Calories Burned: Which is it?

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amersmanders
amersmanders Posts: 118 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Still struggling with how to determine how many calories were burned during exercise.

The Elliptical machine says 172, Nike+ says 230, MFP says 330.

Used intervals circuit, avg. 3.5 mph on level 5, bp 154, Matrix brand elliptical machine at Snap Fitness.

I weighed in at 192, which is what I set the machine at. I decided to go with the Nike+ results since it was in the middle, and I don't want to give myself too many calories burned and then end up over eating, but I would really like to know what the MFP amount is based on and which of the three calorie burn amounts is most accurate, and how to determine that.

EDIT: I don't need an exact number obviously, since everything is an estimate anyway, I just want to be in the right ball park, especially since reports show that people tend to overestimate how much they pushed themselves, and therefore how many calories were actually burned.

Replies

  • WillowBreeze
    WillowBreeze Posts: 102
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    I would average them all together. The machine has approximately 20% margin of error, I'm not sure about the other two. Heart Rate Monitors are obviously the safest bet since they are strapped right to you, but yeah.. I personally would take an average and call it a day =)
  • josiereside
    josiereside Posts: 720 Member
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    The best way to get closer to a true estimate is a HRM. I am not sure how nike+ works... the cardio machines, in my experience as usually 30-40 % too high. I do find, however, when I use runkeeper that the calories that gives me is fairly close to my HRM.

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