Help with Tracking Exercise

GreyKnight120

Hello all!

I've been here for a couple of weeks and I'm trying to accurately track the calorie burn from exercise. I realize that it's nigh impossible to calculate exact values but I would like to try and get accurate readings for how much I'm burning.

I noticed some discrepancy yesterday after exercising on my bike for the first time in awhile (it felt great!)

I spent 45 minutes on my stationary bike, which itself calculates calorie burn - probably a bit more reliably since it knows how fast I'm pedaling and factors in my weight, age, etc. So I used that value instead of MFP's given value. Actually they have 5 that vary depending on effort and I would have put myself at 'moderate' to 'vigorous' as my heartrate was 130-150bpm throughout most of the it.

Here's MFP's values for my given weight for 45 minutes exercise with "Stationary bike, [X] (bicycling, cycling, biking):

For [X]:
very light effort = 394 calories
light effort = 723 calories
moderate effort = 920 calories
vigorous effort = 1380 calories
very vigorous effort = 1643 calories

The bike itself reported a burn of 511 calories which would put me between very light and light effort. And for biking I'm content to go with that, but it made me wonder if some of my other exercise was showing more calories burned than actually were. One in particular that jumps out at me is swimming. I have been using these four for time spent in the pool:

263 cal/15mins : Swimming, leisurely, general
307 cal/15mins : Swimming laps, freestyle, light/moderate effort
438 cal/15mins : Swimming laps, freestyle, fast, vigorous effort
351 cal/15 mins : Water jogging

I tend to fractionalize the amount of time for the 'leisurely' swimming anyway. I may spend 90 minutes in the pool, during which I don't just float around (I wouldn't count that) but might go in circles to make a whirlpool (not quite jogging) and I've done laps before both lightly and moderate/fast. I was just concerned that I might be reporting more calories than are actually being burned.

The last thing I was curious about was how much impact my weight has on some of these exercises. I understand that, as a 380+ lb. man, it takes more energy than it would if I were 200 lbs. to propel me through space, so things like walking, jogging, mowing the lawn, etc. seem to me like my weight would factor more into the calorie burn than things like stationary biking or swimming - however I'm not an expert and I may be mistaken and if someone can offer a clear (or even just less muddy) explanation I would be very grateful for that!

Before closing this I also just wanted to reiterate that I understand that it's very difficult to calculate an exact calorie burn without a lot of variables being measured and the appropriate instrumentation and I understand that the values given are meant to be guidelines and not a hard-and-fast actual specific representation of the exact amount of kcal being burned. I'm just trying to get a better picture for myself of how much I'm burning.

Thank you and apologies if this post got a bit longwinded!

editorgrrl

All burns are estimates. The only way to gauge the accuracy is to trust them for several weeks then reevaluate your progress.

Since you seem to enjoy data, consider getting an activity tracker (like Fitbit) and/or a heart rate monitor for more accurate burns. They're entirely optional, though. All you really need to do is some trial & error to find the "sweet spot" where you're eating at an appropriate deficit for your size.

riffraff2112

It can be frustrating trying to gauge which amount should be logged. My experience is that many exercise machines over-estimate the caloric burn, not sure why they do that, most likely a marketing ploy to make you feel like you spent your money wisely!
Since my cardio is almost always one of three or four activities I researched these at a few different sites, including the exercise equipment itself and tended to take the lesser of the options.
Take some time to see how your body reacts, adjust accordingly.
Keep it up.

GreyKnight120

Thank you both for the feedback! I'll continue to track my results the way I have been now and, over time, gauge how effective/accurate the calorie burn seems to be.