Elevated treadmill - calories

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Seffell
Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've found out that walking at a levelled treadmill the calories I burn according to the machine (which knows my sex, age and weight) are very accurate and coincide with those I get from my pedometer app and with those I would get from MFP if I entered it manually.

I tried walking on an inclined treadmill and the calories according to the machine are about double!

Example:
at 0% incline, 4.5km/h walking I burn 200cal per hour according to the machine (which is exactly correct from 2+ years experience). At 10% elevation, 4.5km/h walking it shows 450cals per hour.

Should I trust this? (please say yes :) )

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Yes! But if you are not getting the results you expect, what should you do?
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    Yes! But if you are not getting the results you expect, what should you do?

    Enter less calories of course. But I'm hoping to hear from others before I resort to my experience because it will take at least a month of doing it everyday before I can make a conclusion on my own.
  • Rose18l
    Rose18l Posts: 147 Member
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    The calorie counter on gym equipement usually over estimates calorie burn a lot. Incline indeed burns a lot of extra calories over a flat treadmill. If you want to be more accurate get a heartrate monitor.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    edited March 2018
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    Rose18l wrote: »
    The calorie counter on gym equipement usually over estimates calorie burn a lot. Incline indeed burns a lot of extra calories over a flat treadmill. If you want to be more accurate get a heartrate monitor.

    On a commercial treadmill (e.g. Life Fitness, Technogy, Precor), if you do not hold on to the handrails and you enter your weight, then the treadmill calories are accurate enough for incline walking and probably more accurate than a heart rate monitor.

    People throw around the “gym equipment overestimates by a lot” as a cliche, but there it’s not true for all equipment.

    To the OP: yes, walking at incline substantially increases calorie burn—keeping speed the same but going from 0% to 10% could easily double the calorie burn per minute.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    edited March 2018
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    Do you have any 10% hills near you?
    You would find that a serious and challenging walk - I wouldn't be at all surprised if it were double the effort compared to walking on the flat. So I would say "yes" to your question.

    PS - I do hope you aren't holding on to the rails, that throws everything out.
    PS2 - Don't get a heart rate monitor unless you want to introduce a whole load of new inaccuracies!
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    Thanks all. No, I don't hang on the handles :smiley: I've always frowned on that.

    OK thats great news then! I think I just found my favourite exercise then. I love hiking and do a lot of it when the weather allows so working out during the winter or bad weather on the inclined treadmill would be so useful for me. I'm so happy to have discovered this.

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