One exercise, two calorie trackers, big discrepancy

sks972ca
sks972ca Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
I worked out on my Life Fitness elliptical this morning on the highest resistance. It credited me with a whopping 700+ calories for the workout. The elliptical does not track my heart rate, I just enter my weight and go.

I also wore my Sync Burn tracker, which credited me with a much humbler 450+ calories of working out. The tracker "knows" my sex, height, and weight, and checks my pulse.

The lower number sounds like the way to go, but I wanted a sanity check from the masses. What accounts for the honking big discrepancy?

Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • AmykinsCatfood
    AmykinsCatfood Posts: 599 Member
    Age, weight and height make up for the discrepancy. Even HRM's aren't completely accurate but they're a better guess than a generic trackers on machines because they have this extra info to take into consideration. Go with your HRM.
  • jayliu
    jayliu Posts: 5 Member
    Machines use a generic, simple arithmetic/function to guess calories burnt.

    You can either use an average of those 2, or go with the lower one..As long as your reliable in whichever method you track, you can measure progress easier and with less hassle
  • pilotricky
    pilotricky Posts: 37
    like you said, the Sync Burn Tracker knows your sex, height, and weight, and pulse. I would trust that more instead of the treadmill.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The most common LF elliptical model in clubs has an older algorithm that is known (at least by me) to overestimate calorie burn by 25%-30%. That doesn't mean the other device is inherently more accurate--it could just be a coincidence that is the closer number in this case.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Machines use a generic, simple arithmetic/function to guess calories burnt

    So do HRMs.

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