Why the differences in cals burned???

BetesBitch
BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
30 minutes elliptical exercise;

Elliptical machine says 306cals burned.
MFP says 306cals burned.
Podometer says 160cals burned.

I would say since machine and mfp match that the 306cals burned is more accurate??? What do you guys say?

Replies

  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    30 minutes elliptical exercise;

    Elliptical machine says 306cals burned.
    MFP says 306cals burned.
    Podometer says 160cals burned.

    I would say since machine and mfp match that the 306cals burned is more accurate??? What do you guys say?

    That's approximately what I get for that amount of time...according to Fitbit. When in doubt though..estimate low.
  • mzhus11
    mzhus11 Posts: 10
    Always go with the lowest number, or in a few more weeks you will be wondering why no weight has been lost.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I would say since machine and mfp match that the 306cals burned is more accurate??? What do you guys say?

    When in doubt, use the lower number.

    300 calories in 30 minutes for a 150 pound human is the equivalent of running 3 miles. Since elliptical has approximately half the MET of running, that bumps up to the equivalent of running 6 miles in 30 minutes.
  • BetesBitch
    BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
    I would say since machine and mfp match that the 306cals burned is more accurate??? What do you guys say?

    When in doubt, use the lower number.

    300 calories in 30 minutes for a 150 pound human is the equivalent of running 3 miles. Since elliptical has approximately half the MET of running, that bumps up to the equivalent of running 6 miles in 30 minutes.
    I believe the distance of my workout was 5 miles. If i remember correctly.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I would say since machine and mfp match that the 306cals burned is more accurate??? What do you guys say?

    When in doubt, use the lower number.

    300 calories in 30 minutes for a 150 pound human is the equivalent of running 3 miles. Since elliptical has approximately half the MET of running, that bumps up to the equivalent of running 6 miles in 30 minutes.
    I believe the distance of my workout was 5 miles. If i remember correctly.

    Sorry, that wasn't clear. If you're fit enough to do that burn on the elliptical, you're also fit enough to run (not "ellipt" - run) 6 miles in 30 minutes. If you can't do the latter, you aren't doing the former.

    Scale accordingly, and you'll have something in the right ballpark. I suspect your pedometer is actually pretty close.
  • BetesBitch
    BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
    I'm gonna do this exercise 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes each time anyways so im sure i will lose weight from this...healthy diet is in check as well of course.
  • BetesBitch
    BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
    I would say since machine and mfp match that the 306cals burned is more accurate??? What do you guys say?

    When in doubt, use the lower number.

    300 calories in 30 minutes for a 150 pound human is the equivalent of running 3 miles. Since elliptical has approximately half the MET of running, that bumps up to the equivalent of running 6 miles in 30 minutes.
    I believe the distance of my workout was 5 miles. If i remember correctly.

    Sorry, that wasn't clear. If you're fit enough to do that burn on the elliptical, you're also fit enough to run (not "ellipt" - run) 6 miles in 30 minutes. If you can't do the latter, you aren't doing the former.

    Scale accordingly, and you'll have something in the right ballpark. I suspect your pedometer is actually pretty close.

    Hmmm, I don't know about that. I ran my first 5km run in the summer and it took me 40minutes. I find running soooo much harder than "ellipt running". During my race i had to walk quite a bit to catch my breath.
  • Just_Scott
    Just_Scott Posts: 1,766 Member
    Interesting numbers on this thread....
  • BetesBitch
    BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
    Interesting numbers on this thread....

    Care to elaborate?
  • Just_Scott
    Just_Scott Posts: 1,766 Member
    A little. I agree using the lower number since your question was asking which to use.

    And, if you run 5 miles you're burning closer to 500 calories. The equation someone provided is great, but simple rules of thumb seem to work for a reason...they are easy to remember. So, walk or run a mile =100 calories. SImple.

    Best of luck. Train hard, eat well, and have fun! Hope this helps.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    I would personally go with the lower number.
  • BetesBitch
    BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
    A little. I agree using the lower number since your question was asking which to use.

    And, if you run 5 miles you're burning closer to 500 calories. The equation someone provided is great, but simple rules of thumb seem to work for a reason...they are easy to remember. So, walk or run a mile =100 calories. SImple.

    Best of luck. Train hard, eat well, and have fun! Hope this helps.

    Ok, so i used the elliptical for about 5 miles so i've burned 500cals??? I think im misunderstanding......
  • _Josee_
    _Josee_ Posts: 625 Member
    Podometer might be off as you are not really walking on an elleptical ?!?

    I'd go with the mfp and machine number as it is the same....
  • jennibear8504
    jennibear8504 Posts: 46
    I'm 135 and on the elliptical I burn about 100 cals per mile I do. I use a hrm now, but mpf is semiclose most of the time, at least to me it is....
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    podometer ? is this a step counter ? If so I know my one doesn't work very well unless I am moving in a forward direction so it may be missing the beat. Also the kinematics of elliptical may burn more calories than walking so even if it is counting the correct number of steps, each step may be harder. I agree normally with the guy who says go with the lowest but in this case I would go with 2 out of 3 because I think you may be counting apples and pairs
  • miss_henrie
    miss_henrie Posts: 6 Member
    I can do 10 mins each on three items. Cycling I can burn 170c. Jogging 140 and Eliptical 170. It all depends on the resistance I set it to or the incline. Generally I average 150 calories burned for each 10 minute period.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I find running soooo much harder than "ellipt running". During my race i had to walk quite a bit to catch my breath.
    Exactly.
  • MarissaMotivated
    MarissaMotivated Posts: 2 Member
    I weigh 165lbs. I go at a pretty OK pace on the elliptical, not as fast as I would want but good enough for now.

    Anywhoes, every 10 minutes I do, I make sure I reach 100 cals. So 30 minutes for me would reach about 300 cals. Plus I wear a heart rate monitor and the machine always gives me a lower number (but the machines here are basic and you can't fill in all your specifics). The fitness coaches and the sports man in the shop also told me that my heart rate monitor would always be the most correct.

    Since you have 2 things saying the same thing (and the pedometer doesn't really count because you're not actually walking), I would stick with the 300. To be sure, you could buy a heart rate monitor, they're really good and they show you if your heart beat is not elevated too much and so on. They're not that expensive, at least not here in Belgium. I bought mine for 70 euros I think, so that would be about 96 dollars. I think that's an OK price, because you can use it forever (if you take good care of it, the battery also lasts years with moderate usage).
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    I would personally go with the lower number.
    Me, too. But only time will tell. If you eat back all your exercise calories for two weeks and don't lose, then you'll have to trust the lower number.
  • jellybeanmusic
    jellybeanmusic Posts: 161 Member
    I second the heart rate monitor. Numbers on here are averages, so if you've got some massive guys with huge burns in the mix, then little girls like me are never going to hit those numbers. I was shocked at how low my burns were when I wore my hrm at first, but at least I knew exactly what I was dealing with. Totally made a difference for me to know what was going on.
  • BetesBitch
    BetesBitch Posts: 234 Member
    podometer ? is this a step counter ? If so I know my one doesn't work very well unless I am moving in a forward direction so it may be missing the beat. Also the kinematics of elliptical may burn more calories than walking so even if it is counting the correct number of steps, each step may be harder. I agree normally with the guy who says go with the lowest but in this case I would go with 2 out of 3 because I think you may be counting apples and pairs
    Yes it's a step counter that counts calories burned too. I just wanted something to help me know how many calories i burn from day-to-day and exercise can really vary for me on a day-to-day basis. I am going to test the pedometer walking outside one of these days and see how accurate that may be. For now, I will go with what MFP and my elliptical says.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    A little. I agree using the lower number since your question was asking which to use.

    And, if you run 5 miles you're burning closer to 500 calories. The equation someone provided is great, but simple rules of thumb seem to work for a reason...they are easy to remember. So, walk or run a mile =100 calories. SImple.

    Best of luck. Train hard, eat well, and have fun! Hope this helps.

    Ok, so i used the elliptical for about 5 miles so i've burned 500cals??? I think im misunderstanding......

    You didn't run though. As Mr. Knight pointed out above, the MET of the elliptical is roughly half of running. MET is the metabolic equivalent of task - basically a way of expressing how much energy a task requires. So running requires about twice as much energy as using the elliptical. So if running 5 miles burns 500 calories, going the same distance on the elliptical is roughly half of that.

    ETA- keep in mind the elliptical entry on MFP is very general. It does not even allow for different resistance levels that most ellipticals have. It sound like your elliptical and MFP are using the same equation to figure out the calories burned. I would be leery.
  • _Giselle_
    _Giselle_ Posts: 68
    HRM is the way to go. It's the most accurate number you can get. Not 100% but closer than an estimate from number of steps taken...
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    MFP is an estimate and so is the machine. I use a HRM and the machines at the gym never correlate with what my HRM says (they are usually reflect higher burns). It's safer to go with the lower number of 160, but if you feel that is too low, use the average of both number (233 cals). If you find you aren't losing weight like you should be, then you know you are miscalculating.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    When I used a HRM I actually burned slightly more calories on the elliptical than the machine said I did. For 30 mins I burn around 300 calories. According to the HRM a burned a lot more on the treadmill than the machine told me. The stepper was wrong though.
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    A little. I agree using the lower number since your question was asking which to use.

    And, if you run 5 miles you're burning closer to 500 calories. The equation someone provided is great, but simple rules of thumb seem to work for a reason...they are easy to remember. So, walk or run a mile =100 calories. SImple.

    Best of luck. Train hard, eat well, and have fun! Hope this helps.



    Ok, so i used the elliptical for about 5 miles so i've burned 500cals??? I think im misunderstanding......

    You didn't run though. As Mr. Knight pointed out above, the MET of the elliptical is roughly half of running. MET is the metabolic equivalent of task - basically a way of expressing how much energy a task requires. So running requires about twice as much energy as using the elliptical. So if running 5 miles burns 500 calories, going the same distance on the elliptical is roughly half of that.

    ETA- keep in mind the elliptical entry on MFP is very general. It does not even allow for different resistance levels that most ellipticals have. It sound like your elliptical and MFP are using the same equation to figure out the calories burned. I would be leery.

    I understand the basis of MET but you can't compare like for like here. You can't say that elliptical trainers are half that of running because it depends on the setting you have the trainer set to and how fast. I am sure if I turned the trainer right up and jogged at 4.5 mph the trainer MET would be twice that of my running activity :-)
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    A little. I agree using the lower number since your question was asking which to use.

    And, if you run 5 miles you're burning closer to 500 calories. The equation someone provided is great, but simple rules of thumb seem to work for a reason...they are easy to remember. So, walk or run a mile =100 calories. SImple.

    Best of luck. Train hard, eat well, and have fun! Hope this helps.



    Ok, so i used the elliptical for about 5 miles so i've burned 500cals??? I think im misunderstanding......

    You didn't run though. As Mr. Knight pointed out above, the MET of the elliptical is roughly half of running. MET is the metabolic equivalent of task - basically a way of expressing how much energy a task requires. So running requires about twice as much energy as using the elliptical. So if running 5 miles burns 500 calories, going the same distance on the elliptical is roughly half of that.

    ETA- keep in mind the elliptical entry on MFP is very general. It does not even allow for different resistance levels that most ellipticals have. It sound like your elliptical and MFP are using the same equation to figure out the calories burned. I would be leery.

    I understand the basis of MET but you can't compare like for like here. You can't say that elliptical trainers are half that of running because it depends on the setting you have the trainer set to and how fast. I am sure if I turned the trainer right up and jogged at 4.5 mph the trainer MET would be twice that of my running activity :-)

    I understand that it may depend on the intensity, which is why I pointed it out with the MFP entry. I was addressing the fact that she asked if she went 5 miles if she burned 500 calories, which is the general amount for running that distance for the average person (I believe they use 160lb person for "average").

    4.5 MPH on the elliptical is still not a very intense running pace. Perhaps going 4.5 MPH with the resistance cranked up might be closer.

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