how accurate are the calorie counts on gym equipment

hotmammatotwogirls

Just wondering how accurate these calorie burns are on gym equipment.
I need to get myself HRM,
example 66 minutes of elliptical it said I burnt 850 calories, (like really) sounds to good to be true.

mkakids

It probably is too good to be true. It depends on the machine. When I look at both a hm and the machine estmate it us usually off by 25%...I have seen it off by 50%

Ottinger13

Most of the time the machines are close. As long as you entered your weight correctly. I use a fit bit to track the calories I burn daily and that is accurate. I have checked it prior to getting on the machines and checked it after and it matched

SusanKKO

Roxy - usually the machines at the gym show a higher calorie burn than my Polar or Gamin heart rate monitors. I'm not sure why. Regardless, you're doing great!

ktliu

Roxy
HRM is it, I think the gym equipment is accurate with the right weight entered as the other poster says, if you keep you hands on the sensor bar the whole time it should be as accurate as a HRM. but with an HRM you can be hands off the sensor region and polar compatible gym equipment can read off your HRM sensor. That's why during my tenure here in MFP, I'd always wear an HRM to the gym, Ones you buy it, I have a trick to show you. send me a email.

V

FitFunFabulousNicole

Unfortunately, it is too good to be true from what I have seen with my HRM and what the machines reads as a calorie burn. But with that being said, 66 minutes on the elliptical is simply AMAZING! Way to go!

h9dlb

calorie count on machines are way out and ellipticals are notoriously bad for this.

example - running on a treadmill for 1 hour might show a calorie burn of 500 cals. But if you had spent that hour on the couch watching tv you would have burned 80 cals just surviving, so the real net cal burn for that hour on the treadmill is actually 420cal.

walking on the treadmill is another bad one, as you really need to be swinging your arms strenuously as you walk to get anywhere near the calorie burn shown on the machine (my gym puts messages about this on the tv screens).

If you walk on the treadmill and hold onto the handles the calorie burn is minimal despite what the reading shows.

cgrout78

if it's one where you enter your age and weight...I usually take 20% off what the machine says to get a more accurate reading.