Do you correct the calorie readings on machines?

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Springerrr
Springerrr Posts: 44 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I use and love the Cybex 750 elliptical. I average about 5 four hours on that crazy thing per week. I take the calories that it says I burn (about 1000/hour) and multiply by 0.8 before entering them in MFP. I am not losing any weight. Perhaps I should be correcting the calorie score more (less?) than I am?

What do other people do?
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Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Machines AND MFP over estimate calorie burns for many (most?) people.

    Calorie burns depend upon height, weight, age, gender, exertion level (as well as other things) ..... niether MFP nor your machine can know your exertion level ..... a tough workout for you may be an easy workout for someone else.

    So, yes ...... feel free to dial back the calorie burns a bit. Some people use a % .... say 70% .... and test that number for awhile. You can then dial it back some more, or add to it .... depending upon how your weight loss goes.
  • mtfr810
    mtfr810 Posts: 136 Member
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    Honestly, get a heart rate monitor and use it's calories for aerobic activity. They're not that expensive and will be a lot more accurate than the machines. For me the machines are 50-60% off.
  • a1jimmyz
    a1jimmyz Posts: 2
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    You could also use apps. I personally use the app endomono on my phone it seems to be right on. And can be used for stationary and non stationary excesses and automatically adds it to your fitness pal diary when you are done
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    The equipment at the gym never asks for my gender or height, how could it possibly be correct?
  • fitforlife34
    fitforlife34 Posts: 331 Member
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    Honestly, get a heart rate monitor and use it's calories for aerobic activity. They're not that expensive and will be a lot more accurate than the machines. For me the machines are 50-60% off.


    Does that mean if it says I burnt 500 calories, i only burned about 250? I am very confused.
  • fitforlife34
    fitforlife34 Posts: 331 Member
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    The equipment at the gym never asks for my gender or height, how could it possibly be correct?

    Or bone or muscle weight, or heredity.
  • desantos123
    desantos123 Posts: 2
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    get yourself a heart rate monitor!
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,671 Member
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    Here's my experience.

    My typical workout is 65 minutes on the elliptical, targeting a heart of at least 140 (I do 20 second sprints if my heart rate drops below target). According to the HRM I burn 500-540. According the machine itself (which knows my weight) its 740-780 According to MFP database it is 926.

    So on the days I forget to put on my HRM I adjust to 60% of the machine reading.
  • KhaIeesi
    KhaIeesi Posts: 15
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    Glad to read this - every time I added my exercises to MFP I was slightly disappointed I didn't burn as much as MFP suggested I "should" have.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I used to take about 70% of what my HRM told me to account for estimation error.

    For those using database numbers, they can be way off. There's just too many variables for a database to be accurate. People just don't burn as much as they think they burn.

    Another way I estimate is to take a number 7-10 (my intensity) and multiply that by the number of minutes...a 7 being basically a moderately paced walk or equivalent and a 10 being about 80-90% max HR...unable to hold a conversation, etc. If I'm doing intervals I do something in between.

    To the OP...it doesn't look like you have much fat. Are you in a cut? You'd be better served just cutting X% from your TDEE than trying to introduce a calorie deficit with cardio.
  • forgtmenot
    forgtmenot Posts: 860 Member
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    Yes, I always put less than what it says. It isn't a consistent percentage though honestly, I just try to make an educated guess.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    I just use the MFP calcs, since they're generally waaaay lower than the machine calcs for me.
  • Springerrr
    Springerrr Posts: 44 Member
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    What do gender and height have to do with the amount of work you put into the machine? My machine asks for weight.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    What do gender and height have to do with the amount of work you put into the machine? My machine asks for weight.

    If I was 6ft tall I'll burn a lot more calories than if I was 5ft. Males naturally have more muscle because of their differing hormones, making them burn more calories during the same workout as a female.
  • Springerrr
    Springerrr Posts: 44 Member
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    Honestly, get a heart rate monitor and use it's calories for aerobic activity. They're not that expensive and will be a lot more accurate than the machines. For me the machines are 50-60% off.

    Do you have a monitor you would suggest?
  • Springerrr
    Springerrr Posts: 44 Member
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    What do gender and height have to do with the amount of work you put into the machine? My machine asks for weight.

    If I was 6ft tall I'll burn a lot more calories than if I was 5ft. Males naturally have more muscle because of their differing hormones, making them burn more calories during the same workout as a female.
    OK, I get what you say about gender, but a 6 ft guy who weighs 170 is skinny. A 5 ft guy who weighs 170 has fat and/or muscle to explain his weight. So how does the height thing work metabolically?
  • kjmiller_15
    kjmiller_15 Posts: 22 Member
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    thanks for this suggestion
  • scottaworley
    scottaworley Posts: 871 Member
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    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Watch-Black/dp/B0035XR43U
    I like this one.

    1000 calories per hour seems way high. I don't think I've ever burnt more than 10 calories/minute (600/hour) even when doing intense workouts.
  • Springerrr
    Springerrr Posts: 44 Member
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    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Heart-Monitor-Watch-Black/dp/B0035XR43U
    I like this one.

    1000 calories per hour seems way high. I don't think I've ever burnt more than 10 calories/minute (600/hour) even when doing intense workouts.

    That's why I multiply by 0.8. But in reading these posts, I have decided to go to 0.6.
    I think I'll take a pass on the $100 wrist-watch.
  • Jaceface27
    Jaceface27 Posts: 43 Member
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    I eventually want to get a Jawbone UP to help monitor my heart rate and what not. But that's an incentive if I can lose 10 lbs by September. What I've been doing is taking my exercise and dividing it in half. So-- Zumba says I burned 900 calories in 1 hour. I'm going to log only 30 minutes of activity on MFP = 450 calories. I then comment on my update(more for myself than anyone else) that I actually did it for a longer amount of time. I think 60% of the calories you burned will be sufficient too.

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