Estimating calories burned on elliptical

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happyphantom108
happyphantom108 Posts: 1
in Fitness and Exercise
So I know that the calorie counter on exercise machines is just an estimate, because it only takes into account your weight and age. The machine I use only has these two settings to enter information. So what I do is put my weight at five pounds LESS than my actual weight in an attempt to make the calories burned more accurate, for recording purposes (recording my daily calories burned/taken in, etc.) Does anyone else do this? Do you think it helps at all?

I know the best solution is to get a heart rate monitor but I can't quite afford one right now.

Replies

  • fatbegone85
    fatbegone85 Posts: 70
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    You could try to manually take your heart rate for 15/20 seconds then multiple to get your bpm. Plug that into an online calorie burned calculator like: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    I use that site to compare it to my heart rate monitor. It's pretty spot on, normally withing 10/15 calories of my hrm.
  • jessakittyis
    jessakittyis Posts: 159 Member
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    I know the calories on cardio machines are just estimations like you say (and this may not be the case for all people) but my gym's machines are only off by about 25-30 calories from my Polar HRM so It's a pretty good estimation for me.
  • aarondavitian
    aarondavitian Posts: 6
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    The estimates they give you for what you burn on gym machines is WOEFULLY overdone. At least it has been in the past.

    Eliptical machines may raise your heart rate, but they are a very poor exercise. The only time you should be on amachine is if you can't go outside, have serious issues with your legs, or are just doing a warm up before you resistance train.

    If you are not resistance training, you should be.

    I personally would cut whatever number it gives you in half.
  • MikeInAZ
    MikeInAZ Posts: 483 Member
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    Get yourself a good heart rate monitor with a chest strap. I've been using the Polar FT7 for a couple of years and I really like it. I recently upgraded to the Polar H7 which is blue tooth so it can sync to my phone. What I like about the H7 is that it also will sync to my FT7 watch and to a lot of the gym equipment (if they say Poiar on them). Also it's BLE so I can still use my BT HeadPhones. Just make sure your phone supports BLE (BlueTooth 4.0).

    I've been using an app called iCardio - Digifit with the H7. It give me a lot of cool data (which I really like). I like to know what my heart is doing when I work out and this gives it to me. iCardio is free, but I had to spend $4 to upgrade it to support the Heart Rate Monitor.

    All these bands, and FitBit and stuff don't really do that good of a job tracking calories burned. They only estimate based on movements. I have a Nike Fuel Band too, and it's WAY off from my calories burned when I use my Polar.

    Check out the Polar F4, it's cheaper and does most of what the FT7 does or just get the H7.

    Polar H7 - http://bit.ly/polarh7
    Polar FT4 - http://amzn.to/1xyMxA6
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Does your machine show distance? I found that if I use the ellipticals in the gym at a decent pace and moderate to high resistance, I get about 100 cal per mile. So if you go 2.5 miles, that's 250 calories.

    FYI, this is according to my FT4 Polar HRM
  • lorigem
    lorigem Posts: 446 Member
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    Eliptical machines may raise your heart rate, but they are a very poor exercise.

    Out of curiosity, why do you think this?
  • HerbertNenenger
    HerbertNenenger Posts: 453 Member
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    The estimates they give you for what you burn on gym machines is WOEFULLY overdone. At least it has been in the past.

    Eliptical machines may raise your heart rate, but they are a very poor exercise. The only time you should be on amachine is if you can't go outside, have serious issues with your legs, or are just doing a warm up before you resistance train.

    If you are not resistance training, you should be.

    I personally would cut whatever number it gives you in half.

    I disagree. Any cardio that sustains an elevated heart rate improves your hearth health and burns calories. Paired with strength training (notice ticker) I have managed to shave off a few pounds myself.
  • OkamiLavande
    OkamiLavande Posts: 336 Member
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    Elliptical machines are very good exercise if you ask me. If it weren't for my elliptical I'd probably have never been able to run like a normal person. It increased my aerobic capacity and it allowed me to run for the first time since middle school without stopping and going at a decent pace. Ellipticals are amazing machines if you ask me. But trying to determine calorie burn is a bit difficult. Best way is to manually check heart rate and multiply if you can't afford a heart rate monitor.

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