Calorie Burn??

aem91409
aem91409 Posts: 137 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys I just have a question, and I'm hoping someone can help me understand...
When I go on the elliptical for a half hour I burn around 350 calories. But when I go on the treadmill I only burn 200 calories for the same amount of time. I do about a mile less on the treadmill than on the elliptical, but still the time that I am on the treadmill I feel like the thing is kicking my *kitten* way harder than the elliptical does and I'm sweating WAYYY more than I do on the elliptical.

Replies

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Hey guys I just have a question, and I'm hoping someone can help me understand...
    When I go on the elliptical for a half hour I burn around 350 calories. But when I go on the treadmill I only burn 200 calories for the same amount of time. I do about a mile less on the treadmill than on the elliptical, but still the time that I am on the treadmill I feel like the thing is kicking my *kitten* way harder than the elliptical does and I'm sweating WAYYY more than I do on the elliptical.
    How are you obtaining those numbers? Are you going by what the machine tells you that you burn? If so I'd disregard both numbers. They go purely based on your weight vs how long/fast you go. There's much more to how much you burn then that.
  • trakuen
    trakuen Posts: 2
    What's the best way to calculate then when you are trying to track calories?
  • aem91409
    aem91409 Posts: 137 Member
    Hey guys I just have a question, and I'm hoping someone can help me understand...
    When I go on the elliptical for a half hour I burn around 350 calories. But when I go on the treadmill I only burn 200 calories for the same amount of time. I do about a mile less on the treadmill than on the elliptical, but still the time that I am on the treadmill I feel like the thing is kicking my *kitten* way harder than the elliptical does and I'm sweating WAYYY more than I do on the elliptical.
    How are you obtaining those numbers? Are you going by what the machine tells you that you burn? If so I'd disregard both numbers. They go purely based on your weight vs how long/fast you go. There's much more to how much you burn then that.

    What she said ^^ trakuen
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Calorie burns depend upon height, weight, age, gender, exertion level and more. Unless you're plugging lots of data into the machine, I wouldn't trust it. The machine cannot know your exertion level (how hard the workout was for you).

    Seeing as though both activities are steady state cardio, a heart rate monitor (with a chest strap) should give you the best approximation.
  • aem91409
    aem91409 Posts: 137 Member
    It asks me for my age and weight.
    Is the heart rate monitor on the machine not good enough?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    The heart rate monitor on the machine can tell you your heart rate (when you grasp the handles or if you're wearing a chest strap) but is not used in the calorie calculation method.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    It asks me for my age and weight.
    Is the heart rate monitor on the machine not good enough?

    Your machine will use defaults whenever it doesn't have the necessary data. If it's assuming you are male (and you're not)....the calculation is off. Men have more lean muscle....so they burn more. The exertion level (that HRM's use) is the difference between your resting heart rate and your heart rate while working out. Does your machine know your resting heart rate? The chest strap on a HRM provides a constant link (by your heart) ....it's actually detecting electric pulses constantly ....not your actual pulse (from time to time).

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