Elliptical vs. elliptical trainer?

cocotheenforcer
cocotheenforcer Posts: 6 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
When entering my workout for the day, I have two options. One is elliptical and one is elliptical trainer. For a 15 minute workout, the elliptical option says about 150 calories burned. The elliptical trainer says close to 300! What's the difference?

Also, according to the algorithm that takes weight into account, I burn closer to 300 in that time.

Replies

  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
    15 minutes on an elliptical may be closer to 75 calories. You really have to play with this number. I would record the lower of the two choices and alter as needed.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    cocotheenforcer wrote: »
    For a 15 minute workout, the elliptical option says about 150 calories burned. The elliptical trainer says close to 300! What's the difference?
    Unless you are an elite athlete then the first option is reasonable and the second one is a complete joke.
    Weight is only part of the equation.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,401 Member
    I'd take a look at some other formulas and double check the numbers. I'm still at about 185 lbs and have to work pretty hard with extra incline/resistance/and a fairly solid pace to burn even 600-800 calories in an HOUR. To burn 300 in 15 minutes you'd have to be really killing it on output.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    robertw486 wrote: »
    I'd take a look at some other formulas and double check the numbers. I'm still at about 185 lbs and have to work pretty hard with extra incline/resistance/and a fairly solid pace to burn even 600-800 calories in an HOUR. To burn 300 in 15 minutes you'd have to be really killing it on output.

    Agreed. I do well to get 600 cals in an hour at 175ish. Granted, I'm not exactly on fire whole time, but still.
  • cocotheenforcer
    cocotheenforcer Posts: 6 Member
    I went to the gym and used their elliptical. It allows you to enter you weight and gives you calories burned based on weight and intensity. Mine was closer to the elliptical option. I wonder what the elliptical trainer one is even for. It seems extremely high.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,401 Member
    cocotheenforcer wrote: »
    I went to the gym and used their elliptical. It allows you to enter you weight and gives you calories burned based on weight and intensity. Mine was closer to the elliptical option. I wonder what the elliptical trainer one is even for. It seems extremely high.

    We have an elliptical that allows weight entry. Most of these type machines also measure distance and wattage. So when I use the elliptical I simply make a manual entry for the calories burned and time. Any time there is a "set" number of calorie burn for time, I personally question it.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Better is to get an HRM with a chest strap and let it calculate your calorie burn. I have a Polar F4 and it probably gives me more accurate numbers.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,401 Member
    SherryTeach wrote: »
    Better is to get an HRM with a chest strap and let it calculate your calorie burn. I have a Polar F4 and it probably gives me more accurate numbers.

    For steady state stuff, HRMs seem to work fairly well. I know on our elliptical I often do interval training, and that really messes with HRMs. I wish there was something as simple that kept things tighter for logging, but I've yet to find it really.

    I'm tempted to do some testing with my chest strap HRM on the elliptical. It does use heart rate to calculate calorie burn, but it also knows the amount of work being done on the machine. But it seems to test might bean a lot of freaking work. :)
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