Question about fitness equipment...

WickedPixie1
WickedPixie1 Posts: 111 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
With in home fitness equipment specifically:

How accurate is the calorie counting on an in home treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike? For sh!ts and giggles, we'll say they were bought from Wal-mart or another generic chain store.

I'm just wondering since I've read on here that the MFP counters are usually on the generous side and they should be halved for more accuracy.

I do not have a HRM at this point, although I am looking to buy one. In the meantime though, I have to rely on the equipment we have already.

I know that meeting the calorie requirements laid out is important for the weight loss to be successful, so I don't want to be cheating myself by either over or under-estimating what I'm burning off in my workouts.

Any insight on this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Replies

  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    They vary from "somewhere in the ballpark" to "wildly inaccurate". If they allow you to enter stats such as your weight, age, etc., they may (*may*) be more accurate than the ones that just use a generic calculation with no user input. The estimates in the MFP database would probably be as accurate (or more so) than some of them.
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
    mfp counts are way way over. i've never used a machine tho.
  • NoxDineen
    NoxDineen Posts: 497 Member
    mfp counts are way way over. i've never used a machine tho.
    I see people say this a lot but for running and circuit training it's usually within 10 calories of my Polar FT7.
  • Mceastes
    Mceastes Posts: 303 Member
    mfp counts are way way over. i've never used a machine tho.
    I see people say this a lot but for running and circuit training it's usually within 10 calories of my Polar FT7.

    I agree - when I log my runs MFP is usually within a few calories of my Garmin. I don't know how accurate the database figures are for other activities, but running seems to be right on. My treadmill is also pretty accurate as well, but it's a good one.
  • CnocNaCu
    CnocNaCu Posts: 536 Member
    My treadmill shows 139 cals per mile while my HRM tells me 98 cals per mile. Treadmills(even those with a chest strap) are way over and don't reflect the real burn of calories.
  • sds76
    sds76 Posts: 215 Member
    I have a treadmill at home that counts calories but does not allow you to enter weight/age/sex etc. I've researched this quite a bit and this is what I have come up with:
    A machine that does not allow you to enter your stats will usually base it's calories burned on an average 150 lb person.
    so if you are an average 150 lb person then it would be a good estimate but if you are like me(obese) then it will be WAY off.
    I do not have a heart rate monitor right now so I take my heart rate every 5 minutes or so...then take the average and go to shapesense.com to get an estimate on my calories burned. It asks for weight, sex, time of activity and heart rate.

    Just my take on it....I am in no way an expert and have only been doing this 7 weeks, but this is what I have found out :)
  • Muldactus
    Muldactus Posts: 6,972 Member
    Depends on you actually. I don't sweat much, so the machine read-outs tend to be pretty innaccurate since I have no skin moisture to conduct the electrical signal. From everything i've heard, they're generally unreliable, but the only experience I can vouch for is my own.
  • WickedPixie1
    WickedPixie1 Posts: 111 Member
    Thanks for the input! I'll give shapesense a go and see how that fares against what the machines say...if the difference is a fair bit, I might just reduce the machines readings somewhere between a quarter and a half until I get myself a HRM.
  • WickedPixie1
    WickedPixie1 Posts: 111 Member
    Just to update, tried the shapesense site after my workout.
    I had 3 different results based on 3 different calculators. Since the results aren't all that far off each other, I've decided to use an average.
    It's pretty interesting actually...all these years of busting my *kitten* and I didn't know about gross and net calories. Learn something new every day! LOL!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories