Elliptical - Calories Burned - Help!! :)

baltonl1
baltonl1 Posts: 6
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all! I was wondering...when I do the elliptical, or any machine for that matter, the calories burned at the end of my workout (per the screen on the machine) is never what MFP says when I plug in my exercise for the day. For example - I've read that for my weight, etc. that I should be, doing the elliptical for 30 minutes that I should be burning about 500 calories, whereas my elliptical machine only records me at burning 300ish. Just looking for some feedback from you guys so that I know where I stand lol. Thanks in advance, guys!! :-)

Replies

  • Unknown
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  • ellenzab
    ellenzab Posts: 5
    That's wierd because I've always been told that calorie displays on machines are very generous and should basically be halved (especially if you don't have to enter your weight first). I do a lot of elliptical and I give myself about 10-12 calories a minute. So your 300 is about right IMO...but acutally I guess if our weights are very different you could be burning more or less than me. Wow..I'm not sure I was helpful here at all! :-)
  • frogmama
    frogmama Posts: 404 Member
    I found that the machines at the gym showed fewer calories burned than the website and my heart rate monitor shows even fewer calories than the machines. The machines might read around 300, but my heartrate monitor may only read about 200 calories. Frustrating, but the monitor is probably more accurate.
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
    you can never be really sure unless you wear a chest strap HRM. They are the most accurate. A lot of the elliptical machines don't take body size or gender into consideration, same with MFP. It's all averages. If you want to be absolutely sure gotta wear the strap! My elliptical was giving me at LEAST 150 more calories than my HRM! That's a lot!
  • 4lafz
    4lafz Posts: 1,078 Member
    MFP is VERY generous with their calories burned section! I find, using my heart-rate monitor, is best!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Without a heart rate monitor, it's tough to tell.

    With my heart rate monitor, depending on my intensity, I burn between 500 and 600 calories in an hour on the elliptical. MFP gives me much less and the elliptical says more than 1,000 for that amount of time.
  • jkohan
    jkohan Posts: 184 Member
    you can never be really sure unless you wear a chest strap HRM. They are the most accurate. A lot of the elliptical machines don't take body size or gender into consideration, same with MFP. It's all averages. If you want to be absolutely sure gotta wear the strap! My elliptical was giving me at LEAST 150 more calories than my HRM! That's a lot!

    Exactly this. To emphasize--not all HRMs even take HR into consideration and use formulas... you need a chest strap HRM for the most accurate info.
  • cstibbe
    cstibbe Posts: 47 Member
    I weigh 167 and I am 21 years old and I burn around 300 cals on an elliptical machine while being on it for 30 mins. I do a high intensity though throughout the whole workout, but even still, I would be willing to guess you would be burning closer 300 as opposed to 500. I find that even when I am wearing my heart rate monitor I usually burn around 100 cals for every ten mins of cardio I do whether that is running, stair climber, or elliptical. So if I ever forget to wear my heart rate monitor I just input around 100 for every ten mins of cardio give or take 20 cals depending on how intense the workout is. Hope that helps!
  • bkthomas2004
    bkthomas2004 Posts: 130 Member
    For me, I log my weight, hold on to the metal things that track your heart rate and then make sure to keep my heart rate above the recommended target for my age. I can tell that the HRM on those machines are 'pretty' accurate because I can tell personally when I'm slacking on the machine going easy on myself. So I take what the machine gives me and log it into MFP, you have the option to change the actual calories burned you don't have to take the numbers that MFP gives, bc that had me thrown off for a while too, the machines do average your cals vs heart rate if you hold on to it most all the time. But if you go to levels higher than 1 it will help you get your heart rate up faster as well thus burning more cals, for me I don't burn 500+ cals unless I'm on level 5 for 60 min. HTH. :-)
  • pegsue50
    pegsue50 Posts: 13
    500 calories is 1 hour on Elliptical machines at the gym
  • jkohan
    jkohan Posts: 184 Member
    For me, I log my weight, hold on to the metal things that track your heart rate and then make sure to keep my heart rate above the recommended target for my age. I can tell that the HRM on those machines are 'pretty' accurate because I can tell personally when I'm slacking on the machine going easy on myself. So I take what the machine gives me and log it into MFP, you have the option to change the actual calories burned you don't have to take the numbers that MFP gives, bc that had me thrown off for a while too, the machines do average your cals vs heart rate if you hold on to it most all the time. But if you go to levels higher than 1 it will help you get your heart rate up faster as well thus burning more cals, for me I don't burn 500+ cals unless I'm on level 5 for 60 min. HTH. :-)

    When you hold onto the metal things for your HR--it's just for pure info only--the machine does NOT take that info into account making the calorie burned personalized to your workout. Those machines only give you the HR and ask for your weight/age in order to track your HR and tell you if you're working out in the fat burning or cardio zone....not to make the calories burned more accurate.
  • SarahElittlebit
    SarahElittlebit Posts: 66 Member
    I have an elliptical at home. It always is less than MFP. The Elliptical at the gym is about 1/2 of what the machine is in my house for the same time spent. I think the only way to truly judge is the heart rate monitor. I still need to get one.
  • Shawna_831
    Shawna_831 Posts: 316
    Hey I had the same problem at first too. My machine was a lot less than MFP. Like you, I came on here and asked for help. Get a HRM watch or chest strap. They are the most accurate. My machine today said around 530 and my watch said 742 (closer to what MFP says). You can check out ****s sporting goods, Wal-mart or get one off Ebay.
  • Shawna_831
    Shawna_831 Posts: 316
    LOL... I guess you can't say D**k on here. :laugh:

    Check D**k's Sporting goods for sales! I got mine for 1/2 the price there.
  • Shawna_831
    Shawna_831 Posts: 316
    For me, I log my weight, hold on to the metal things that track your heart rate and then make sure to keep my heart rate above the recommended target for my age. I can tell that the HRM on those machines are 'pretty' accurate because I can tell personally when I'm slacking on the machine going easy on myself. So I take what the machine gives me and log it into MFP, you have the option to change the actual calories burned you don't have to take the numbers that MFP gives, bc that had me thrown off for a while too, the machines do average your cals vs heart rate if you hold on to it most all the time. But if you go to levels higher than 1 it will help you get your heart rate up faster as well thus burning more cals, for me I don't burn 500+ cals unless I'm on level 5 for 60 min. HTH. :-)

    My heart rate has been way off from the machine too. Becareful ladies! I have to watch my heart rate because of minor heart issues and my elliptical was a lot lower than my actual rate.
  • KarenBorter
    KarenBorter Posts: 1,157 Member
    you can never be really sure unless you wear a chest strap HRM. They are the most accurate. A lot of the elliptical machines don't take body size or gender into consideration, same with MFP. It's all averages. If you want to be absolutely sure gotta wear the strap! My elliptical was giving me at LEAST 150 more calories than my HRM! That's a lot!

    I agree with this ... I just got a HRM and wore it for the first time yesterday. I compared the read out to the one on the HRM and it was about 60 calories more on the machine. THANKFULLY I haven't been consuming all the exercise calories so I am okay BUT I would invest in a HRM it is probably the best investment you will make (that and a food scale).

    EDIT: And my HRM transmits to the machine I am on. There is one other girl in the gym that uses a HRM and I pray that she and I aren't working out at the same time because her HRM was transmitting to my machine before ... NOW I know why my heart rate would show up even if I wasn't holding the sensors ... it was HER heart rate ...
  • jkohan
    jkohan Posts: 184 Member
    you can never be really sure unless you wear a chest strap HRM. They are the most accurate. A lot of the elliptical machines don't take body size or gender into consideration, same with MFP. It's all averages. If you want to be absolutely sure gotta wear the strap! My elliptical was giving me at LEAST 150 more calories than my HRM! That's a lot!

    I agree with this ... I just got a HRM and wore it for the first time yesterday. I compared the read out to the one on the HRM and it was about 60 calories more on the machine. THANKFULLY I haven't been consuming all the exercise calories so I am okay BUT I would invest in a HRM it is probably the best investment you will make (that and a food scale).

    EDIT: And my HRM transmits to the machine I am on. There is one other girl in the gym that uses a HRM and I pray that she and I aren't working out at the same time because her HRM was transmitting to my machine before ... NOW I know why my heart rate would show up even if I wasn't holding the sensors ... it was HER heart rate ...

    Polar is the only HRM on the market that blocks out others around you--including other Polar wearers....it's one of their features.

    I will also caution people on the watches. I know the newer ones say that they have cutting edge technology to measure HR....BS in my opinion...they all STILL overestimate based upon your gate...the chest strap that measures your HR independently from your gate/exercise is the best way to go.
  • baltonl1
    baltonl1 Posts: 6
    Heart rate monitor - I need to get one of those! I usually do 30-35 mins of the elliptical on resistance 8-10, doing the arm poles too the entire time. So I wonder...

    Thanks everyone! Everyone has been so helpful on here...I could spend hours on MFP! :-)
  • baltonl1
    baltonl1 Posts: 6
    Oh! Does anyone have any recommendations or links to a good heart rate chest strap? I'd love to get one! Thanks! :-)
  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
    Oh! Does anyone have any recommendations or links to a good heart rate chest strap? I'd love to get one! Thanks! :-)

    I use the polar Ft7

    It records all of the necessary info, plus it saves your workouts so you can see what you burned a week ago or whatever. It was around $100 or so.
  • baltonl1
    baltonl1 Posts: 6
    Great - thank you!
  • Steelytop
    Steelytop Posts: 145 Member
    Interesting. These polars go for about $60 to $100 from what I'm seeing online. Determining which one to get is key.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I have a Polar F4. I think that's the cheapest chest strap model Polar makes. It's good if you don't work out in a gym because it doesn't have the anti-interference software, so it can pick up someone else's HRM. The F6 (the next model up) does have that software.
  • baltonl1
    baltonl1 Posts: 6
    I just bid on a Polar FT7 on Ebay - here's to hoping I get it! :-)
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