Calories Burned?

hig17
hig17 Posts: 159 Member
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone! I am new to working out on fitness equipment. I have just been walking outdoors for my exercise. Today I walked on a treadmill for 40 minutes at 3 Mph and the treadmill stated I had burned 82 cals, but when I log walking at 3.0 mph on here it says I burned way more than that (236 cals I believe)???

My question is which one should I trust? I live in an apartment complex so I know that equipment is not calibrated or serviced b/c frankly the office staff sucks! So should I go my what MFP says I burned or the treadmill? HELP!

Replies

  • KALUZNY71
    KALUZNY71 Posts: 2
    See now i have the exact opposite problem. My treadmill says i burned more calories then myfitpal does. I have asked the same question on here and have been told to use what myfitpal gives you, unless you can program your weight into the equipment you are useing.
  • MelissaLu
    MelissaLu Posts: 83
    Yeah, that's a good question to ask: does it have you log in your weight?
  • hig17
    hig17 Posts: 159 Member
    I didn't see a place to log weight on the treadmill, but I will check next time. I know the elliptical has a weight log, but I hate those things, they are definitely my exercise nemesis!!! ugh
  • badgirllaughing
    badgirllaughing Posts: 30 Member
    Treadmills need to be calibrated from time to time but are fairly accurate. Just make sure it can put your age and weight to get the accurate calorie count. Mfp is only accurate for a certain weight so I definitely don't use it as you lose more weight you burn less calories... when I walk for 65 min on an average speed of 3.2 miles I burn 410 calories but I also weigh 209 lbs. If your treadmill does not allow you put your age and weight you can google online to find out the correct amount of calories you are burning.
  • NewImprovedCnbethea1
    NewImprovedCnbethea1 Posts: 1,108
    Entering your age and weight makes it more accurate!!!
  • ecanarecci
    ecanarecci Posts: 7
    Definately has to do with your weight. I found an awesome website that has just about everything you would want to know about how many calories you burn. Hope you like it.
    http://www.fatburn.com/free_tool_activity_burn.asp
  • MommyofLily
    MommyofLily Posts: 149 Member
    I would say go with MFP numbers. 82 calories sounds low for 40 minutes. I don't know what your size is at all, but I think treadmills are usually set for some certain average weight, like 140 lbs or something. And sometimes that can be pretty inaccurate. If there is an option to put in your age/weight, that might make it more accurate, but for now, I'd go with the numbers in the database on here. Hope that helps!
  • donna56
    donna56 Posts: 412
    Treadmills need to be calibrated from time to time but are fairly accurate. Just make sure it can put your age and weight to get the accurate calorie count. Mfp is only accurate for a certain weight so I definitely don't use it as you lose more weight you burn less calories... when I walk for 65 min on an average speed of 3.2 miles I burn 410 calories but I also weigh 209 lbs. If your treadmill does not allow you put your age and weight you can google online to find out the correct amount of calories you are burning.

    Well I am confused again. My treadmill lets me put in my weight, but not my age :(
  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
    I've checked MFP's calories burned against other websites and the equipment at the gym.
    MFP actually figures into calories burned (as do most other websites) your height weight and age which will effect your calories burned. (An example: at 30 years old, 228 pounds and 5'10 I will burn fewer calories on the tread mill than someone 30 and 5'0" and 228 but I will burn more than someone 6'4" and 228 pounds.) If the tread mill doesn't let you enter HEIGHT WEIGHT and AGE go with the MFP burn or get a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) to figure what's actually happening while you work out.

    **my 2 cents**

    :drinker:
  • donna56
    donna56 Posts: 412
    I've checked MFP's calories burned against other websites and the equipment at the gym.
    MFP actually figures into calories burned (as do most other websites) your height weight and age which will effect your calories burned. (An example: at 30 years old, 228 pounds and 5'10 I will burn fewer calories on the tread mill than someone 30 and 5'0" and 228 but I will burn more than someone 6'4" and 228 pounds.) If the tread mill doesn't let you enter HEIGHT WEIGHT and AGE go with the MFP burn or get a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) to figure what's actually happening while you work out.

    **my 2 cents**

    :drinker:


    That's exactly what I did today! :smile: I ordered a Polar F4 HRM. I can't wait for it to get here either.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    If you are walking at 3 mph, multiply your body weight in kilograms (pounds divided by 2.2) by 3 and that will give you your calories per hour. Divide that number by 60 for Kcal/minute and multiply that number by the number of minutes you exercised. See if that number matches either the treadmill or the MFP calculator.
  • aareeyesee
    aareeyesee Posts: 65 Member
    If you like Excel, I made a spreadsheet that does all this automatically for me.
    http://rockwellfitness.com/?page_id=1194 at the bottom of that page is a METs chart. If you pick the appropriate MET and use this formula
    Total Calories Burned = Duration in Minutes x ((MET x 3.5 x your weight in kg)/200)
    Its what I use and it works for me. Causes me much less grief than wearing a damn HRM all the time.
  • saram21
    saram21 Posts: 88
    I would say to use the amount shown on the treadmil. I use both elipticals and treadmils and I always use the amount it shows me. I dont know what kind your treadmil is, but the ones I use ask for both weight and age. Whenever I try to put in my calories on my log it always gives me a way higher number, sometimes as high as two hundred more!
  • saram21
    saram21 Posts: 88
    If you are walking at 3 mph, multiply your body weight in kilograms (pounds divided by 2.2) by 3 and that will give you your calories per hour. Divide that number by 60 for Kcal/minute and multiply that number by the number of minutes you exercised. See if that number matches either the treadmill or the MFP calculator.

    Interesting! How did you come across this information? I really want to look into this! I hope I haven't been cheating myself!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    I typically walk about 4.2mph and at 25 minutes, can burn 200-300 calories...so I would definitely trust MFP over the treadmill on this one. RARE that I would say that, but it's true in this case.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories