exercise calories burned question

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bigguy00
bigguy00 Posts: 27
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I have been going to the gym for about 5 weeks now and I am been working out at least 30min a day. I was told by a friend that the calories that I burn on the machine are not totally correct. Is this true. It says that when I work out for 30min on a elliptical it says that I am burning about 600 calories is this a true number or false. Is there any way to get the correct amount of calories burned on a machince. Thanks

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  • tansyf
    tansyf Posts: 66 Member
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    I would love to know as well, I use my treadmill a lot and really would like to know if its reading the calories correctly :-/ x
  • dm046
    dm046 Posts: 1
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    The amount of calories you burned varies depending on your weight, the exercise, and the intensity that you are going at. If there is an option on the machine to enter your weight it will be more accurate. However, they tend to overestimate a bit. Good luck
  • tlynnweb
    tlynnweb Posts: 201 Member
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    Buy a heart rate monitor watch--something like the Polar F6--it's the only REAL way to measure unfortunately.
  • bigtechno
    bigtechno Posts: 5
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    I bought myself a Polar heart rate monitor to get a more accurate reading as I found the different machines I used gave different reading and it save have to add them up at the end of the session
  • Rachel80
    Rachel80 Posts: 7
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    My trainer told me to always put 30% less your weight. So instead of putting 310 lbs I put 280. She said this gives a more accurate picture of how many calories you are actually losing. I hope this helps! :)
  • sdscouser
    sdscouser Posts: 320
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    I only use the machine calories as a guide. If you want a more realistic measure of what you have burnt then invest in a heart rate monitor.
  • HulaCherry
    HulaCherry Posts: 45
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    A heart rate monitor is seriously the way to go! I would recommend meeting with a trainer to set up your heart rate zones. That way you can focus on the zone where you're burning fat, For me, if I get above 180, that's considered my AT (Anaerobic Threshold). At that point I'm at my max and burning sugars instead of fat. You only really want to be at your AT for a minute or two at the max. Olympic athletes usually compete at AT since it's just for a short period of time.

    I love heart rate training. It's really helped me improve my cardiovascular workouts. It'll really help you step up your game during your workouts.

    I hope this helps and GOOD LUCK!!! :-D
  • khskr1
    khskr1 Posts: 392
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    If you enter your weight and age into the machine it can be about 80% accurate. If you use the quick start mode then it can be off by as much as 50%!! A heart rate monitor is really the best way to go. I second what the others say about the polar monitors. I feel naked without mine.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    When logging your exercise calories are you taking into account that you would have burned some calories if you didn't exercise for that time period.
    As an example say you work for 45 min and burn 10 cals/min that would be 450 burned from exercise but this is not the number you should enter in MFP. In that 45 min you would have burned say 3 cals per min so 3x45 = 135, so the amount you should enter in MFP for extra cals burned from exercise would be 315 (450-135). Hope this helps.
  • kksam
    kksam Posts: 38
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    I use the pedometer daily and noticed that the calorie burn was different when I used the machines. I called the company and was told to make noter of my calories burned before I use the machine, use the amount burned that the machine shows and add them together. Also to note the amount the meter shows right after I finish the machines, and subtract the daily total at the end of the day. You add the before amount and the amount from (end of exercise and day) together with your machine totals to get the correct total for the day. This is because the meter doesn't measure correctly from a machine because the steps you use are on a padded type of surface. This is what I have been doing. Good luck. :flowerforyou:
  • rstrawn
    rstrawn Posts: 1 Member
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    Hi, I am a Personal Trainer myself and refer all my clients to this as it is such a great way to keep on track and lose weight.

    With reference to calorie counting on machines, it depends on so many fctors but I always recommend that you double the total calorie of the workout as your body continues to burn calories hours after whilst your heart rate reduces to it's resting heart.

    I hope this helps.
  • johnmcfarm
    johnmcfarm Posts: 75
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    Hey Bigguy,

    those numbers do not sound out of the ordinary for someone who is large and assuming you are pushing along at a good clip. Typically on my elliptical I burn about 450 calories per half hour. I go at an average of about 175 strides per minute (range 160 - 200) and I weigh 256.

    The more we weigh, the more calories we burn because we have to work harder for the same unit of work (man, we know that, eh?)

    I go to this site: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

    For double checking calories burned, it seems pretty accurate. Scroll down beneath the ads...

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