Question about equipment

biggphatdaddy

The treadmills at the gym always asked me to input my age and weight, so I am imagining the machine calculated my calories burned based on my intensity, distance, incline, age and weight. So, my question is about my treadmill at home. It has a simple little display with mileage, calories burned, fat calories burned, speed and time...How accurate is that? Also, when figuring up the calories on MFP does the script that runs on the website figure in the age and weight? Just curious....

ZebraHead

I don't know anything (and I can prove it )

But I have read that you should just go ahead and get a HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) and be done with it. It looks like almost everyones treadmill HRMs are inaccurate from the factory, based on what we really want them to tell us.

Someone who really knows the answer will be along shortly.... :blushing:

AndriaLL

I believe MFP uses age and weight as I do burn a few less calories according to it when I am lighter and doing the same exercise. However, it is rarely as accurate as my HRM (measures calories based on my heart rate) or my Bodybugg (measures my calories burned based on temperature changes in my skin). I can't wear my Bodybugg in the water, so I bought the HRM, which also has a GPS and all sorts of useful info like speed and distance traveled. I like to wear both, just to compare (and my friends call me "Gadget")...and they match eachother quite well. They do not match MFP or the readings on any cardio machines at the gym, however, as I do have an underactive thyroid (slow metabolism), which neither of those can possibly account for. They are set up for the "average" person, and I believe if you do not enter info into the computer on a treadmill, the default is 35 year old male weighing 150 lbs.

biggphatdaddy

Can anyone recommend a good inexpensive HRM?