Elliptical questions

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jomiley23
jomiley23 Posts: 76
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently purchased a bladez 850e from someone off craig's list. I did get the book with it, so these aren't really mechanical questions, but could be related. Really I'm wondering about calorie burn.

1. If I use an interval program, wouldn't my calorie burn for 30 minutes be higher than if I only did resistance level 2 straight for 30 minutes?

2. How long do I need to hold the pulse handles before I get an accurate reading? I am doing the recovery pulse measurement at the end as well, and always get a high score (which is bad). How often do I need to check my pulse to help estimate calorie burn?

3. If there is a way to get into the user setting and customize it for my body weight, etc. so the machine can tell me my calorie burn - well, I haven't found it yet, and I've read the book from cover to cover trying to find it. So the machine says I burned 121 calories in 20 minutes, and MFP says 4xs that amount. What is correct?

Here's how my workout looks: I'm 238 lbs. I'm doing it in intervals ranging from level 3 to level 6, usually for 15 to 25 minutes at 11+mph. I go faster on the easier resistance levels. I clear at least a 5K distance every time.

Do I need to just suck it up and get a FitBit?

Replies

  • jetabear10
    jetabear10 Posts: 375 Member
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    My trainer at the gym told me to do the interval training as you would burn more fat and build muscle more effectively. She said the sudden bursts with a shorter recovery time are better for that instead of just getting on it and going at a moderate or even pace. I switched it up a week ago and have to say that so far so good!! Burning calories is good but you also need to think about getting rid of the fat while building muscle (muscle is what your body uses to burn the fat and increase your metabolic rate)

    It will also save you time as you will only have to work out for about half the time as you would if you got on the elliptical at a steady pace.

    Good luck!
  • MrsLVF
    MrsLVF Posts: 787 Member
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    I have no idea.... but my elliptical does not have a way to set my personal stats. And I have given up on trying to get a HR it always seems to miss a beat, or double it. All I can tell you is that I did intervals this morning for 30 min & my burn was 478 calories (according to the machine) on a resistance levels 5-7, & mine goes by rpm which I kept @ 55-60. When I do level 2 for 30 min it's only about 300 calories. (same rpm) I hope that helps.
  • QueChulaYo
    QueChulaYo Posts: 71
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    I hear what your saying, for me i try to stay at a level of resistance I can do throught the whole workout.... to maintain a even heart rate.
    for example as fast as 11 speed at 7 resistance..... and try my best to control my breathing helps keep my heart rate at 150 the whole time during my workout of 45 mins,... then lower resistance to a 3 for cool down of 15 mins..... so keeping my heart rate at that level for the 45 mins burns me more calories than increasing or lowering my resistance when i get tired or can't breath. do you understand what i mean?

    maintaining your heart rate at a zone level is the key to burning max calories.... invest in a heart rate monitor or fitbit...

    I use a POLAR FT7 heart rate monitor which helps keep me in the zone during my workout and calculates my calories burned at the end of my workout.

    hope this helped,

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