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Treadmill calorie burn

JRL2121
JRL2121 Posts: 27 Member
edited February 19 in Introduce Yourself
How accurate do you think treadmills are when they calculate how many calories you are burning???

Replies

  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    Not very accurate. When I run 1 hr on a TM, it shows 800 - 850 cals. My HRM says 650ish.
  • outofworkpediatrician
    outofworkpediatrician Posts: 43 Member
    depends on which treadmill you are using. some treadmills let you input your weight and calculate the calorie burn accordingly, they are more reliable than the ones where you do not input your weight. generally, treadmills are said to over-calculate calorie burn by 15 to 30 %. the actual calories you burn also depends on whether you hold the railings (reduces the calorie burn significantly depending on how much you support yourself on the hand rails) and whether you pump your arms, whether you have a good posture (straight back or slumped down) etc.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    I wear an HRM while on my treadmill and here is what I've noticed: at an incline, the treadmill overestimates the calories. With the treadmill flat, it underestimates them. I think that flat, I tend to move my arms more, which brings up my heart rate.
  • JRL2121
    JRL2121 Posts: 27 Member
    Good point. I just started doing cardio instead of just lifting weights and the numbers seem alittle inflated.
  • JRL2121
    JRL2121 Posts: 27 Member
    The treadmill I use takes weight, speed, incline, time, heart rate to factor calories burned.
This discussion has been closed.

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