Ok So just how accurate are the calorie counts on the Cardio

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  • chiera88
    chiera88 Posts: 155
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    pretty darn accurate! i bought a HRM because i was worried but the numbers pretty much matched. MFP uses the same stats as the monitor. only thing thats better is that it also uses your heart rate but as long as you're actually working hard you should be fine. of course i'd be wrong if you stopped alot or just stood around while you were working out ha.

    and if you do anything like jillian michaels, input is as circuit training. that most matched my hrm number
  • kammy92
    kammy92 Posts: 408 Member
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    My treadmill and elliptical overestimated badly my calorie burn............so does MFP ...........which is why I have a HRM...............
  • delilah47
    delilah47 Posts: 1,658
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    You can change the calories you log. Go to Exercise, then My Exercise and enter what you believe to be more accurate. I have done this because I do some low impact aerobic exercise, but I am not able to do "normal" aerobics. So, I entered a lower calorie count for it and named it something like Low Impact Aerobics Modified.

    And, since my lifestyle is otherwise VERY sedentary, I usually only eat about half my exercise calories.
  • cbl40
    cbl40 Posts: 281 Member
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    They are more accurate than the cardio machines at the gym. I bought an HRM and on two occasions my HRM and MFP were exact!!!
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
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    Unless you buy a HRM that you can enter your body data into, you're going to get an "average" just like on the machines. It's still more accurate that MFP which over estimates for lighter people, underestimates for heavier folks with more muscle mass.

    I've got a Garmin that interfaces with my computer, so I can enter height, weight, general activity level and an estimate of BMR that is calculates using my resting heart rate (via chest strap).

    I don't know if dropping the money for a HRM that fancy is worth it just for gym workouts, but mine has GPS too, so I can map my runs and rides and that's pretty cool. And I live in CO, where elevation is everything, so seeing how many vertical feet I do in a workout can be pretty motivating too.
  • spectralmoon
    spectralmoon Posts: 1,230 Member
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    Depending on what exercises I do, MFP is either pretty accurate, or underestimates my burn. My HRM syncs up for jumping jacks, but the calories I burn doing strength training with dumbbells... MFP gives me 1 calorie burned for every 3 that my Polar HRM records.

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