Is my estimate of calories burned accurate?

HeatFury

Hi all,

I am currently working out on my elliptical 20 minutes each day, and am keeping track of my heart rate using a chest/watch monitor. By my calculations, I am burning 250 calories per day, give or take 15. I was wondering if anyone could double check my accuracy? I really don't want to overestimate.
My stats are:
27 year old female
Avg heart rate during workout: 172
Avg resting heart rate: 81
Weight: 177
Avg time spent exercising: 22 minutes

Thanks for your help!

cmriverside

It may be a little high...no one here can answer that for you.

Use the numbers as reported for a month. If you don't get the expected results, adjust accordingly. That's what we all have to do.

sijomial

Unlikely to be that high unless you are very fit and are trying very hard.

If your resting HR is that high there's a good chance your exercise HR is also significantly higher than average which will throw out your HRM estimate.

Can you get access to a cardio machine that measures power (watts) and to a degree calibrate yourself?
A Concept2 rower for instance (adjusted for weight).

jjpptt2

There is no accurate, only reasonable. In that sense, 250 cals in 20 minutes isn't impossible, but it's probably a little high.

HeatFury

sijomial wrote: »

Unlikely to be that high unless you are very fit and are trying very hard.

If your resting HR is that high there's a good chance your exercise HR is also significantly higher than average which will throw out your HRM estimate.

Can you get access to a cardio machine that measures power (watts) and to a degree calibrate yourself?
A Concept2 rower for instance (adjusted for weight).

I don't have access to any machine except my at-home elliptical. It is only able to measure speed, distance, calories burned, and heart rate.

3 votes for 'overestimating' so far. I guess I'll stop tracking my calories burned, and just keep exercising and hope to see results.

One more quick question: is there any benefit to doing all of your workout at once, or do you get the same result if you split it up throughout the day? (I.e. 20 minutes twice a day versus 40 minutes in the morning.)

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

sijomial

HeatFury wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

Unlikely to be that high unless you are very fit and are trying very hard.

If your resting HR is that high there's a good chance your exercise HR is also significantly higher than average which will throw out your HRM estimate.

Can you get access to a cardio machine that measures power (watts) and to a degree calibrate yourself?
A Concept2 rower for instance (adjusted for weight).

I don't have access to any machine except my at-home elliptical. It is only able to measure speed, distance, calories burned, and heart rate.

3 votes for 'overestimating' so far. I guess I'll stop tracking my calories burned, and just keep exercising and hope to see results.

One more quick question: is there any benefit to doing all of your workout at once, or do you get the same result if you split it up throughout the day? (I.e. 20 minutes twice a day versus 40 minutes in the morning.)

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

The bold is the way to GUARANTEE your estimate is nowhere near!
Can you run on level ground for 20 minutes?

You haven't given a clue as to your level of exertion or your fitness level BTW.

(Do your exercise however it suits you unless you are training for endurance as opposed to general fitness.)

lorrpb

Rather than stop tracking, as you said 2 posts above, you could lower the calorie estimate a bit. Based on a review of the database for my weight, I never allow more than 10 calories per minute, and that's if it's really intense, like a bootcamp. Otherwise, I go a little lower.

JeromeBarry1

HeatFury wrote: »

One more quick question: is there any benefit to doing all of your workout at once, or do you get the same result if you split it up throughout the day? (I.e. 20 minutes twice a day versus 40 minutes in the morning.)

Thanks for the responses, everyone!

Cardio burns energy while you are doing the cardio work, then any excess calorie output drops off very quickly when you stop. So, splitting it up into several episodes in the day will burn much the same as one episode of equivalent total duration.