800 Calories in 55 minutes...

leg8
leg8 Posts: 49
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I work out on the elliptical/treadmill for somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour. I just bought a simple Timex heart rate monitor. It has told me in my last two workouts that I have been burning around 800 calories. Is this possible? I can't believe how much the machines underestimate my calories even when I have entered my weight... Just checking to make sure this thing is accurate. Thanks =)

Replies

  • leg8
    leg8 Posts: 49
    I work out on the elliptical/treadmill for somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour. I just bought a simple Timex heart rate monitor. It has told me in my last two workouts that I have been burning around 800 calories. Is this possible? I can't believe how much the machines underestimate my calories even when I have entered my weight... Just checking to make sure this thing is accurate. Thanks =)
  • Bobbie145
    Bobbie145 Posts: 331 Member
    I got a Polar 55 HRM for Christmas. I have been having the same situation with pretty unbelieveable calorie burns. For example, I worked out for about two hours a couple of days ago doing weights, a spin class, and an elliptical machine. It gave me about 1500 calories. There's no way. I looked on the Polar website and saw where one user had both the Polar F55 and the Polar F80. He put them both on at the same time with the same chest strap and the exact same information entered. The HRMs came up with about a 200 calorie burn difference! I don't know what the deal is, because I've entered my information correctly ( I have checked and rechecked!) and have even called the Polar people to discuss it. So, I'm enjoying my HRM for HR purposes and HR zones, and the graphs that it is giving me. However, I am using the MFP calories for my exercise calories. Good luck!

    Bobbie
  • hibbler22
    hibbler22 Posts: 339 Member
    Hello, Happy New Year!

    Well I workout on the Elliptical for 30 mins on fat burner and i burn 330 cals. It depends on how i feel some days i have less and some days more!
  • briblue72
    briblue72 Posts: 672 Member
    That sounds a little high - unless you were really pushing yourself for all 55 minutes. I put 55 mins of elliptical into the MFP calculator and it told me 610 cals. I'm 5'6" and 160.... not sure what your weight is.

    Any person who can do 55 mins on an elliptical trainer is a hero to me! :smile:
  • Jackie_W
    Jackie_W Posts: 1,676 Member
    I got myself a cheap pulse watch, and it tells me I burn a lot more calories too -
    Only prob I seem to have, is deciding which level to set it to - depending on the workout.
    I get levels 1-5, so, I assume a slow pace walk is level 1, a fast walk is 2, a workout on the bike is 3, jog level 4, and a run level 5 - will I EVER get to level 5????
    Yeah course I will :wink: :laugh: :drinker:
  • Jackie_W
    Jackie_W Posts: 1,676 Member
    That sounds a little high - unless you were really pushing yourself for all 55 minutes. I put 55 mins of elliptical into the MFP calculator and it told me 610 cals. I'm 5'6" and 160.... not sure what your weight is.

    Any person who can do 55 mins on an elliptical trainer is a hero to me! :smile:

    These watches are supposed to be pretty accurate though :flowerforyou:
  • ohthatbambi
    ohthatbambi Posts: 1,098 Member
    The only time I burn that many calories in an hour is when I spin. Those classes just kick my butt. I look like I have been in a swimming pool when I am done. I don't burn near that amount when I do the elliptical. I don't sweat that much either. If you are planning on consuming your exercise calories I would cut it in half just to be safe...no sense in all that hard work going to waste!!
  • DjBliss05
    DjBliss05 Posts: 682
    Well, I can say for MOST people... the machines actually overestimate. At least, they do for me. It doesn't sound accurate.

    I have burned close to that in one hour, but I was in an aerobics class and almost turned purple! :laugh:

    I usually burn about 250 on the elliptical in a half an hour. Obviously, it changes for everyone and I don't turn purple on the elliptical, but 800 seems way too high.
  • DjBliss05
    DjBliss05 Posts: 682
    That sounds a little high - unless you were really pushing yourself for all 55 minutes. I put 55 mins of elliptical into the MFP calculator and it told me 610 cals. I'm 5'6" and 160.... not sure what your weight is.

    Any person who can do 55 mins on an elliptical trainer is a hero to me! :smile:

    These watches are supposed to be pretty accurate though :flowerforyou:

    I used to have a sportsline watch - the kind you have to push the button to get your heart rate. It overestimated by a lot when I compare with my polar F6. Did you enter in your height, weight, age? If not, you are probably off. It was for me anyways. I trust the ones with the strap because I am getting a more consistent measurement and I entered all my info.
  • ckmama
    ckmama Posts: 1,668 Member
    If there is no chest strap I would really doubt its accuracy.

    As for the other --where you worked out for 2 hours--1500 is not that unbelievable.
    I work out for about an hour and a half doing circuit with weights and intense cardio and burn about 1000 calories, but that is really kicking my butt. I have the Polar F6

    I weigh 204 and when I do 30 minutes of intense cardio on the elliptical I burn about 10 calories a minute.

    I would say guage your intensity level and if it isn't up there then you can figure it is over estimating.
  • leg8
    leg8 Posts: 49
    I mean, my heart rate is up near 170-180 during my workout... I make sure to push myself to the max, I'm 5'3" about 135... my goal with the heart rate monitor was to increase my cardio fitness level to put myself into even better shape. I've heard that the HRMs are to be considered more accurate than the machines, but 800 just sounds like a big number... I'm gonna just round that number down in my head for the time being...or maybe just average the machine's reading with my HRM? This is just a little more complicated than I would have liked. :tongue:
  • ckmama
    ckmama Posts: 1,668 Member
    If it doesn't have a chest strap I wouldn't really trust it either. That makes it no different than the machine.
  • leg8
    leg8 Posts: 49
    Oh, it does have a chest strap. I bought the Mio one first and hated it. You have to press on sensors to get a reading, so I returned it for this one with the strap. Muuuuuch better, you get a continuous reading, and it's also nice because the machines at the gym pick up the signal from the strap and show you so you don't have to keep looking at your watch. I'll have to do a little more research on this... :smile:
  • mhosner
    mhosner Posts: 264 Member
    That sounds a little high - unless you were really pushing yourself for all 55 minutes. I put 55 mins of elliptical into the MFP calculator and it told me 610 cals. I'm 5'6" and 160.... not sure what your weight is.

    Any person who can do 55 mins on an elliptical trainer is a hero to me! :smile:

    I agree - I do 30 mins and I am dead... 55 mins is amazing!
  • FloridaGranny
    FloridaGranny Posts: 154 Member
    My old Polar (without a chest strap) was reading 800 - 900 calories burn, too. Then I traded it for the Polar F6 with the chest strap. Now My readings are 300 - 400 calories..........

    Yours has a strap - be sure you entered your age, weight, etc. so it can work correctly......

    AND, just maybe
    you really are burning those calories!!! I sure wouldn't try to eat all of them til I was really sure it was right!!

    Good luck & have fun with it!
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