What is the Unit of Measurement used on an Elliptical?

rebecky27

On the Elliptical trainer, it shows you distance. The ones I use in the gym at my work don't say what the unit of measure is. My coworker thought it was miles...but it can't be...if it were, that means I went 1.5 miles in 8 minutes..... That's just not possible! LOL!

Is there a standard unit of measure for the distance calculation on Ellipticals?

Azdak

No. Elliptical motion doesn't translate into anything like distance. The machines that show "mph" use your pedaling cadence like it was a running stride--except that it's not. So the distance is meaningless.

Ideally, they would be set up with a power meter that would give you a reading in watts, but most people would not understand what that meant.

Even though the calorie counts are inflated on most ellipticals, total calories burnt in a workout is still probably the best gauge of total performance. If you do 30 min for example and the total calories burned during that time increases by 10% or 15% or more, that's a definite sign of improvement in your aerobic fitness and endurance--regardless of whether or not the actual calorie numbers are accurate.

rebecky27

Thanks! Wasn't using distance to calculate calories, I wear an HRM for that. My coworker was using the elliptical to "walk" her goal of 2 miles a day...but it doesn't sound like we can use the distance calculation on the elliptical to help her measure how far she has walked. (in miles, at least).