Elliptical Calorie Burn?

Laura741

I have a FitBit and don't log in MFP when I walk / run because Fit Bit takes care of that for me. But for Elliptical I have started logging that in thru MFP (and making sure that I log my time started so MFP will remove FitBit calories burned from that timeframe).

BUT, I noticed that the MFP calorie burn calculations for Elliptical seem really high. (679 cals for 40 minutes?) Even higher than what the machine tells me. Are these correct or on the high side? And should I just let my FitBit record those calories burned (on elliptical) for me instead of overriding them?

Thanks in advance!!

MakePeasNotWar

That sounds extremely high to me. Unless you are going all out and can't speak for that entire 40 minutes, or are very large, I would be surprised if you burned that much. If it were me, I would revise it downward.

ladynocturne

It's pretty well known around here that MFP estimate for elliptical calorie burns are extremely generous.

I usually log 30 mins for every 3 miles I do on the elliptical. Sometimes it takes me 45 mins.

Logging 80% of the amount of time you do on the elliptical works as well.

A good general rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile. You get a little bonus on top of that depending on the resistance setting though.

Chevy_Quest

I have tested out the elliptical using my HRM and then compared my numbers. What I found is that my calculated calorie burn with my HRM was less than the ellipitcal and still less than MFP's numbers.

Also MFP does not account for resistance settings, rate of travel, weight of subject etc.etc.etc. I am afraid that there are a lot of new people doing some light elliptical and getting lulled into thinking that they are burning a lot more calories than they think they are.

ktsmom430

It will be interesting to see what kind of response you get to this.
I use an elliptical M-F for 1 hr and I am more interested in the total steps than calories burned. My fit bit misses a lot of the steps when I use the elliptical. The machine gives me 2.5 - 2.9 miles per 1/2 hr. My fitbit says 1.6 - 1.9 miles(depends on the workout I choose).

I am not interested in eating back calories. I am just trying to get at least 13,000 steps per day and moving more.

It would be interested to see other people's responses though.

Gwennie60

I use a FitBit and I have tested my cal burn with a HR monitor ... BUT, I do 16 resistance (the highest mine goes) at a vigorous pace (getting close if not hitting my max HR) and those numbers are realistic for me (higher if I can really smoke that elliptical) ... but in general I have to adjust down. FitBit does NOT take into account your resistance ... and MFP doesn't do a good job of taking into account the resistance or speed, either. I usually split the difference unless I wear my HR monitor and then I go with what the HR monitor says. Good luck! Elliptical is a great calorie burner ... but it can lull you into thinking you have burned more than you really have if you are not careful!

cwolfman13

You're most definitely not burning that many calories for 40 minutes on an elliptical.

loriq41

I use resistance 20 for 30 minutes and my heart rate hovers between 140-145..I am 5 ft, 124...I really push it and the most i have burned (per the elliptical) is 280 cals...

Brunette122

invest in an HRM. best money spent for better accuracy

gracetillman

I do not eat back my exercise calories so I don't really worry about it, but I will say that MFP is WAY to high on its calorie estimates. It does not take into account my size or my rate of speed -- I used to go 3 miles in 45 minutes on the Elliptical when I started -- now I go almost 4 in the same amount of time, I would think if I was going 3 miles I am not burning the same as at 4 miles -- my heart rate would be lower for sure.

DorisInTheDena

I do 4-5 miles each morning in 28-35 minutes on the Elliptical. It depends on how I'm feeling at 5:00 am. lol! Fitbit definitely misses a lot of those steps. If you sync your Fitbit with MFP then it adjusts it a bit. I have a pretty on-the-go job, so in the end it all seems to balance out. I'd be careful using any estimate that seems high though.

TigerBite

I use resistance 20 for 30 minutes and my heart rate hovers between 140-145..I am 5 ft, 124...I really push it and the most i have burned (per the elliptical) is 280 cals...

Yup, this sounds about right ...

TigerBite

I do not eat back my exercise calories so I don't really worry about it, but I will say that MFP is WAY to high on its calorie estimates. It does not take into account my size or my rate of speed -- I used to go 3 miles in 45 minutes on the Elliptical when I started -- now I go almost 4 in the same amount of time, I would think if I was going 3 miles I am not burning the same as at 4 miles -- my heart rate would be lower for sure.

Unless you are doing the TDEE method, you really should be eating AT LEAST a portion of you exercise calories back ...

megsmom2

My Fitbit agrees pretty closely with the machine I use at the gym...but both are much lower than MFPs estimate. And I do eat back that lower amount.

SLLRunner

I have a FitBit and don't log in MFP when I walk / run because Fit Bit takes care of that for me. But for Elliptical I have started logging that in thru MFP (and making sure that I log my time started so MFP will remove FitBit calories burned from that timeframe).

BUT, I noticed that the MFP calorie burn calculations for Elliptical seem really high. (679 cals for 40 minutes?) Even higher than what the machine tells me. Are these correct or on the high side? And should I just let my FitBit record those calories burned (on elliptical) for me instead of overriding them?

Thanks in advance!!

MFP overestimates calories. When I use the elliptical or stationary bike, both of which I enter my age and weight, I use the numbers off the machines. When using the treadmill, which does not ask for age and weight, I use the calories burned from my Iphone pedometer, which has my age, gender, height, weight, and stride for both running and walking. All these calorie burns are much less than MFP.

magerum

It's all based on assumed effort and resistance. MFP is drastically short for me. Based on my HRM & eating back 100% of exercise calories while hitting goals in anticipated timelines over the last 2.5 years. I feel comfortable saying this, based on results.

emmanap91

Generally, elliptical machines and MFP estimates are high, especially if you're on the smaller side.

I'm a ~121 lb, 5'3" female, and I usually do about 45-60 mins on an elliptical at resistance 15 (out of 20), and my heart rate stays around 155, and I usually do the "Random Hills" setting for interval work. This doesn't include warm up or cool down time.

At the end of an hour, the elliptical usually says I burned anywhere from 800-1100 calories, when in reality I probably burned closer to 550-700 cals at most. I generally estimate 10 cals per minute if I'm not pushing myself too hard, and up to 11-12 cals per minute if I'm going all out (which I usually can't do for an entire hour, that's how I know I'm going all out!).


EDIT:

I use resistance 20 for 30 minutes and my heart rate hovers between 140-145..I am 5 ft, 124...I really push it and the most i have burned (per the elliptical) is 280 cals...

Yeah, the math makes sense - I weigh about the same as you, and 280 for half an hour is 560 for one full hour. It's on the low end of my range, but you're better off underestimating anyway

(By the way, I based my math of 10 cals/minute on an estimate I saw on a fitness website that said a 125lb woman should burn about 300 cals per 30 mins on an elliptical. I think it's safe for me to estimate above that, especially since I don't include the warm up or cool down and I push very hard at high resistance.)

acpgee

MFP is too high for me. My typical workout is 60 minutes targetting a heart rate between 140-150. The HRM says around 500, the machine says around 725, and MFP says 926.

gigglesinthesun

studies have shown that the elliptical does burn as much as the thread mill

Dankees

My Sole elliptical trainer says that I burn only 100 calories in 30 minutes of use, going between 10 MPH and 12 MPH, and going more than 5 miles in that time.

How could it only read out 100 calories burned? Seriously? What is it, really?

ahoier

I've noticed sometime in the past month or 2, somewhere either the android app, or the MFP engine as a whole (not exactly sure how that works.....) has been recalibrated. When I first started using the elliptical the machine was always 100-200 calories HIGHER than the MFP calculation....NOW, kick back, like I said, a couple weeks, maybe a month ago, I went to the gym, and was wowed, cause the MFP calories were almost damn spot on with my elliptical machine readout for calories, which asks for my age, and weight, and I entered the same weight as MFP has on file too.

I was not wearing a pedometer, just my HRM strap, did not have the watch with me.

If It matters the machines at my PF are Life Fitness I believe,,,

Beautifulbridgittlee7

When I "run" on the elliptical or put the resistance high the sweat pours and I find it hard to talk, so I wonder if the calorie burn is accurate, I could see if your not putting in any effort, not burning that much for 30 or 45 minutes.

rbiss

I am about 300lbs and I burned 360 in 30 minutes doing HIIT and tracked it wearing a monitor.

heybales

Got a treadmill available for at least a test?

Do the treadmill at whatever speed, no more than 3% incline, that feels like the same effort as the elliptical, HR if possible to know, breathing rate too, sweating, effort, ect.

If you find the speed that matches, then use the better running calc to see what the calorie burn is for that effort.
Now you know what it is for the elliptical.

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html

Gross is what Fitbit, HRM, machine, or database entry would report. Net option is what you would eat back if not using Fitbit.

And that calculator is going to be better than HRM estimate of calorie burn, so if you have machines that give HR readings by holding the sensors, use that if you have no HRM.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is

As you get more fit, you would need to test that monthly as the figure will change.
That is where most folks HRM is failing them, they have cheaper one that doesn't take into account their improved fitness level, so they actually get under-reported calorie burn.

32sami

I don't log the calories I burn cause I think people tend to over think that stuff sometimes. The fact that sweat is dripping from my hair is enough to tell me I did a damn good job

Heatherybit

I think the best investment I have made was the heart rate monitor. It links wirelessly to the elliptical and I do believe it gives a much more accurate account of calories. I have learned the hard way to never trust the machines or MFP's rate for calories.

SLLRunner

I have a FitBit and don't log in MFP when I walk / run because Fit Bit takes care of that for me. But for Elliptical I have started logging that in thru MFP (and making sure that I log my time started so MFP will remove FitBit calories burned from that timeframe).

BUT, I noticed that the MFP calorie burn calculations for Elliptical seem really high. (679 cals for 40 minutes?) Even higher than what the machine tells me. Are these correct or on the high side? And should I just let my FitBit record those calories burned (on elliptical) for me instead of overriding them?

Thanks in advance!!

My advice is to NOT use MFP calorie burns, as they are way overstated.

I'm curious as to why you didn't just use your Fitbit (?) to record your calorie burn for the elliptical?

Like Heather said, my heart rate monitor was the best thing I've bought for myself. Thus far it has been very accurate.

SLLRunner

I have tested out the elliptical using my HRM and then compared my numbers. What I found is that my calculated calorie burn with my HRM was less than the ellipitcal and still less than MFP's numbers.

Also MFP does not account for resistance settings, rate of travel, weight of subject etc.etc.etc. I am afraid that there are a lot of new people doing some light elliptical and getting lulled into thinking that they are burning a lot more calories than they think they are.

Exactly, as it is with all gym machines.

I normally do a run of between 4.5 and six miles. My HRM generally shows I burn between 425 and 550, depending on how fast I run (anywhere from 6.1 to 6.6 mph), whether I had some hills (2% to 4%) and of course how far I run. Well, the machine usually renders 2 to 2.25 more than my HRM, and i think that MFP is higher than my HRM but lower than the machine readings.

Exercise machines, including the elliptical, render higher numbers because they want to to either buy their machine or continue using it.

heybales

I have tested out the elliptical using my HRM and then compared my numbers. What I found is that my calculated calorie burn with my HRM was less than the ellipitcal and still less than MFP's numbers.

Also MFP does not account for resistance settings, rate of travel, weight of subject etc.etc.etc. I am afraid that there are a lot of new people doing some light elliptical and getting lulled into thinking that they are burning a lot more calories than they think they are.

Exactly, as it is with all gym machines.

I normally do a run of between 4.5 and six miles. My HRM generally shows I burn between 425 and 550, depending on how fast I run (anywhere from 6.1 to 6.6 mph), whether I had some hills (2% to 4%) and of course how far I run. Well, the machine usually renders 2 to 2.25 more than my HRM, and i think that MFP is higher than my HRM but lower than the machine readings.

Exercise machines, including the elliptical, render higher numbers because they want to to either buy their machine or continue using it.

Pretty close, the formulas that are within 4% of measured would give for 45 min run 3% incline at 6.3 mph - 603 calories burned.

Does your HRM have VO2max stat on it?