Other vs Indoor Walk Exercise

bennyg1973

Hello, all. I was just wondering why when I select "other exercise" I burn more calories on the treadmill (by the watch) than when I select "indoor walk" on the treadmill? Which one should I go by?

Thanks!

Ben

MargaretYakoda

They're both estimates.
How far apart are they?

And are you doing the exact same (perceived) amount of effort in each case?

bennyg1973

Yes. I do 30 minutes on the treadmill for the same effort, elevation, speed. The indoor walking one gives me a much lower estimate than the "other" exercise one. So I was curious.

MargaretYakoda

I don’t know then.

That is a puzzler.

SkinnyMomma02

Other workout type - calculates the active calories based on the heart rate sensor and also based on the active calorie rate for a brisk walk, and then uses the higher value. From that I’ve researched and read. Which is probably why it shows it’s different.

bennyg1973

Yes, I notice that the MyFitnessPal app shows that I used more calories in the 30 minutes than the active calories show... So I will go by the active calories as the extra "gravy" of earned calories, no pun intended.

MargaretYakoda

bennyg1973 wrote: »

Yes, I notice that the MyFitnessPal app shows that I used more calories in the 30 minutes than the active calories show... So I will go by the active calories as the extra "gravy" of earned calories, no pun intended.

I also have been just using the active calories from my Apple Activity log.

One weirdness I just noticed. I have been experimenting with the Bluetooth link to track my NuStep exercise.
NuStep notes

NuStep has my workout starting later, and using fewer active calories.

At this point I think I’m gonna trust the watch and the Apple Fitness app more than an exercise machine, or the MFP app.

I also think that maybe Apple Fitness makes a judgement call that a treadmill or elliptical uses more calories than an indoor walk because the treadmill is constant, and often faster, than a typical walk.
That’s just a guess though.