how many calories i might be burning on elliptical trainer?

MeGaga
MeGaga Posts: 25 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm 240 Lbs, my elliptical trainer gave me around 73 calories burnt after 30 minutes of moderate exercise, and MFP 491 calories!!!!! it's a HUGE difference, which one is closer and i should follow?

Replies

  • CooperSprings
    CooperSprings Posts: 754 Member
    I would just average them, to be on the safe side, though it's likely to be the higher number, in my experience.
  • jaecamp1
    jaecamp1 Posts: 120 Member
    When I look up the elliptical on here it only gives me one option. Personally I don't believe it at all because there HAS to be a difference when I'm really going at it, as opposed to when I'm doing it half a**** too get some time in. Lol. I figure either was is better than sitting on the couch anyway. :) From what I understand the counts on machines are usually pretty off too but I would imagine the machine at least know the incline and intensity you are doing it. For that reason, I would err on the safe side and log the lower number.
  • 1Shellybe
    1Shellybe Posts: 6 Member
    I have a "manual" elliptical ... I take 10 calories for each minute... mine is pretty intense... 10 minutes is 100 calories logged... I still can't do ten minutes straight through... I start & stop the timer on my phone to get a total of ten minutes!
  • dondimitri
    dondimitri Posts: 245 Member
    73 calories seems very, very low.

    At 170 pounds on the Precor ellipticals at my gym I typically log around 450 calories for 30 minutes. Am I really burning 450? I doubt it but I'd bet I'm a heck of lot closer to 450 than I am to 73.

    What brand elliptical do you have? Is it one on which you can enter your weight? That 73 number has to be way off.
  • phjorg1
    phjorg1 Posts: 642 Member
    to burn 450 calories in 30min, you would have to be going elite levels of exertion. considering you're a total beginner, this is basically impossible. So I would throw any reading saying that out the window.

    ellipticals are misleading because your bodyweight has little bearing on the calorie burn. Seeing as the machine just supports your weight on it's own and you don't have to physically move it. it's really only the machine resistance that matters for calorie burn. And there is no way MFP could possibly know what lbs of resistance your machine was set at. So it's giving a very inflated number imo.
  • happyindian
    happyindian Posts: 89 Member
    73 is way too low...almost impractical on an elliptical. i at 190 lbs typically burn 10 - 11 cals a minute , at a resistance set at 5 and na incline of 6 - 10.
  • happyindian
    happyindian Posts: 89 Member
    If tht is the case....do u think we shud trust the number the machine shows????
  • happyindian
    happyindian Posts: 89 Member
    [o burn 450 calories in 30min, you would have to be going elite levels of exertion. considering you're a total beginner, this is basically impossible. So I would throw any reading saying that out the window.

    ellipticals are misleading because your bodyweight has little bearing on the calorie burn. Seeing as the machine just supports your weight on it's own and you don't have to physically move it. it's really only the machine resistance that matters for calorie burn. And there is no way MFP could possibly know what lbs of resistance your machine was set at. So it's giving a very inflated number imo.]

    If tht is the case....do u think we shud trust the number the machine shows????
    [/quote]
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  • benol1
    benol1 Posts: 867 Member
    I'm 240 Lbs, my elliptical trainer gave me around 73 calories burnt after 30 minutes of moderate exercise, and MFP 491 calories!!!!! it's a HUGE difference, which one is closer and i should follow?

    I use an elliptical trainer and the only calorie burn calculation I trust is from my HRM. MFP burn calculations (for me) can be twice to three times what my HRM tell me.
    kind regrds,

    Ben
  • phjorg1
    phjorg1 Posts: 642 Member
    If tht is the case....do u think we shud trust the number the machine shows????
    not at 73cal for 30min. sounds like a calibration issue there. But as a general rule, i would trust the actual machine over mfp for an elliptical. however, a properly calibrated HRM that allows for hrmax and vo2max will be farrrrrr more accurate than any of the above.
  • dondimitri
    dondimitri Posts: 245 Member
    to burn 450 calories in 30min, you would have to be going elite levels of exertion....

    Not even close to elite.

    For a 240 pound person to burn 1000 calories/hour they'd have to run at about 5mph.
  • phjorg1
    phjorg1 Posts: 642 Member
    to burn 450 calories in 30min, you would have to be going elite levels of exertion....

    Not even close to elite.

    For a 240 pound person to burn 1000 calories/hour they'd have to run at about 5mph.
    ya, someone 240lbs would have to do that..... for an hour. at 5mph. actually running without a break. by all means go and try it. I'm not holding my breath.
  • shadowlydarkness
    shadowlydarkness Posts: 243 Member
    When I run on mine for 15 minutes I burn anything between 100 and 150 depending on my intensity.
  • dondimitri
    dondimitri Posts: 245 Member
    to burn 450 calories in 30min, you would have to be going elite levels of exertion....

    Not even close to elite.

    For a 240 pound person to burn 1000 calories/hour they'd have to run at about 5mph.
    ya, someone 240lbs would have to do that..... for an hour. at 5mph. actually running without a break. by all means go and try it. I'm not holding my breath.

    You are reading more into my reply than is warranted. The 1000/hour is simply the rate of calorie burn. I'm not suggesting she could keep it up for 60 minutes.

    And I'm not even saying it's likely she can keep it up for 30, but it's hardly an elite level of exertion. That's only a 12 minute mile. That barely qualifies as a jog, there are people who walk that fast.
  • MeGaga
    MeGaga Posts: 25 Member
    it's manual, i don't enter any data
  • MeGaga
    MeGaga Posts: 25 Member
    I Increased the resistance far more than the one i started with and now it's giving me 100 calories after 30 minutes..
    I'm just wondering if that's normal coz i think i should at least burn 100 in 15 minutes, i do that on a treadmill i actually burn 100 calories in 15 minutes, so i thought an elliptical should do more..
  • XTSH
    XTSH Posts: 129 Member
    Personally, I burned around 300Kcal (with HRM) for 30min.

    I'm not an exercise guru but here's what I think. Resistance increased but if you are not stepping fast, you are not increasing your heart rate and thus, the calories burn is not going to significantly increase.

    Threadmill is different as you really have to move at the speed which you entered.
  • poohpoohpeapod
    poohpoohpeapod Posts: 776 Member
    to burn 450 calories in 30min, you would have to be going elite levels of exertion. considering you're a total beginner, this is basically impossible. So I would throw any reading saying that out the window.

    ellipticals are misleading because your bodyweight has little bearing on the calorie burn. Seeing as the machine just supports your weight on it's own and you don't have to physically move it. it's really only the machine resistance that matters for calorie burn. And there is no way MFP could possibly know what lbs of resistance your machine was set at. So it's giving a very inflated number imo.
    this^^^ I go at it hard, and have never burned 450 in 30 minutes, more like 200 if I am lucky and that is intervals at level 6-9resistance pounding fast and hard.
  • Colossus882
    Colossus882 Posts: 22 Member
    Might find this useful.

    Has a lot of other activities too as a rough guide.

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/how-many-calories-do-i-burn-on-the-elliptical-machine/
  • XTSH
    XTSH Posts: 129 Member
    Might find this useful.

    Has a lot of other activities too as a rough guide.

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/how-many-calories-do-i-burn-on-the-elliptical-machine/

    Ohhhh!! Thanks for sharing this info! :flowerforyou:
  • Jennvandemark
    Jennvandemark Posts: 179 Member
    I use a HRM while on the elliptical and in 35 mins of really pushing myself I can burn on average 350 calories. MFP calculates 600 something burn.

    My resistance is set normally between 9-11. I normally like to try and get a 5k in 30 mins with a 5min cool down.
  • MeGaga
    MeGaga Posts: 25 Member
    thank u all for the info, i guess both r really not accurate, and i'll consider buying HRM
  • jcs0530
    jcs0530 Posts: 70 Member
    I would say MFP. I ride an ellipticle bike (StreetStrider), at 12 miles an hour, I burn about 14 calories a minute. Thats 840 an hour.
  • Dankees
    Dankees Posts: 3
    My Sole elliptical trainer says that I burn only 100 calories in 30 minutes of use, going between 10 MPH and 12 MPH, and going more than 5 miles in that time.

    How could it only read out 100 calories burned? Seriously? What is it, really?
  • chele1028
    chele1028 Posts: 248 Member
    When I was in that weight range, my average burn was 100 calories in 10 minutes on the elliptical per my hrm.
  • bhdon
    bhdon Posts: 117 Member
    I weigh 234 . For cardio I use the stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical and I swim. Swimming is harder to gauge - but on the equipment - if I'm really working hard - meaning I have a nice steady sweat running down my forehead, chest and back, and my heart rate is in the mid to upper range of my target zone - I figure I'm burning around 8 to 10 calories a minute. I could be wrong - but the numbers seem to add up fairly accurately when I factor in caloric intake and monitor my weight loss.
  • BamFit14
    BamFit14 Posts: 1 Member
    Definitely be closer to the one that read around 400, I burn on average 12 calories per minute on the elliptical trainer.
  • angel7472
    angel7472 Posts: 317 Member
    My Sole elliptical trainer says that I burn only 100 calories in 30 minutes of use, going between 10 MPH and 12 MPH, and going more than 5 miles in that time.

    How could it only read out 100 calories burned? Seriously? What is it, really?

    I have a Sole elliptical and if I do an hour it tells me I burn 525. Thats at a steady pace full incline and I cant remember the resistance. I input my stats before I start one of the programs.

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