Are the calorie counters on gym machines fairly accurate?

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.

They are WAY off....

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.

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.

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

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
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no

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.

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.

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.

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.

I've had the same success using the numbers I get from the equipment at the gym. I'm eating all my exercise calories back and so far have been losing without a problem. I have faith that the numbers I'm being given are pretty close if not completely accurate.

There are a couple of women at my gym who crack me up, as they angle the tread mill as high as it will go, and then lean most of their weight on the rails, while they walk at about 3mph while carrying on a loud discussion about generic fluff head gossip.
I know that there is no way on earth that the calorie count for them is accurate.