Calorie Counter on Elliptical Trainer

jonnyk82

Hi everyone!

I've heard/read that the calorie counter on elliptical trainers (as well as all cardio exercise equipment) tends to be wildly inaccurate. Lately I've been doing 30 minute sessions and the machine tells me I'm burning around 220 calories (7.3 cal/min). However, this website estimates that I burn 380.

In your experience, which one would you say is more accurate?

kirstand

i tend to go for the lower of the two as i dont want to over-estimate burnt calories...my treadmill says i burn more than the mfp calculator, but i still use mfp's.
other members will prob have a better idea

busyPK

I'd go with the lower number, but eat all of those back. Even better, invest in a HRM for an acurate calorie burned count!

jonnyk82

Where can I get a heart rate monitor? And why do you recommend to eat all of them back?

bikermike5094

I use a polar FT7 i got at christmas. did 40 minutes on the treadmill today at 3.0 pace. treadmill said 344 calories, HRM said 250. I'm going with the HRM number.

jonnyk82

Can you use the calorie counter on HRMs for strength exercises as well?

janegalt37

I think the general consensus around here is HRMs don't accurately measure calories burned when lifting, only during cardio. I don't bother logging my strength training into MFP, I just keep a separate spreadsheet for it.
Regarding the elliptical calorie count, I found that on mine, when I keep my heart rate in zone one and the low end of zone two (according to my Polar HRM) my calories burned match what the elliptical says quite closely. When I go harder and get into zone three, the HRM says I burn way more calories than the elliptical says I do. Maybe that's why MFP numbers are higher at times, because it assumes an all-out cardio effort in zone three ranges. I just ignore MFP numbers and enter what my HRM says.
You can find Polar HRMs all over the internet. Compare prices, because they vary wildly. I don't know why some merchants have an FT7 listed at twice the price of some other stores. Weird. Anyway, I have an FT60 and I love love love it, but a 7 will probably suffice.

katchow

After using my Polar HRM I do not trust the machines! Treadmill and elliptical state 100 more than I actually burn.

peacemongernc

This is a great question and I've been wondering about it, too! What janegalt37 says is along the lines of what I heard my personal trainer saying to a client with an HRM. The HRM is close to accurate when you are doing just cardio, but if you are doing strength training and using many more muscles, it isn't even close.

I'm just going with what the elliptical tells me for now. It is at least a consistent way to measure my progress. What the machines tell me when I work out and what MFP populates the box with are no where close to each other... sometimes MFP will populate the box with a number 3 or 4 times more than what I type into it. I'm assuming this is because I'm not working as hard as it assumes I am.

Great question, though. Thank you for posting it!

Shannon

janegalt37

Shannon,
If you don't have a HRM, I think you are well served by putting in the numbers the machines give you. Like I said before, I think MFP calculates calories burned based on max heart rate-level effort, and the only number you imput is "time", so it multiplies by the minutes.