How many calories does an eliptical really burn????

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  • senennieves
    senennieves Posts: 106 Member
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    so am i to assume that the calorie and heart rate read out from my fit bit surge would be way more accurate than the elipitical machine???
  • charlsy1691
    charlsy1691 Posts: 36 Member
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    It's strange because I've had a similar problem. The machine said I'd burnt 220 cals whilst my Fitbit blaze stated 330 if I remember correctly. More inclined to go for the lower amount however the Fitbit has all my details and measurements . Weird.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,442 Member
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    IRONMANT2015 wrote: »
    Thank you to all who, replied to my post. It helped out so much. I have decided to go get a heart rate moniter. The machine I use at the gym does not have one. I think it will help out knowing how to calculate that in.

    THANKS AGAIN!!!:smile:

    Keep in mind though that a HR monitor does not work properly either if you don't know your maximum heart rate! You might have a low heart rate when working out, resulting in underestimating your burn, or you might have a very high one, resulting in overestimation. Please don't use the equation 220-age! I looked at a few studies, and only about 1/3 of all people participating in this study are within about 15 bpm of that number. That means 2 out of 3 are completely different.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    When I adjust for my weight, which is 127, I burn about 60 calories in 8 minutes, so around 450/Hr.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
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    Arienna wrote: »
    You can burn quite a few calories on the elliptical but it all depends on your heart rate. The only truly accurate way to know is to wear a Heart Rate Monitor. It depends on how fast you go, the resistance, upper body movement..it varies a lot

    WHy does HR matter? What if you have naturally low HR and it never goes above 120? does that mean you burn less than someone who gets up to 180?
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
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    I use the elliptical and do intervals on it for 65 minutes (60 minute workout 5 minute cool down) I enter in my weight and age on the machine and strive to get at least 500 calories burned (sometimes I am really pushing for the last 20 minutes or so to get to 500 calories burned).
  • 2wise4u
    2wise4u Posts: 229 Member
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    The elliptical is my favorite machine as well and it tells me that I burn about 700 calories in about 65 minutes and that's really at a fast pace. Seems like it could be accurate based on the comments and since I like it, it's an easy way to get my heart rate up and really burn some serious calories. :)
  • zoober
    zoober Posts: 226 Member
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    Just to give another data point, the elliptical I use let's you put in your weight and your age, and also keeps track of your heart rate. For 45 minutes just this morning, it said I burned 626 calories, had an average heart rate of 125 (I do the interval workout), max of 132, and spent 12 minutes of that in my optimal zone. I believe it. I logged it.
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
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    IRONMANT2015 wrote: »
    I have been on this program since Nov 11th. I thought I was doing really good. My favorite machine at the gym is the eliptical and I am on that thing everyday!!! I have been using the calorie counter on the machine to imput into my fitness pal. I thought I was doing great at burning over 700 calories in 1 hour!! I always pushed myself harder to get higher numbers. Today, I was having a conversation with one of the ladies at the gym and she laughed when I said how proud I was for hitting 700 calories in a workout. Is my thinking incorrect? Does an hour on the eliptical not burn 700 calories??? I want to do this properly, so if there is anyone out there who can straighten this out for me, I would so appreciate it!!!
    I do know the machine I use is not to old, but it does not have the moving arms. I do that all on my own. :-)
    Please help with any suggestions.
    Thanks
    T~:smile:

    It all depends on the person IMO and current weight. when I was 350lbs I would burn close to 1200 calories on the eleipitcal according to my HRM, machine would read 800-900 calories burned though.

    Now that I'm smaller when I do 700-800 calories in a hour my HRM shows about half of that 400-500.

    However if you're counting 700 and you're losing just stick with it, if you aren't losing weight then adjust your calorie intake.
  • kandeye
    kandeye Posts: 216 Member
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    I have an elliptical at home I use frequently. I usually do a half hour but just enter 15 minutes to be more accurate on calorie burn.
  • guessjr94
    guessjr94 Posts: 32 Member
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    they say you burn 2.16 calories per every pound of body weight during a 30 minute work out on the elliptical. That's what I go by and if I am really burning more than that, then great.!
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,389 Member
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    Any machine is only as good as the measure of power it has, and the algorithms it then uses to calculate calorie burns based on that measure of power. The same is true for any activity, and it primarily influenced by the work performed, followed by in some cases the weight of the person putting in that work.

    If you are following some general equation you found on the internet, most likely it's incorrect unless you fall into a group that tests to output at a level that equation. The same applies to an HRM.


    We own a Precor elliptical, and it uses a true measure of power. From there it calculates based on machine specific models adjusted from ASCM models and studies, then outputs the calorie burn based on those various factors. With some digging, I found that it outputs gross calorie burn. So essentially if I subtract one MET it gives me net calories, and at the paces I work out comes out very close to the study based calorie burns. I sometimes use the calculator below to calculate to net.

    exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html

    In comparison, I personally think that running 6 MPH calculated on our elliptical (our machine converts power to mile equivalent, not stride based only) is harder than running 6 MPH for an hour outside. And using the above calculator and converting to net calorie burn both come very close to study based formulas.

    As a note, our machine pairs with my chest strap HRM, and biases calorie burn based on HR, though the influence is small. HRMs are IMO grossly flawed unless they use a measure of power. Day to day HR can vary at any given pace. I've had days where my HR stays low even at a quicker pace, and days my HR was up as well.

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