Discouraging Walk...:(

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MizzJuicy
MizzJuicy Posts: 19
in Fitness and Exercise
Good Morning,

Does anyone else get to the end of a 1 to 2 mile walk on the treadmill, move the towel that is hiding the screen, and become discouraged to find out that you have burned very few calories?????

I have a NordicTrack C 900 Treadmill and I will admit that I havent done a lot of extra stuff on it. I usually jump on, hit manual, and get to walking...maybe there is somewhere I am supposed to enter my weight??????? Any suggestions on how to know if this is accurate?????
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Replies

  • girl_brett
    girl_brett Posts: 166 Member
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    I think on some machines, you can enter your weight, height and age and it will give you an estimate. Don't know how accurate they are. You could always get a heart rate monitor and even there you have to enter all of the info so it can calculate correctly. Either way, the most important thing is you are doing the work!
  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
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    I did C25K on the treadmill yesterday...burned less than 200 cals after 30 minutes but I didnt really care...my purpose was to build cardio endurance more than anything... I want to be able to run 60ish minutes non-stop and to have a healthy heart.... for fat burning/calorie burning, Id look to more intense workouts
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    Get a heart rate monitor if you want to track accurately. I'd also so work on getting off the treadmill and get outside to work on runs. That said, plenty of people use the treadmills successfully.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    What do you consider "very low"? Also, walking is a very low intensity steady state activity. What are you expecting? It take a lot more than a mile or 2 to burn any substantial amount of calories through walking. For me, 2 miles will be around 150 to 175 calories. Have you considered something with more intensity to increase you fitness and calorie burn? The old saw about getting out what you put in applies here.
  • nguk123
    nguk123 Posts: 223
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    If you want to burn significant calories you will have to jog for distance. Walking is a good intro, but you should plan to scale up
    your activity (slowly but steadily).
  • haroon_awan
    haroon_awan Posts: 1,208 Member
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    You are better off doing something like giant sets and super sets to burn those calories.

    This
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eGzglT5CEOs
    is much better than walking or running for an hour.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I burn about 100 calories a mile, so yeah, that wouldn't be much. But I wouldn't expect it to be.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
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    Same, about 100-120 calories a mile, but I run intervals and take walk breaks. I have a Polar FT4, keeps track of heart rate and calories. It's not exact, but I'm a numbers person - seeing that number go up helps me to want to keep at it. It's more fun that way.
  • darrenhowarth
    darrenhowarth Posts: 1
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    HAve you thought about about going for an actual walk... outdoors.
    There are loads of aps that will measure your calorie burn and distance covered and it is so much more enjoyable!

    My dog has never been so happy
  • msmith3518
    msmith3518 Posts: 15 Member
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    I have a smooth fitness treadmill that shows the same information - I found when I was wearing my heart rate monitor the treadmill reading was much lower - I have a POLAR FT7 heart rate monitor. For some reason the treadmill doesn't take an accurate reading on my heart rate.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
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    Get a heart rate monitor.
    Polar FT7.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    Increase the incline or the speed for 30 sec and do that every few minutes, that will get your heartrate up and help burn more
  • notreallytrillian
    notreallytrillian Posts: 77 Member
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    If your treadmill has an incline function, increase your incline a bit and you'll burn more calories.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
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    For a mile, my dad's treadmill says I burn about 47 calories. My heart rate monitor says I burn around 120. That is at a 3.5 mph pace..
  • OBXbound4me
    OBXbound4me Posts: 245 Member
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    Get a good pedometer and measure / input your stride, and weight. I use that for mine but also cross check what I did with a reputable calorie burning calculator to make sure it is close. Then I go with the one that is lower so I don't overestimate my burn.
  • Pixi_Rex
    Pixi_Rex Posts: 1,676 Member
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    Nope because I don't even pay attention to those numbers, I use my HRM which usually gives me 100+ Calories more burned than the actual treadmill does so I wouldn't get too discouraged. Maybe look into getting a heart rate monitor and use that instead of the treadmill.
  • RobinvdM
    RobinvdM Posts: 634 Member
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    Things that influence the calories burned:
    Heart rate

    Influenced by
    distance you walk, pace you are setting, your weight, and your current physical condition

    anything a machine tells you for cals burned is an estimate. The best you can do is figure out your target heart rate for a calorie burn, then get out there on that treadmill and hit it.

    Good luck :)
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Good Morning,

    Does anyone else get to the end of a 1 to 2 mile walk on the treadmill, move the towel that is hiding the screen, and become discouraged to find out that you have burned very few calories?????

    I have a NordicTrack C 900 Treadmill and I will admit that I havent done a lot of extra stuff on it. I usually jump on, hit manual, and get to walking...maybe there is somewhere I am supposed to enter my weight??????? Any suggestions on how to know if this is accurate?????

    It's not. To get the closest estimate for caloric burn per exercise buy a heart rate monitor with chest strap. I do the same thing that you do (just on and hit go), but even when I put my wieght in on those things they inevitably are about double what my Polar says. Both they and mfp are highly unreliable. I can tell you, however, that I burn about 100 calories per mile running.
  • bumblebums
    bumblebums Posts: 2,181 Member
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    Exercise does not burn as many calories as people think. Some of the advice that has been circulating in the usual "public health news" places (NPR, NYT in the US) is that exercise is good for your health and to reshape your body or help maintain weight, but it's not a good way to lose weight. The best way to lose weight, if that is your goal, is to eat less and to eat better.

    I would not get discouraged if I were you, though--focus on the positive gains you get from exercise. Can you walk farther today than you did last week? Can you do the same amount of work without getting as winded? Do you work up a sweat at least once a day? If so, you're getting something out of it.
  • legnarevocrednu
    legnarevocrednu Posts: 467 Member
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    You won't burn much on the treadmill, unfortunately. It's why I prefer the elliptical. Unless I'm running...then I do that on the treadmill but not for the calorie burn.

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