn about 500 calories, however, I will log only 400. At 43 years of age, 5'5" and 121 pounds, I find that 400 calories may actually be low-balling it a bit but it is close as I have used other methods, including using an HRM to determine the more realistic calorie burn. My trainer concurs that it is fairly realistic method to log this way. As I lost 50 pounds over the course of the year doing this method (almost a pound a week give or take), I feel my method works ... otherwise, I would not be actually under my goal weight of 125! My body has decided 121 is best for me and I have been maintaining this for about 5 months now.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    I find the Life Fitness elliptical I use is terrible that way. It gives about double my best estimate of my calorie burn: numbers like 1000+ kcal/hr.

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