How accurate are exercise machines??

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steino53
steino53 Posts: 3
in Fitness and Exercise
So I use an elliptical machine and I'm wondering how accurate are the calories burned numbers they give you. I put in my stats; age, weight, duration, level of resistance - for my hour of exercise it said I burned up 800 calories. How accurate are they?

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  • marte80
    marte80 Posts: 25 Member
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    I am really not sure but I get the same type of numbers when I do the elliptical. Some people say you should buy a heart monitor but that really doesn't matter. The fact of the matter is that we are definitely burning calories whether 800 or 350. I say keep doing what you are doing and as long as the scale is declining we are doing something right. Good luck on your journey. Great burn!
  • ace175
    ace175 Posts: 518 Member
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    Hmmm it all depends on your personal numbers, however I suggest looking into investing in a HRM. I still set the machine even though I have an HRM because I like to see the difference, and there's sometimes a great difference between my HRM and the machine!
  • kwolfe814
    kwolfe814 Posts: 1
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    i have an elliptical and a heart rate monitor. When I do a 45 minute workout, the elliptical says I burned 815 calories while the monitor only says 537.
  • dustyhockeymom
    dustyhockeymom Posts: 537 Member
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    According to both MFP and my stationary bike I would burn about 500 calories in a half hour of riding. I bought a HRM and it says I only burned 245 in the same time. That is a huge difference. And my bike had all my stats entered into it as does MFP
  • bec6980
    bec6980 Posts: 5 Member
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    The thing is that you have to take in account your gender, height and weight to know how many calories you burn....I usually go by what fitness pal says i've burned and from the way my weight has been dropping...it seems pretty accurate to me.
  • theaimster
    theaimster Posts: 13
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    I wonder if this is why I am not dropping pounds... I have hit a huge plateau. I try to eat my exercise calories and maybe because my exercise calories are inaccurate, I can't loose more weight!
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
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    When I've used the elliptical a lot. I've never trusted it.. It just seems too easy. At over 300 pounds I could do it at a good clip for an hour and it would say that I burned like 1200 calories.. I KNEW that couldn't be right because I just wasn't that tired. It didn't stop me from doing the elliptical- I really enjoy that machine, I just don't feel comfortable trusting the calories it says I burn.
  • jenomaha
    jenomaha Posts: 631 Member
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    I second getting an HRM. I put my stats into machines and wear my HRM and the machine always overcalculates. By reading my heart rate, the HRM knows how my body is responding to the exercise I am doing...the machine doesnt. Best investment I've made!
  • jeninne
    jeninne Posts: 412 Member
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    Ok, I'm another one for a HRM because it monitors YOUR heart rate. Since I got in better condition and have lost weight, my monitor doesn't give me the same type of crazy burn numbers and that is as it should. When I get on a machine it is suppose to give calories burned according to a chart (based on the data you enter- but what if you are in horrible condition?). Your monitor is closer to you. As long as you are comfortable with what you are doing, the weight will come off...I just like the added layer of being able to monitor.

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