Elliptical Question

serabee5
serabee5 Posts: 89
edited September 28 in Fitness and Exercise
I just spent my first 14 minutes on an Elliptical...OUCH!

My question is this...it says I burned 125 calories (it does not allow age and weight input),
but MFP says 190 calories in 14 minutes...

Do I stick with the Ellipticals count or MFP?
Is MFP taking into account my age and weight??

I want to be accurate...help

Replies

  • Robyn120
    Robyn120 Posts: 249
    I hear the only way to know for sure is to buy you a heart rate monitor to wear when you work out.. I'm going to be buying me one soon.
  • yankeefamily05
    yankeefamily05 Posts: 657
    I just spent my first 14 minutes on an Elliptical...OUCH!

    My question is this...it says I burned 125 calories (it does not allow age and weight input),
    but MFP says 190 calories in 14 minutes...

    Do I stick with the Ellipticals count or MFP?
    Is MFP taking into account my age and weight??

    I want to be accurate...help

    The only way to know if it is accurate is if you use an HRM. I have heard that mfp overestimates up to 30%....

    My elliptical has you put in a weight and it also tracks your heart beat at certain times in the workout. I use the number on my elliptical. It works for me, for now. If I see that the weight isn't coming off, I will purchase an HRM.

    I would go with the 125.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
    I would say it would be safer to go with the lower number and eat back about 75-100. Cardio machines are notorious for overestimating calories burned, but so is MFP.
  • RissaDean
    RissaDean Posts: 189 Member
    Way to go on 14 min on the elliptical!!

    To be consistent, I stick with what MFP says for most excercises. I'm pretty sure it does take into account what you entered into your profile, i.e.- age, weight, etc.
  • bjohs
    bjohs Posts: 1,225 Member
    Stick with what the elliptical is telling you. It will all depend on what resistance it is set to, etc.
  • bethm1210
    bethm1210 Posts: 66 Member
    I think MFP tends to run high, although I do believe it does take your weight into account. My elliptical gives me about 6 calories per minute, MPF gives me almost 10, and my HRM averages 8. I go with my HRM.
  • spammyanna
    spammyanna Posts: 871 Member
    I would go with the lower number. People tend to over-estimate how many calories they burn, and under-estimate how many calories they eat.
  • kylakesgal
    kylakesgal Posts: 952 Member
    It's really hard to be accurate without a heart rate monitor but personally I would go with the lower figure. My elliptical is programmed for my age, weight and sex and has a h/r monitor on it and I usually burn about 10-15 calories per minute exercising on tension of 3. I did 30 mins when I came in from work and I burned 384 calories. I don't have a h/r monitor either but I feel this is fairly accurate. The elliptical is quite the burn!! What is your tension set on?
  • mom_2_girls
    mom_2_girls Posts: 18 Member
    When you input, it says to put what the machine read out says. I have a combo eliptical/bike that I have used as a stationary bike for the last two years. When I input my workouts using weight and time it is relatively close most of the time to what the bike says, so I go with what the read out says. Also, the machine computer will take into account the resistance and the rpms when calculating (how hard you are working). Even if you weigh a certain amount, you could be working harder or lighter than what the calculators estimate for. I have read that the machines usually give too high of an estimated calorie burn, but my machine seems to be right on target. Hope this helps.
  • laneybird
    laneybird Posts: 532 Member
    Before I started putting in my weight and age on the elliptical I would enter what mfp suggest, 30 mins=600 calories... but on the machine since I've started entering it its usually in the 300's for 30 minutes. I personally have been entering the lowest just because I don't want to chance eating back calories that I haven't burned. My hrm came today, so I will see if there's a major difference and go by that from now on lol
  • Cam_
    Cam_ Posts: 515 Member
    Personally, I just go with what mfp says. It does factor in your height/weight etc. My elliptical has no idea how much I weigh so I don't put much faith in the machine's guess. Since I am over 200 lbs, the machine puts me lower than what MFP says. I think the machine just uses a generic one-size-fits-all calculation - someone lighter than me.
  • yankeefamily05
    yankeefamily05 Posts: 657
    Personally, I just go with what mfp says. It does factor in your height/weight etc. My elliptical has no idea how much I weigh so I don't put much faith in the machine's guess. Since I am over 200 lbs, the machine puts me lower than what MFP says. I think the machine just uses a generic one-size-fits-all calculation - someone lighter than me.

    I think it all depends on which ellip you have though.
  • LauraMarie37
    LauraMarie37 Posts: 283 Member
    Your calorie burn depends on SO many different things (weight, fitness level, how much you are pushing yourself, the incline and resistance of the elliptical, how much you are asking your heart, lungs, and muscles to work) - so even a heart rate monitor isn't as accurate as being in a metabolic chamber that measures your CO2 output AND monitors your heart rate.

    That being said, something that takes into account your weight, age, resistance level, incline, and speed/strides per kinute is a pretty good guess. I like the calculator here: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php . You can enter your info into it (if you don't know your strides per minute, do one more minute and count) and see if it's closer to MFP or the elliptical. As other people have pointed out, MFP does take your weight into account (though it can also overestimate because it doesn't factor in resistance).

    Good luck!
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