Stationary bike/calories.

amer90

How does the stationary bike it gives you, cuts out like 300 something calories, yet on the machine it says it only cuts out 35.5?
I don't put it at the easiest thing though, I make it so it is like going up hill. You would think it would cut more.
Which one is more accurate?

tomomatic

Hello,

Is the machine using a heart rate monitor to calculate calories burned? The way I see it, an out of shape person might burn more calories at a low speed based on the amount of effort (measured in heart rate) vs a physically fit athlete, whose heart rate increase might barely register at the same speed. I might be wrong about this.

Regardless, don't be discouraged. I recently bought a wearable heart rate monitor so that I can keep my heart rate in a certain range so that I know that I am working out to a high enough intensity. I tend to slack off as I'm watching TV while exercising.

Good luck.

amer90

It actually doesn't have a heart rate monitor, so I don't know much about that.

tomomatic

First off, good. I think the heart rate monitors that are built into equipment are not really worth the extra $$$. Also, I don't think they're very accurate. The watches will keep track of calories burned and it's not specific to the activity or machine. Sometimes, I wear the watch just to see how many calories I burned on a hike, or playing with the kids.

btw, I'm 33 years old and my target heart rate is 123 for the fat burning zone. During my workouts, I try to keep it around 130-133 on my stationary bike. My calorie counter on the watch registers about 310 calories burned for about 30 minutes of cycling. I hope that's helpful.

SueInAz

Actually, the HRM in my stationary bike gives the exact same reading as my HRM with a chest strap. I am very pleased that I don't need to wear the HRM while riding the bike (the strap is uncomfortable against that back seat of the bike) because I know I'm getting a proper reading.