Treadmill readings.

RoyBeck

Hi all

I have touched on this briefly in the past but just wanted a few new perspectives.(Hopefully!)

If I put the treadmill on a gradient 5/15 and 5kph the machine says I burn 730 calories in one hour. For MFP purposes I deduct 15% so I'd input 620 in the exercise section for that particular day? Is this ok?

Also, if you input your weight on the machine how can a machine miscalculate calories burnt by so much?

drop_it_like_a_squat

Also, if you input your weight on the machine how can a machine miscalculate calories burnt by so much?

Do you only enter your weight?
A machine can not know how tall you are, how old and most importantly how much fat/muscle you have.

The only way to get a somewhat accurate estimation of how many calories you've burnt is to use a HRM. Everything else is just roughly guesstimated.

RoyBeck

When I select my program the machine asks me how much I weight in KGS and then time and speed so my weight is all it knows about me yes. Do you think deducting 15% is ok for MFP purposes?

drop_it_like_a_squat

All I know is that MFP seems do over estimate burned calories pretty badly, but I don't know how much you should substract by that so it makes sense. Maybe try one or two other online calculators and use the average.

RoyBeck

Your right there. When I input my exercise for example if I enter 45 minutes cardio it will change calories burnt to maybe 800 or something similar. Ill then have to manually change it to say 450.

Anyway thank you.

BrianSharpe

It's not unusual for cardio machines (and MFP) to overestimate calories expended during exercise, physiologically there are so many variables (height, weight, fitness level etc) no one-size-fits-all formula will be terribly accurate. (It takes me fewer calories to run 10km now than it did a year ago as a result of improved fitness......hence the frequent references to diminishing returns for cardio)

Investing in a decent HRM will introduce an improved level of accuracy (one with a chest strap) but even then some are more accurate than others.

Normally I'd suggest that walking at 5 km/h (3.125 mph) for an hour is unlikely to result in an expenditure of 620 cals (if you use the .57 x body weigh in lbs a 200 lb person would expend approx 356 cal walking 3.125 miles / 5km) but the incline you reported would have an impact on the amount of energy required, I'm just no sure how to calculate that......

This is one of the reasons that I'm considering changing my own strategy to a tdee approach (calculate tdee for goal weight based on activity and eat at maintenance for goal weight - or - calculate tdee for current weight and subtract desired deficit) , that way I'm less concerned about the calories burned in a specific workout than my overall activity level.

RoyBeck

Thanks Brian. I'm 29, moderate activity (I work in an office but workout 5 days a week), 5ft 10 and according to fitness frog my TDEE is 3520. I just can't see how that's right it seems so high? MFP has my target at 2000 cals per day and I eat 1700-2000 calories per day. For no other reason than that's what I feel comfortable eating nowadays. If I exercise for an hour ill burn, say, 500 calories and eat 2000 giving me a net of 1500.

Well if my TDEE is 3520 that's one massive deficit! I'm losing 2lb per week currently so I'm doing something right?!?

Thanks for your reply ill look into getting a HRM.

toutmonpossible

You have to take all device calorie burn readings with a grain of salt. The machines are not directly measuring your energy output. The only way to get a good idea of how many calories you're burning would be to be tested in a lab. As exercise is important, but not critical for weight loss, I and other people don't log it on MFP. I work out as hard as I can during a particular session and keep notes elsewhere. If I maintain an appropriate calorie deficit and weigh myself regularly (to make adjustments) I lose weight.

I don't believe in sweating the details, especially when it's difficult to be absolutely accurate about all the details.

RoyBeck

Thanks for replying also. I also keep a daily note of my exercise. Km walked, calories burnt (Which I'm not as bothered about reading your replies now) so ill keep that up. So you just log your food do you? Just stick to your MFP calorie daily allowance and not log exercise on your MFP? I might just do that tbh as I know my workouts are decent.