Is this common?

gorefan82
gorefan82 Posts: 44 Member
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
So my main use of exercise equipment is the Elliptical but I have decided that I need to work in some other stuff too.
Usually I will do the Elliptical for 33 minutes and burn roughly 400 calories. Yesterday, I did 15 minutes on the Elliptical for about 155 then I did the treadmill for 18 minutes for about 126 calories burned.
I did the same amount of time and burned less calories but I felt like I had a better workout. Is that pretty common?
I'm planning on doing the same today after work!

Replies

  • hkystar
    hkystar Posts: 1,290 Member
    I think it depends on the speed/incline/amount of effort you were exerting on both machines.
  • Yurippe
    Yurippe Posts: 850 Member
    What are you basing your calorie burn on (this site, a HRM, the machine itself, etc....)?
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    Yeah on the treadmill I usually burn a lot more calories, last night I ran and burned 600 in 35min.. it is more of a workout becuase on the eliptical the machine does a lot of the work for you. It does depend how fast and high incline you are using on the treadmill, if you dont feel ready to do 6-7mph yet try a slower 3.5 with maybe a 3-4 % incline and it gets your HR up too
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    It sounds like you are going by calories burned according to the machines. To get the best estimate of calories burned you will need a Heart Rate Monitor. Most likely you did burn more on the treadmill and the numbers you have been getting on the elliptical are probably overstated. Some people find that the elliptical can overestimate caloric burn by up to 40%.
  • foxxybrown
    foxxybrown Posts: 838 Member
    You're probably burning more on the elliptical because of the movement of your arms. I prefer the elliptical because I burn more calories on it but I do like to switch it up and walk/run at times.
  • gorefan82
    gorefan82 Posts: 44 Member
    I want and need to get a HRM but just can't afford it right now unfortunately.
    I figure as long as I'm working out and trying to stay on track, then I'm doing pretty good. :)
  • SwissTracey
    SwissTracey Posts: 34 Member
    Not sure about your burn, as others have said it depends on the speed ,incline etc. But it is good to mix it up. So I say do it again. As you don't want to get bored of always working out the same.
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