Are the calorie counters on gym machines fairly accurate?

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miadhail
miadhail Posts: 383 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am really debating getting a HRM only because I feel that the calorie counters on my treadmill is overestimating the calories I lost. Just earlier today, I apparently lost 601 calories on a Level 10 (highest incline) and on Speed 3 (basically a brisk walk) for an hour. It did work me up a good sweat. But I don't know... It's really motivating to see the calorie counter getting bigger, but I'm quite a pessimist. Oh and I made sure to put in my weight in the settings.

Thoughts? :ohwell:
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Replies

  • Cdposey26
    Cdposey26 Posts: 35 Member
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    I would get a HRM, after I got mine, I found everything that estimated calories was way over estimating them for me. I love my heart rate monitor.
  • Skinnymunkii
    Skinnymunkii Posts: 191 Member
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    When I use the elliptical the machine says 300 or so. MFP says 500 or so. Can't both be right. I've been estimating the number between the two (400) until I can get a HRM myself. If I had to choose I would go with the lower estimate. Better to guess a little low when it comes to exercise. In this particular case for you, though, the estimate sounds pretty accurate.
  • gogonunubean
    gogonunubean Posts: 160 Member
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    No, I believe gym machines over estimate by about 10 - 15%. Ditto with what it says here. It is hard to figure out actual exertion without a HRM so I just minus 15% off all my cardio cals.
  • Pedal_Pusher
    Pedal_Pusher Posts: 1,166 Member
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    They are WAY off....
  • cfregon
    cfregon Posts: 147
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    I was disappointed the first time I worked out with my HRM...mostly because I didn't burn as many calories as I'd hoped! The machines would rack me up to 400-500 calories in a session, and it only ended up being 300-400 for the same workout. MFP is even worse about over-estimating calories! If eating back exercise calories and using the machine or MFP counts, maybe only eat back half the amount...because the counts are far from dependable.
  • invictus8
    invictus8 Posts: 258 Member
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    I basically only count food intake for fat loss... cardio is good for general health and weight lifting for strength and muscle mass, but neither is that effective for fat loss.
  • nadsazombie
    nadsazombie Posts: 61
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    Personally I think they’re not super accurate but I think its close. As long as you enter your weight, age, ect. I go off MFP, what the machine says, and what my fitbit says. Usually they’re within the same range of eachother
  • mfpwizard
    mfpwizard Posts: 4
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    Apart from accuracy, there is one factor that I doubt they take into account and that is subtracting the resting calories burnt if you are not doing the exercise. For example, if you walk on a treadmill for one hour, you might consume 450 kilo calories. However, the same time you might burn around 100 kilo calories or more by just sitting, depending on your resting metabolism.
  • ShadowSP7
    ShadowSP7 Posts: 53
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    I've been using the calorie counter on the treadmill to count the calories I burn and I've been losing weight so far. When you put the incline up you burn a lot more calories than if you were to walk without an incline.

    If you feel that it is not accurate then you should buy a HMR.
  • nadsazombie
    nadsazombie Posts: 61
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    yeah but who really considers those calories burnt? I sure in the hell don’t count calories that I burn while sitting/sleeping ect. That would just seem counter-productive
  • samanthafreeman70
    samanthafreeman70 Posts: 1
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    It really depends. For some people (of fairly average height and body mass) they are pretty accurate. It's less accurate for people who are very fit and muscular, those who are obese, and people who are particularly short or tall. Obese people tend to burn more than the machine indicates (especially women), while very fit and muscular men may burn significantly less than the machine registers.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    I am really debating getting a HRM only because I feel that the calorie counters on my treadmill is overestimating the calories I lost. Just earlier today, I apparently lost 601 calories on a Level 10 (highest incline) and on Speed 3 (basically a brisk walk) for an hour. It did work me up a good sweat. But I don't know... It's really motivating to see the calorie counter getting bigger, but I'm quite a pessimist. Oh and I made sure to put in my weight in the settings.

    Thoughts? :ohwell:
    If you held on to the rails the whole time....................definitely not. Hold rails reduces the resistance from 30%-50%. If one can't walk on an incline without holding on, then the intensity is too high for them.

    And don't rely on the machines counter. They are used daily and are not calibrated once a week. Probably not even once a year.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    Apart from accuracy, there is one factor that I doubt they take into account and that is subtracting the resting calories burnt if you are not doing the exercise. For example, if you walk on a treadmill for one hour, you might consume 450 kilo calories. However, the same time you might burn around 100 kilo calories or more by just sitting, depending on your resting metabolism.
    Wut? Your BMR is already figured out on your intake for MFP. No need to try to confuse people with this information.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    no
  • TheGymGypsy
    TheGymGypsy Posts: 1,023 Member
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    I wore a HR monitor to test this once. The treadmill said I burned upwards of 800 calories when I really only burned about 600. So no, not accurate.
  • sevsmom
    sevsmom Posts: 1,172 Member
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    All the machines I've used are, well, WAY overestimating my calorie burn. MFP always wants to give me too much for my running as well. My HRM gave me a decent reading, then I subracted 10%. Figured it was better to under estimate calories burned rather than over estimate. In any event, I've dumped the HRM altogether. I know about how many calories I burn with most of my cardio, so I don't really worry about it any more.
  • Poofy_Goodness
    Poofy_Goodness Posts: 229 Member
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    All methods are estimates. I don't think gym equipment takes enough info from the user to make its estimate. A HRM might be closer to the mark.
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    If you can swing it, get a HRM. I cannot live without mine. It is typically much lower than any machine and much much lower than MFP in most exercises except my horseback riding.

    As far as counting non-exercise calories, I did a little experiment where I (tried) to wear my HRM 24 hours a day except in the shower to see how close it was to online TDEE calculators, it was within 150 calories. I do this stuff out of curiosity and because I am also very skeptical by nature.
  • hannahlclrk
    hannahlclrk Posts: 66 Member
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    no, I wouldnt rely on them at all - the cross trainers at my gym say ive burnt about 500 cals in 20 mins! my HRM says not.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
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    I basically only count food intake for fat loss... cardio is good for general health and weight lifting for strength and muscle mass, but neither is that effective for fat loss.

    So you think running 5k in 30mins, followed by lifting 58,000+lbs over the next 90 minutes doesn't really burn any calories, and maybe I should just eat the 1657 calories it will take to maintain my weight as everything else I do is just sitting at a desk or on a couch. Interesting concept you have there.
    I wonder what kind of calorie intake a long distance runner has... I mean, they eat high carb stuff while running just to keep having energy to burn and not be losing muscle.
    And I know the normal recommendation for bodybuilders is to have a carb/protein drink before and after workouts... I wonder if that is to offset all the calories burned during the workout, rather than having it eat away muscle.

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