question about calories burned on treadmill

tinkeydooda

Whenever I log in my treadmill workout, MFP logs in more calories burned than what my machine says/ I konw that the machine is always just an estimate, it doens't know my age, weight, fitness level, etc...but I always thought it over estimated the calories burned. Why does MFP say I am burning more calories than the treadmill? It's usually about a hundred calories more on MFP...

vicki81868

I posted a similar question and it seems the majority opinion is that MFP is way over on their calorie burned estimate. Really the best accurate way to estimate your calorie burn is to invest in a good heart rate monitor.

angieleighbyrd

MFP doesn't even have the option to log a treadmill. Are you just logging it as walking? There are too many variables to log it into MFP (speed, incline).

myfitnessnmhoy

Yeah, if your treadmill doesn't know your weight and age its calorie basis is as useless as MFP's. I find MFP's estimates to be largely accurate, but I don't waste a minute on cardio machines - I run them at a minimum of 85% of VO2 and sometimes near threshold. If I'm going to stand on a boredom machine to build stamina, then damnit I'm going to make the most of it - plus it's somehow less boring when people start comparing me to purple paint swatches to see whether I'm "Royal Purple" or "Purple Royale" - breaks up the monotony.

If I ran in the "fat burning" range, I'd probably burn a lot fewer calories and MFP's numbers would be downright fanciful.

tinkeydooda

I log it as walking. I usually vary my incline, 2 minutes at 4%, two min at 6%, 2 min back at 4%, up to 8% back to 4%...keep doing this the whole time. so I log it as "walking, 3.5 mph uphill". Is a good HRM very expensive?

vicki81868

I've only been looking at HRMs for a couple days now and it looks like a good Polar (which is what everyone recommends) is around $50-$100, depending on the model. So, yes, it's a bit pricey.

Superchikanthem

Yes a HRM is the way to go. MFP really under estimates how much I burn by a lot! And at least your not in Canada I got my husband a mid range Polar at it was $160

angieleighbyrd

I input my weight and age on the treadmill, so I go by what it says instead of just logging it as walking. My inline goes up and down constantly as well as my speed.