Shocking discovery
madkcole
Posts: 110 Member
I've been reading in some posts how the exercise machines in the gym overestimate your calories burned. Well, today I thought I would see for myself and compared the calories burned tracked by my Polar heart monitor to the calories the bike said I was burning. TWENTY FIVE calorie difference! 
Sure wish the slot machines in Vegas were "over-calibrated" like this!
Sure wish the slot machines in Vegas were "over-calibrated" like this!
0
Replies
-
lol how much do those calorie counter things cost? Is it worth buying one? I work out in the gym and use the cardio machines alot.0
-
I think paid around $60 or $70 at Academy. But you might find a better deal on the Internet. Mine is a Polar but I don't know how it ranks against others out there. I think it's worth the investment. Mine is a T4 and you can program in your target heart rate range. After you complete your exercise it computes your average heart rate during your workout, the duration, and calories burned. I love mine!0
-
I've seen those machines give double what my Polar shows. I've got a T4 too, I think, and I can't say enough good things about it. Highly recommend.0
-
I've been reading in some posts how the exercise machines in the gym overestimate your calories burned. Well, today I thought I would see for myself and compared the calories burned tracked by my Polar heart monitor to the calories the bike said I was burning. TWENTY FIVE calorie difference!
Sure wish the slot machines in Vegas were "over-calibrated" like this!
My burns are overestimated by HUNDREDS sometimes. It's unreal.0 -
how do you know that your hrm reading was accurate?0
-
-
Ellipticals are the ones that make me laugh. If I went on the burns they gave me, I could do an hour a day and have pan pizza for breakfast, lunch and dinner.0
-
-
-
MeanderingMammal wrote: »
LOL I wondered the same. That's not that much?0 -
You know, it could be that the exercise equipment registered 50 cal burn and the HRM registered 25 cal burn. So... ;-)0
-
how do you know that your hrm reading was accurate?
I can only assume my HRM is accurate since it's supposed to be tracking actual heart beats. If you know of a way to determine if the HRM is accurate or not I hope you share. Also, I keep reading on other posts not to trust the machines.MeanderingMammal wrote: »
Not meant to be sarcastic.
I thought it was a pretty considerable difference. Still in learning mode when it comes to CICO, HRM, deficits, calories burned etc.
0 -
I think your assumption would be correct if every individual heartbeat directly translated into (and I am making up a number here) 12 calories per beat, but it does not. At best, it is a guess.how do you know that your hrm reading was accurate?
I can only assume my HRM is accurate since it's supposed to be tracking actual heart beats. If you know of a way to determine if the HRM is accurate or not I hope you share. Also, I keep reading on other posts not to trust the machines.
Also, have you considered that both your HRM and the machine are off? Just because they align closely, does not necessarily mean they are giving you an accurate calorie burn estimation. Both are estimations and both could still be wrong -- or correct -- its really hard to know and that is why the advice on MFP is usually given to only eat half your calories back.0 -
how do you know that your hrm reading was accurate?
I can only assume my HRM is accurate since it's supposed to be tracking actual heart beats. If you know of a way to determine if the HRM is accurate or not I hope you share. Also, I keep reading on other posts not to trust the machines.
You're making an assumption that HR correlates to calorie expenditure. An understandable assumption given that the marketing filth at Polar and others do spend a lot of time peddling that particular myth.
The algorithms are based on research work that was carried out on treadmills and cycle ergometers. That research demonstrated a strong correlation when undertaking steady state work in the aerobic range, with significant levels of error when either above or below the aerobic range, or where the effort is not steady state.MeanderingMammal wrote: »
Not meant to be sarcastic. I thought it was a pretty considerable difference. Still in learning mode when it comes to CICO, HRM, deficits, calories burned etc.
It does depend on the total calorie expenditure that you're talking about, if you burned 100 cals then yes a 25% difference would be significant. Note the use of difference rather than error, as you don't know which is closer to reality.
If, on the other hand, you burned 1000 calories, around a 8-10 mile run for me, then that 25cals is lost in the noise.
I can run the same GPX data through Garmin, Strava, Endomondo and Runkeeper and they'll all give me different answers. For a 1000 cal session that spread could easily be 300 cals.
In practice 25 cals is about a quarter of a banana...0 -
Thanks everyone but honestly I'm more confused than ever. All I wanted to do was find a way to track calories burned and calories consumed and based on what I've learned so far nothing is really accurate. LOL. Thought MFP would help with that but now I'm not so sure. I want to be accurate which is why I signed up with MFP and bought a heart monitor but it seems like there is no true way to know what's right! #feelingfrustrated0
-
I wouldn't exactly call that "shocking"0
-
They are all best estimates. You could go to several online calculators and check your estimated burns that way to get a ballpark number for free.
https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/physicalactivitytracker.aspx
http://calorielab.com/burned/
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm
0 -
Thanks everyone but honestly I'm more confused than ever. All I wanted to do was find a way to track calories burned and calories consumed and based on what I've learned so far nothing is really accurate. LOL. Thought MFP would help with that but now I'm not so sure. I want to be accurate which is why I signed up with MFP and bought a heart monitor but it seems like there is no true way to know what's right! #feelingfrustrated
Estimate your TDEE (which includes all exercise) and subtract -250 to -500 calories under your estimated TDEE if cutting, add +250 to +500 calories over your estimated TDEE if bulking and adjust by +/-10% if you are not seeing the results you are looking for. Keep the HRM as a fun interesting gadget, or Craigslist.
Time. Patience. Trust the process.
Done.0 -
Thanks everyone but honestly I'm more confused than ever. All I wanted to do was find a way to track calories burned and calories consumed and based on what I've learned so far nothing is really accurate. LOL. Thought MFP would help with that but now I'm not so sure. I want to be accurate which is why I signed up with MFP and bought a heart monitor but it seems like there is no true way to know what's right! #feelingfrustrated
Pick a method, stick with it. After a month evaluate whether you're losing faster, slower or pretty much on plan. If faster, then you're underestimating, if slower you're overestimating. Adjust as required to keep on plan.
No method is accurate in all circumstances, as long as it's consistently wrong then you can work with that and mitigate the error over time.0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Thanks everyone but honestly I'm more confused than ever. All I wanted to do was find a way to track calories burned and calories consumed and based on what I've learned so far nothing is really accurate. LOL. Thought MFP would help with that but now I'm not so sure. I want to be accurate which is why I signed up with MFP and bought a heart monitor but it seems like there is no true way to know what's right! #feelingfrustrated
Pick a method, stick with it. After a month evaluate whether you're losing faster, slower or pretty much on plan. If faster, then you're underestimating, if slower you're overestimating. Adjust as required to keep on plan.
No method is accurate in all circumstances, as long as it's consistently wrong then you can work with that and mitigate the error over time.
That's how I do it. SO many variables, who knows the exact number0 -
My elliptical overestimates my burn by about 250 calories more than what my HRM tells me.0
-
Switch to TDEE and then you won't have to worry about it so much.Thanks everyone but honestly I'm more confused than ever. All I wanted to do was find a way to track calories burned and calories consumed and based on what I've learned so far nothing is really accurate. LOL. Thought MFP would help with that but now I'm not so sure. I want to be accurate which is why I signed up with MFP and bought a heart monitor but it seems like there is no true way to know what's right! #feelingfrustrated
0 -
0
-
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Thanks everyone but honestly I'm more confused than ever. All I wanted to do was find a way to track calories burned and calories consumed and based on what I've learned so far nothing is really accurate. LOL. Thought MFP would help with that but now I'm not so sure. I want to be accurate which is why I signed up with MFP and bought a heart monitor but it seems like there is no true way to know what's right! #feelingfrustrated
Pick a method, stick with it. After a month evaluate whether you're losing faster, slower or pretty much on plan. If faster, then you're underestimating, if slower you're overestimating. Adjust as required to keep on plan.
No method is accurate in all circumstances, as long as it's consistently wrong then you can work with that and mitigate the error over time.
This x 100.
/thread0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.9K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 429 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153.1K Motivation and Support
- 8.1K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 15 News and Announcements
- 1.2K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions