Do the machines lie??

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koshkacat
koshkacat Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm curious as to the reliability of the calorie counters on gym machines, the elliptical specifically since that's the one I use most often. At my gym, you put in your age and weight so I would hope it might be somewhat accurate, but then again I know how different body types can be. So does anyone know of a way to determine accurately the amount of calories burned per hour ish? It's such a high number on the machine! But I've got a feeling reality is a little less impressive...

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  • mmcgille
    mmcgille Posts: 60 Member
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    When I got my HRM, I found that the elliptical machine more than doubled my actual calorie burn. When I thought I was burning 1000+ cal, I was actually burning around 450.
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    It's not uncommon to be over by a couple hundred, depending on how long you go, how hard, etc.
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
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    It depends on how well the machine is kept. The ones at my gym I have found to be pretty accurate. The heart monitor on them is a bit off but I use the machines as estimate and it's worked out pretty well. I've used a couple calculators online that have given me the same result as well. I found the MFP shows that you burned more calories that you actually have so I don't trust the site that much.
  • ruffledviolet
    ruffledviolet Posts: 260
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    It depends on how well the machine is kept. The ones at my gym I have found to be pretty accurate. The heart monitor on them is a bit off but I use the machines as estimate and it's worked out pretty well. I've used a couple calculators online that have given me the same result as well. I found the MFP shows that you burned more calories that you actually have so I don't trust the site that much.
    same.
  • Moonkat09
    Moonkat09 Posts: 5
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    This is what I found online because your question made me curious too :O
    http://www.ellipticaltrainers.com/articles/elliptical-calories.htm
  • bethany7687
    bethany7687 Posts: 44
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    use the calorie counter at healthdiscovery.net, it factors your weight.
    http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/calorie_calculator.htm
  • SeasideOasis
    SeasideOasis Posts: 1,057 Member
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    When I got my HRM, I found that the elliptical machine more than doubled my actual calorie burn. When I thought I was burning 1000+ cal, I was actually burning around 450.

    I second this, actually. I found similar results. Buy an HRM and get it over with. I wasnt sold on the whole HRM thing....Until I bought one and realized I was either not getting that great of a burn, or that I was getting an even better burn and not eating enough.
  • bentobee
    bentobee Posts: 321 Member
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    When I got my HRM, I found that the elliptical machine more than doubled my actual calorie burn. When I thought I was burning 1000+ cal, I was actually burning around 450.

    I second this, actually. I found similar results. Buy an HRM and get it over with. I wasnt sold on the whole HRM thing....Until I bought one and realized I was either not getting that great of a burn, or that I was getting an even better burn and not eating enough.

    The opposite is true for me. The machine underestimates by about 20% what my HRM indicates.

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