Things that make you go...Hmmmm....(outrageous calorie burn)

I have been on both sides of this. I got tired of rude comments from people who dont know me or my workout routine just flat out telling me I didn't burn what I said without even asking the activity, hours doing said activity, or my weight or fitness level. Not all exercise is created equal, u know? At 300 lbs I will burn more than someone half my weight. That being said, we were both right half the time. I got a heart rate monitor. Had been looking at fitbit but went with a Polar with chest monitor for accuracy sake. Also wanted something water proof for water aerobics. My conclusion is that mfp is far too generous with calorie burns. At my weight it says 60 mins on elliptical is worth 1163 calories. My hrm says average of 440. Do I still have days where I have 3000+ calorie burns? Yes. Do people say I don't? Yep. Do I care? Nope. I have my hrm so I know whats true. And if they bothered to question individual situations before making snap judgments they would learn on those days I am at the Y all day and have over 5 hrs of exercise those days not counting breaks, etc. Like last Thursday when I took RIPPED class in the morning and in the evening plus weight training and machines. But I do agree when people log housework, checking the mail, etc it can get pretty blurry. For me it was mfp overestimating calorie burns in the database. My hrm is the best fitness equipment purchase I've made because it clears all this up.

You would hate me then, lol. Butmy numbers are done through my HRM. To the same effect though, I work very hard when I run, bike ride, or play hockey, so my numbers are legit.

I'm not really sure how to post and reply on all this stuff here. But to the person who challenged my previous comment where I said that this is all very subjective, I said much of the same thing as you did, I just don't need to try and impress everyone with a big word vocabulary... VO2 peaks when you're young, is also affected by genetics, and whether or not one is male or female... Also, typically drops by as much as 30 percent, by age 65 or so... Also factor in that hormones that benefit muscle mass and strength, like testosterone, also decrease significantly with age... So, it is in fact very subjective, or unique based on each individuals circumstances. Furthermore, I don't know of too many people who walk around with the testing equipment to measure VO2... And unless you go to an actual testing lab, every other method for determining VO2 would be best guestimate based on multiple factors, just like the discussion here is based upon: age, weight, muscle mass and/or body fat percentages and HR... So while there may exist objective measuring devices and principles, the fact that few have access makes your comment moot.... At best...

Actually, estimating VO2max on calculations has decently high accuracy compared to the normal tests.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16168867

The estimated is worthy of using, and the biggest influence compared to other variables you mentioned, since age is in the calc already.

You do realize the heavier someone is the more they will burn doing the same thing someone who is 1/2 there weight. I am trying to give ppl the benefit of the doubt. But im sure there are some outrageous burns out there. I know for me if anything I underestimate my burn and usually overestimate my cal intake so I have a 10 or 15 percent buffer for the Just in case. I guess the bottom line is if they are happy where they are at and their progress so be it.

Very true.

275 lb person doing 4mph at 5% incline would burn 1002 calories.

Of course, merely sitting around they would have burned 131 calories anyway - so their net burn over what would have happened anyway is only 871, but still decent.

FITBIT!