Need advice please!

JLeeAlton

Ok so I just bought a HRM last night because I keep reading about how fitness machines are not always accurate if you can not enter your age weight height etc. So today I used my HRM while I was on my elliptical and my results are as follows:

40 mins on the elliptical trainer

Elliptical = 312 cal burned
HRM = 378 cal burned
MFP exercise calculator = 421 cal burned.

OK so which one do I record? lol
I am very discouraged because I am very detail oriented into the foods I log and want the most accurate outcome for each day.

Has anyone else come across this problem? Which did you choose? Any advice from somone who uses this type of machine?
My stats are 154 5'5 and I am 34... anyone around this have a close to accurate cal measurement from an elliptical?

Thanks in advance everyone! Hope I can figure this out!

JLeeAlton

One thing to add is I have noticed on my elliptical machine the higher the resistance the faster calories are burned as well. I am on level 3 and if I go down to 2 or 1 I have less calories burned in the same amount of time if I am on level 3. I am so confused lol

JLeeAlton

Bumping this.. really looking for some input. Thanks!!

SazzieBunny

i found the same!!
well first things first, the higher the resistance,the more calories you do burn, because you need to work harder to get the same result if that makes sense? example...if you cycle a bike downhill,you are making the same actions with the peddels but it is not a lot of effort,whereas if you have to cycle uphill,you are still making the same cycling action but its a lot more of an effort = more calories burned...
as for the calorie differences between here and other places..i honestly do not know..even with all the machines etc,it doesnt take into consideration your metabolism the rate you burn fat etc..so it is extremely difficult to give an exact calorie expenditure for a person

JLeeAlton

yea I figured that is why my elliptical shows different cals burned per level.

I am just still trying to figure out which cal burned I should go with or if anyone else had this problem and found a solution.

Any advice on which I should go by?

Lyadeia

I always go by what the HRM says. I feel like as long as I stay consistent with which one I use, that's what matters. If you use the same thing for a week, see a change in the positive direction, then you keep doing it. If you use the same thing for a week but see something bad, you can still alter your exercise or your food intake to compensate until you see that positive change you are looking for.

But, if you use a different way to measure calories burned, you can't do that because you are making that factor variable.

Kind of like weighing yourself at different times of the day wearing different clothes, etc. Making those variables the same makes the scale more accurate by eliminating other factors.

Does that make sense? And especially since an HRM is more programmable to YOU as opposed to any ol' user (like MFP or what's on the machine) you should probably just use that one each time.

djscardi

I would go with what the HRM says because the HRM calculates the calories burned based on your own heart rate. The others make assumptions based on your weight and age, which can be pretty big sometimes. The HRM may be a little off if you don't have a chest strap but I would definitely say its probably more accurate.

gambitsgurl

I go by what my BodyBugg (HRM) says. It takes into account the other aspects that affect your body. The hotter it is the harder you work. The speed. The hills (I walk). The... the list goes on and on. MFP is a round guess and the elliptical isn't really that accurate either.

JLeeAlton

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am hesitant on using what the HRM says just because its higher.. and I don't want to think I've done so much more and I really haven't. I did the same thing today.. 40 mins and the elliptical said 305 and HRM said 379.

Another reason I am so skeptical is that I don't think my HRM has my correct resting heart rate all the way to max. I keep trying to config it everyday but it always starts my heart rate out at around 119.. that may be right.. but that seems high.