How far do we trust the machines?

trizzletrix

Ok so I know exercise machines can overestimate your caloric expenditure while you're on said machine by a fair amount but I just wanted to know by approximately how much?

25%? More?

The ones at my gym are Matrix machines and you don't put your weight in (which immediately says to me they're absolutely not going to be 100% accurate haha)


What is the best way to calculate your ACTUAL energy expenditure?

Thanks in advance MFP peeps x

BoiNeezy

Kind of hard to calculate but I usually mix free weights in with machines both r good but remember with using or doing any exercise its proper technique that you should fovus on

trizzletrix

Very true.

I'm trying my hardest to move away from the numbers side of exercise and focus on stamina and power but it's tough! I like to know how much more I can eat

I saw someone the other day with a t-shirt that said "I like running because I really, really, really like cake"

That is so me!

rileysowner

Ok so I know exercise machines can overestimate your caloric expenditure while you're on said machine by a fair amount but I just wanted to know by approximately how much?

25%? More?

The ones at my gym are Matrix machines and you don't put your weight in (which immediately says to me they're absolutely not going to be 100% accurate haha)


What is the best way to calculate your ACTUAL energy expenditure?

Thanks in advance MFP peeps x

They are all off, the worst based on the studies I have seen are the ellipticals. Treadmills tend to be closest, but still off by a fair bit, and exercise bikes are somewhere in the middle. It is almost impossible to know how accurate they are unless the specific brand has been tested, and even then it likely varies from person to person.

A Heart Rate Monitor which continuously monitors heart rate (meaning they have a chest strap generally although some new ones use optical measurement of blood vessels to get the heart rate) is probably the closest you can get for steady state cardio, but are useless for strength training and interval training.

trizzletrix

Thank you very much!

YES - the elliptical machines always seem to race through the calories (I always use high resistance), which, while being a little boost for my ego is probably nothing close to the truth.

I think from this info my plan will be:
I will log what the machines say I've burned into MFP but I will only eat back maybe 15-50% of my exercise calories and only if I feel hungry.

On the heart rate monitor front I don't think I have the money (alas, the woes of student life) to invest in a good one at the moment but it might be an idea for the future!

Thanks for your input

MinnieInMaine

Typically cardio machines overestimate by about 30%

I'm not familiar with Matrix but one trick I discovered on the Precor elliptical machines in my gym was that the distance about equaled what I burned for calories (per my Polar HRM) - meaning if I went 1.75 miles, I burned 175 calories.

rileysowner

Thank you very much!

YES - the elliptical machines always seem to race through the calories (I always use high resistance), which, while being a little boost for my ego is probably nothing close to the truth.

I think from this info my plan will be:
I will log what the machines say I've burned into MFP but I will only eat back maybe 15-50% of my exercise calories and only if I feel hungry.

On the heart rate monitor front I don't think I have the money (alas, the woes of student life) to invest in a good one at the moment but it might be an idea for the future!

Thanks for your input

You are welcome. I tried to find the study I had seen, but alas I could not. Without being able to put your weight in the numbers will possible be further off. However, the general error amount was say 30% some up to the 40% range. I would say eating back 50% of those calories would be reasonable, then track your progress. If you are measuring your food carefully and confident of your calories consumed, and your weight loss seems very slow after about 4-5 weeks, decrease the number of exercise calories you eat back. If it seems faster than expected, eat a bit more.

The other option is set your calories based on your estimated Total Daily Energy Expenditure including exercise minus say 20%, then you would not need to eat back your exercise calories at all. Search the forums for In Place of a Roadmap for directions on how to do this.