Question about MFP calorie accuracy

SaberEsPoder

I just joined the website recently, but I've noticed something while logging in my own exercise as well as seeing other people's...the calories burned on this site seem much higher than what the gym machines tell me. Is there an inflation of workout results, or not? If so, why does this happen?

ladynocturne

It is inflated for certain things.

If you think about the setting for logging walking or running, there are MPH, inclines, ect. it will be more accurate because you can pick these according to your workout.

When you look for the elliptical, there are no settings, no pace, no RPMs, so it tends to be inflated.

The machines at the gym aren't 100% spot on either, they only ask for weight. To really determine as close as possible how many calories are burned you need height, weight, age, gender and heart rate. Even then there is a small margin of error.

Most people (myself included) will log anywhere from 50%-80% for certain activities that "just don't sound right" such as Zumba or the elliptical.

TeaBea

I just joined the website recently, but I've noticed something while logging in my own exercise as well as seeing other people's...the calories burned on this site seem much higher than what the gym machines tell me. Is there an inflation of workout results, or not? If so, why does this happen?

Calorie burns depend upon several factors: height, weight, age, gender, extertion level (and more) ...........MFP and machines at the gym cannot know your exertion level. What may be a tough workout for you .... is an easy workout for someone else.

A heart rate monitor (HRM) "should" be more accurate (for cardio anyway) .... but not true for every person. A HRM (with a chest strap) compares your resting heart rate with your heart rate while exercising ..... (the measure is constant with a chest strap) .... that is what's used for exertion level.

The HRM seems to work for me. When I first started exercising the calorie burns were higher .... I was a larger person & less fit. I have to work harder to get those same calorie burns.

missmince

Calories burned involves a LOT of guesswork. If calibrated properly, the exercise bike has one of the more reliable calories readings. But there are so many factors involved that you just need to experiment for yourself. MET values are somewhat helpful, but everyone is different. Not very helpful, but true.

athenalittlerbassett

Some people have higher heart rates when exercising also, so they burn more calories. just something to keep in mind

bwogilvie

If you know your weight in kg (divide your weight in pounds by 2.2), you can do a rough check on MFP's estimates by checking the Compendium of Physical Activities (https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/) for your activity, and multiplying your weight in kg by the METs for the activity to get an estimate for calories burned per hour. Some activities don't have much data, and others have a pretty big range (e.g. walking uphill on a 1-5% grade; it will take a lot more energy to walk up a 5% grade than a 1% grade...), but it's still a useful point of comparison.