Why the discrepancy in calories burned?

larncy

Just wondering....I use Runtastic to track all my exercise and I have it linked to this site....However if I input my walks on here they arent anywhere near what come up on Runtastic....all my info is there the same with weight and stuff so why such a big difference. I just walked for example 7.6 kms in 75 mins and Runtastic shows 442 cals and for the same on here shows like 920 or something....thats doubled???.... Whats the best way to track calories burned....or what app/site/device is the closest or would u even know how to go about finding the right one if they all show diff...can someone steer me in the right direction??

wilsoje74

It's def not 920!

CyberEd312

I do not use anything else except my Polar FT60 heart rate monitor for my steady state cardio... The estimation on runtastic, MFP, etc can not figure in your Heart rate during cardio so they are really just guesstimating. The heart rate monitor even though it too is not 100% accurate, it does give you a much closer calories burned estimate..... Best of Luck

Mr_Knight

Runtastic is basing that calorie count off of the distance you actually covered, MFP doesn't know how far you went.

You can always sanity check for yourself:

total calories burned walking = 0.5 * body weight in pounds * miles walked
net calories burned walking = 0.3 * body weight in pounds * miles walked

For most dieters, most of the time, HRMs are also inaccurate at estimating calorie burns.

donjessop

You can always sanity check for yourself:

total calories burned walking = 0.5 * body weight in pounds * miles walked
net calories burned walking = 0.3 * body weight in pounds * miles walked

The "total calories" number seems to match the same number I get from my treadmill after I finish a walk and the treadmill has my weight as one of the inputs. Definitely a good sanity check.

astronomicals

ive gotten some unusually high numbers in Runkeeper before and I think it was because the GPS wasnt tracking my elevation properly... It thought I did a bunch of "climbing" that never happened. I noticed this because I had done the exact same run before and the calorie burn was hundreds more than before.

not sure

CyberEd312

Runtastic is basing that calorie count off of the distance you actually covered, MFP doesn't know how far you went.

You can always sanity check for yourself:

total calories burned walking = 0.5 * body weight in pounds * miles walked
net calories burned walking = 0.3 * body weight in pounds * miles walked

For most dieters, most of the time, HRMs are also inaccurate at estimating calorie burns.

Any of the methods are just an estimate but a HRM during steady state cardio will get you alot better estimate than most....

ZRx4

I ran 4 miles today... Runtastic only calculated 219 calories burned?! Endomando closer to 700 and mfp 550ish. It's totally confusing me too. I try to go with the middle number, I can't imagine my 4 miles at 6 mphs, only burned 219, that would be whack. Plus I'm pushing 100lbs of kids in the stroller.

larncy

The total calories burned is almost spot on to what Runtastic estimated....and I know nothing like that is exact but something at least close would be nice. I have the app on my phone that uses the gps and tracks my walks....seems to be alot more accurate than the MFP with just entering manually....I do have a heart rate monitor watch as well but havent used it in awhile so needs be reset now but I'll get the manuel out and do that to see how close it comes to that reading....Thanks!

SJCon

Any of the methods are just an estimate but a HRM during steady state cardio will get you alot better estimate than most....

Even they may differ as they all assume a max oxygen uptake of a statistical average person based on the stats input.
Your VO2 max varies significantly with your level of fitness and so results can differ. Some models of HRMs let you input or simulate a test to establish and input VO2 max. If you are using devices from even the same manufacturer and one has an input VO2 they will have different results, The "Digifit" and "Polar Beat" apps do this my Polar F7 does also but it cost more for this feature on HRM.