elliptical calories?

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ashleymcquown
ashleymcquown Posts: 80
in Fitness and Exercise
hey everyone i'm a little unsure as to how accurate the calorie count is on mfp. when i work out i tend to go pretty slow and don't sweat much....so i'm not really buying that i just burned 800+ cals. Does anyone have an accurate count for 60 min on the elliptical at a moderate pace w low resistance?

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  • sclupien
    sclupien Posts: 3
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    500 to 550 sounds more like it.
  • sclupien
    sclupien Posts: 3
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    500 to 550 sounds more like it.
  • aflane
    aflane Posts: 625 Member
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    No one will have an truly accurate count for you. It's contingent upon your weight, heart rate, actual pace (slow isn't a pace -- steps per minute is a pace), incline and resistance. The only way to get a fairly accurate caloric burn rate is to either hold the sensors for your entire workout, or get a heart rate monitor WITH a telemetry chest strap.
  • pdjones2010
    pdjones2010 Posts: 6
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    IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT ANOTHER SITE...CALORIECOUNT.COM. I TRIED THEM FOR AWHILE. A BIT HARDER TO NAVIGATE THAN MFP. BUT THEY HAVE DIFFERENT INTENSITY LEVELS YOU CAN ADD
  • CookieCatCatcher
    CookieCatCatcher Posts: 324 Member
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    hey everyone i'm a little unsure as to how accurate the calorie count is on mfp. when i work out i tend to go pretty slow and don't sweat much....so i'm not really buying that i just burned 800+ cals. Does anyone have an accurate count for 60 min on the elliptical at a moderate pace w low resistance?

    Are you able to buy a Heart Rate Monitor? There are some really good cheap-ish ones out there. Polar FT4. Using an HRM is the most accurate way to track your calories burned, and it has really been a huge boost in weight loss for me.
  • JPod279
    JPod279 Posts: 722 Member
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    I now wear a heart rate monitor when I am on the eliptical and I have found I am only burning roughly 60% of the calories it has me down for.
  • grace914
    grace914 Posts: 139 Member
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    I'm with the others. If you can, purchase a heart rate monitor. It makes a HUGE difference!
  • patssarah
    patssarah Posts: 146 Member
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    Depends on a lot of factors, I am 5'7 and between 130-134pounds. When I go for 30 mins depending on my intesnsity I burn between 200-300. So in an hour I would burn between 400-600.

    ETA: also I second what everybody is saying, if you can get a HRM with a chest strap. It makes a huge difference, I am only burning about half of what my elliptical says I am burning.
  • Dinob661
    Dinob661 Posts: 251 Member
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    This website should help you. As long as you know your heart rate during the workout, total time on the machine, weight, and put in your age it gives you decent readings i'd say

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm
  • iiliiPhoenixiilii
    iiliiPhoenixiilii Posts: 51
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    Currently, all I am doing is using the elliptical. I use the sensors to tell me how much I have burned.
  • ashleymcquown
    ashleymcquown Posts: 80
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    ok this makes way more sense now....thanks guys : )
  • ashleymcquown
    ashleymcquown Posts: 80
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    This website should help you. As long as you know your heart rate during the workout, total time on the machine, weight, and put in your age it gives you decent readings i'd say

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

    perfect! this should be reall useful thanks : )
  • ashleymcquown
    ashleymcquown Posts: 80
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    This website should help you. As long as you know your heart rate during the workout, total time on the machine, weight, and put in your age it gives you decent readings i'd say

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

    perfect! this should be reall useful thanks : )

    cals came out to about 260....way WAY lower than what MFP calculates...sounds about right though : /
  • wnw64
    wnw64 Posts: 34 Member
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    I noticed that the MFP calorie counts for elliptical are a bit more generous than what the elliptical machine tells me.
    I tend to agree more with the elliptical machine as it's a proffesional grade machine at my gym. You also need to consider, as others have stated already, that the calorie burn has several other factors in addition to length of time on the machine (age, weight, intensity, heart rate, etc.). What I do is log the time in MFP, but use the calorie counts provided by the machine as it takes into consideration several of the factors I mentioned. For example, yesterday I logged 23 minutes on the elliptical; MFP had this at 401cals, but the actual machine reading was 315cals. Although I'd rather use the 401 from MFP, I went with the 315 instead :( !!!!

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