exercise calories accurate?

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kateresa
kateresa Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I'm fairly new to calorie counting with factoring in exercise. What is the most accurate way of calculating how many calories I burn during workouts? I do 30 minutes per day on the elliptical usually 5-6 days a week. Some workouts are more intense than others. Should I go by what the machine says I burned, mfp, or my heart rate?

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  • SuMcP
    SuMcP Posts: 244 Member
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    If you have a heart rate monitor, this will give you the most accurate burn. Have fun :flowerforyou:
  • jmy1975
    jmy1975 Posts: 56 Member
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    I would recommend investing in a heart rate monitor for the most accurate count. I have the Polar FT7, but the FT4 is a bit cheaper and works just as well. Not as many bells and whistles though. If that is not in your budget, I would say go with the machine, but understand it may over or underestimate. I think my elliptical actually under estimates by about 25 cal in a half hour workout on the elliptical. Not a lot so wouldn't worry too much. It really depends on how hard you go out. If you take it easy the machine may overestimate. Hope this helps.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Of the three options, HRM would be the most accurate. I went with 2/3rds of what the machine or MFP told me to try to account that they both usually overestimate the burn (I didn't have a HRM, and I'm cheap).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    HRM is going to be the most accurate for a steady state cardiovascular event....but even then, it's an estimate. Track your progress and make adjustments as per real world results.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    MFP tends to overeatimate by 25-50%. Machines tend to overestimate by about 30%. It's ok to go by them but adjust what you plan to eat back by these percentages.

    HRMs (heart rate monitors) are a good tool to use as well. The better ones have chest straps. They also won't be 100% accurate but will be better than many other sources. I'd recommend the Polar FT4.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Hi, I'm fairly new to calorie counting with factoring in exercise. What is the most accurate way of calculating how many calories I burn during workouts? I do 30 minutes per day on the elliptical usually 5-6 days a week. Some workouts are more intense than others. Should I go by what the machine says I burned, mfp, or my heart rate?

    For steady state cardio, the best estimator is a heart rate monitor (HRM) with a chest strap.

    Calorie burns depend upon height, weight, age, gender, exertion level, and more. What a HRM attempts to do is measure your heart rate (constantly) and compare it to your resting heart rate. This number would approximate your exertion level.

    For activities where heart rate is up and down.....HRMs aren't nearly as accurate. For activities that aren't based on heart rate (weight training) it's even less so.

    Many machines and MFP can give inflated numbers because they are using defaults. The more information you plug into the machine, the better the estimate. Many MFP users eat back a "portion" of their calories, say 50-75% to make up for the error rate.
  • kateresa
    kateresa Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks! The machine monitors my heart rate. Is this as accurate as a personal hrm?
  • BetterKimmer
    BetterKimmer Posts: 178 Member
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    MFP overstates. Machines overstate. Heart rate monitors are only so accurate and best with steady state cardio, not start and stop style exercises like strength training. So I would note all three to get an average, then many people here only count 50-75% of that total. It is not exact, but these are only averages anyway, except the HRM.
  • telekendall
    telekendall Posts: 12 Member
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    It is definitely not as accurate as a personal HRM. I love my HRM and usually eat back about 1/2-2/3 of the calories burned depending on if I exercise at night or during the morning. If I work out at night there is just no way I can eat all of the extra calories at the end of the day.
  • kateresa
    kateresa Posts: 3 Member
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    Ok, thank you for your replies!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Thanks! The machine monitors my heart rate. Is this as accurate as a personal hrm?
    Impossible to tell. When I started out my HRM would record higher burns than machines, now it's the opposite as my heart rate is lower for the same power output. If your machine gives you a power reading (watts for example) it "could" be accurate.

    Remember calories cannot be measured in heart beats, HRMs are not as accurate as people like to believe, the main benefit is consistency rather than accuracy. As long as your number sounds reasonable then use it and adjust based on results.
  • 424a57
    424a57 Posts: 140 Member
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    One of the problems I've found with MFP, machines, and HRM is they all tend to estimate total calories instead of net calories. Think about asking these two questions:

    1. How many calories did I burn by doing "Exercise A" for 30 minutes?
    2. How many *more* calories did I burn by doing "Exercise A" for 30 minutes, compared to my normal daily activities?

    Depending on what is your normal daily activity, the answer to the first question might be significantly higher.

    I read through some of the responses to your question and find that a lot of people say that exercises are "overestimated" and they recommend not eating back all of your exercise calories. I suppose that is one way to handle the situation. I find it somewhat "disconnected" knowing that MFP provides total calories for exercise, but adds them to your estimated calories for your normal daily activity. So I adjust the calories burned when I enter the exercise.

    For example, if I walk for 30 minutes at 4 mph MFP says I burn 190 calories. But, by looking at my "Diet Profile", I see that I burn 1,980 calories per day in Normal Daily Activity. This works out to 1.375 calories per minute (1,980 calories / 1440 minutes per day). My 190 calorie walk is really a 148.75 calorie walk (21% less), since 41.25 calories are already accounted for by MFP in my Normal Daily Activity (190 - (30 * 1.375)).

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/articles/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn.aspx

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