Hmm, stair stepper question

Carriehelene

So I did my first time on the stair stepper at the gym today. Pretty sure it was developed by satan lol, but I did it, and I’ll do it again. However, I’m wondering how to track it. I put it under “cardio, climbing stairs”. It gave me 112 calories. But the machine said 60 calories. How do I know which is more accurate? I eat all my exercise calories, have for years. Still lose at the proper pace doing this. But 72 calorie difference is a lot.

AnnPT77

If I don't have better information, I use the lower of any plausible calorie estimates that I have, and use that consistently.

Since you don't mention how long you did the stair climber, what resistance setting you used (if it had one), or what your bodyweight is (a material factor in stair climbing intensity), so I don't have even a wild guess about which is more plausible.

I am wondering why you chose stair climbing from the database rather than "Stair-treadmill ergometer, general", which would seem to be closer to what you actually did . . . but I think that will estimate even more calories.

Carriehelene

Yeah, the other setting came up with 126, so the calories were even higher. I did 10 torturous minutes lol. I’m 182 lbs. went back and forth between levels 2&3. I’m going to go with the machine estimate. And at the 15th flight of stairs, I decided I’m never going in a high rise building again, rofl.

BrightEyedAgain

When I get a discrepancy like that, I usually adjust the logged time to make the calories match the lower number from the gym equipment. Or, maybe I split the difference if I think the gym machine underestimated. Basically, I'd rather underestimate my exercise calories than go over, and I monkey with the minutes to make it work.

AnnPT77

Carriehelene wrote: »

Yeah, the other setting came up with 126, so the calories were even higher. I did 10 torturous minutes lol. I’m 182 lbs. went back and forth between levels 2&3. I’m going to go with the machine estimate. And at the 15th flight of stairs, I decided I’m never going in a high rise building again, rofl.

Makes sense. For 10 minutes, and it being a somewhat strength-y activity with some resistance on, probably I'd go with the lowest estimate, the 60 calories.

I've been your weight (started losing at 183 pounds). At that weight, if relatively new to formal exercise or returning after a long hiatus - as I'm guessing you may be from your subjective experience comments - 360 calories per hour would be quite a vigorous thing, and 672 per hour (112 for 10 minutes) not necessarily impossible, but honestly pretty improbable IMO, even for just the 10 minutes.

I'm not dissing your effort when I say that: It would be hard! Good show, going for it like you did. You don't know what's the right activity or intensity, unless you try things.

Just as a general background comment, I'd point out that punitively intense, unpleasant exercise is not necessary for weight loss, and probably not even the best way to get maximum calorie burn or the best way to build fitness.

The sweet spot, especially if beginner-ish or returning, is usually a more moderate intensity thing performed at a pace one can sustain for whatever one's time-budget is in context of an overall balanced life. You'd want a challenge, but a manageable one. In other words, it's fine to feel a little "whew" for a few minutes right after the workout, but you want to be energized for the rest of your day, not dragged-out tired.

Fatigue tends to drain calorie burn out of the rest of our day (because we rest more, perhaps subtly), wiping out some of the exercise calories. That's counter-productive.

BTW, by "in context of an overall balanced life", I mean exercise type, intensity, duration and frequency that leaves you with enough time and energy for job, home chores, family life, and anything else important to you - something you could imagine keeping up long term, relatively happily.

Over time, that exercise will gets easier (no longer that mild, manageable challenge). That's fitness happening! When that happens, work at a little more intensity, a little more frequently, for a little longer duration (within your time budget!), or doing a different thing, to keep that small, manageable challenge in the picture. It's that challenge that improves fitness.

Persistently overdoing is counter-productive for fitness, too, because it short-changes recovery and can reduce intensity tolerance (things become fatiguing that didn't used to be). Recovery is where the fitness magic happens.

Best wishes!

AnnPT77

BrightEyedAgain wrote: »

When I get a discrepancy like that, I usually adjust the logged time to make the calories match the lower number from the gym equipment. Or, maybe I split the difference if I think the gym machine underestimated. Basically, I'd rather underestimate my exercise calories than go over, and I monkey with the minutes to make it work.

You can just overtype the default calorie number that MFP produces, and leave the minutes at the number you actually did. I do that often, both in web MFP and the phone/tablet app.

Carriehelene

AnnPT77 wrote: »

BrightEyedAgain wrote: »

When I get a discrepancy like that, I usually adjust the logged time to make the calories match the lower number from the gym equipment. Or, maybe I split the difference if I think the gym machine underestimated. Basically, I'd rather underestimate my exercise calories than go over, and I monkey with the minutes to make it work.

You can just overtype the default calorie number that MFP produces, and leave the minutes at the number you actually did. I do that often, both in web MFP and the phone/tablet app.

Hey, I figured that out earlier, after your first post to me lol, i went and checked out if I could over ride it. So cool. Now @BrightEyedAgain and I both know. You are truly the best @AnnPT77

tomcustombuilder

Carriehelene wrote: »

So I did my first time on the stair stepper at the gym today. Pretty sure it was developed by satan lol, but I did it, and I’ll do it again. However, I’m wondering how to track it. I put it under “cardio, climbing stairs”. It gave me 112 calories. But the machine said 60 calories. How do I know which is more accurate? I eat all my exercise calories, have for years. Still lose at the proper pace doing this. But 72 calorie difference is a lot.

the Numbers are always a crap shoot. Intensity is going to have a major impact on the numbers.may as well throw darts at a dart board with numbers on it to figure. It.

Always err on the low end with calorie burn. It makes up for underestimating calorie consumption.