How accurate do you think the calories burned readout is on gym equipment?

Honestly probably pretty terrible. I'm sure mine over estimates like a lot. Cause my burn is pretty high on it. However, I don't eat my exercise calories back at all (or I do very rarely) so it's not something that I stress about.

I have an older model treadmill- I input my weight and age and it's surprisingly accurate. It tells me I burn just under 100 cal per mile whether I walk or run.

When I wear my HRM, it tells me I burn 25-40% fewer calories the what the machines read. An hour on the Pre-Cor and the machine says 720 calories while the HRM says 450.

I don't go by the machines, but I would say, if you log 30% lower, you should be okay. I used to log 50% of what the machine said just to be careful

Unless you're working out intensely, you can probably skip eating back your calories, in all honesty. If you're working out intensely with the intention of being able to eat more, then you should get a Heart Rate Monitor and have a more accurate assessment.

Personally I don't trust the machines at all as far as calorie burns. I get vastly different readings from the treadmill, the elliptical and the step mill even though I input the exact same stats and the duration is the same. Yes, I realize intensity varies, but there's no way I burn the amount of calories it says I do.

I do however keep track of that number and then keep trying to exceed it every time so that I keep working out harder and don't become stagnant.

Hm I just did 40 on the treadmill. Didn't input my weight or height or anything as it is old and doesn't have that option. I fast walked the first and last ten minutes and jogged 20 of them. I was sweating so I know things were all good. I burned (apparently)140 fat calories and 445 calories at 2.6 miles. I ate back none of those calories to be safe and I just like seeing how many calories I could potentially have burned! Even if it is a dream haha x

I think it would vary quite a bit from machine to machine, as well as by brand of machine and the formulas they use, as well as the number of inputs it has.

My personal opinion is that a decent machine should have a much more accurate number than a stand alone HRM or any other calculator. Why? The machine has more inputs to calculate with. It knows all variations in pace over total time regardless. They also have a lot of inputs unique to that machine type, like an elliptical having ramp/resistance inputs.

On a bike or elliptical, stide or stroke length of the pedals is a known to the machine. As such there is little room for error if the machine tracks pace. On a treadmill, the user can alter those things, so differences in efficiency at different strides and paces are more possible.

Honestly, I think it's best to eat based on your caloric intake without an exercise-adjusted number.

gia07 wrote: »

. At first I used apps and calculators online to help me figure it out and take a range and thank goodness I only ate back a small portion of my exercise calories.

I did exactly this, using the TDEE method -just kept steady intake at 1900-2100 (using measuring cups [!!]). It got me from 178 lbs to 124 lbs. If you are able to do 30-45 minutes of vigorous cardio every other day, or 45-60 minutes of moderate cardio most days, the heart rate monitor and machine numbers don't matter all that much.

Azdak wrote: »

robertw486 wrote: »

I think it would vary quite a bit from machine to machine, as well as by brand of machine and the formulas they use, as well as the number of inputs it has.

My personal opinion is that a decent machine should have a much more accurate number than a stand alone HRM or any other calculator. Why? The machine has more inputs to calculate with. It knows all variations in pace over total time regardless. They also have a lot of inputs unique to that machine type, like an elliptical having ramp/resistance inputs.

On a bike or elliptical, stide or stroke length of the pedals is a known to the machine. As such there is little room for error if the machine tracks pace. On a treadmill, the user can alter those things, so differences in efficiency at different strides and paces are more possible.

While it is true that machines can measure actual workload with good accuracy, that workload then has to be translated into an estimated oxygen cost/calorie burn, and THAT'S where the inaccuracy occurs. Most machines use algorithms that are either only rough estimates, or are borrowed from another related activity. In order to accurately estimate calories, a company would have to develop their own machine-specific algorithms and then do validation studies for each type of equipment. Realistically, that rarely happens.

Precor does just that due to the movement specifics of the machines. They use models from the American College of Sports medicine for some machines, then on others use unique formulas due to the details of the machine design.

And while I completely agree that any model is less accurate without oxygen related testing, no standard formula that I know of accounts for that. So I'd still tend to think the more inputs the better. Naturally there will be variance depending on user variables not punched in and/or accounted for, but that happens with any other formula or HRM as well.

Really without VO2 max testing and such, nothing is more than a decent estimate based on whatever formula they think works, and they all have error.

tomatoey wrote: »

gia07 wrote: »

. At first I used apps and calculators online to help me figure it out and take a range and thank goodness I only ate back a small portion of my exercise calories.

I did exactly this, using the TDEE method -just kept steady intake at 1900-2100 (using measuring cups [!!]). It got me from 178 lbs to 124 lbs. If you are able to do 30-45 minutes of vigorous cardio every other day, or 45-60 minutes of moderate cardio most days, the heart rate monitor and machine numbers don't matter all that much.

I lost quite a few pounds biking and not even logging calories. Though I did use an app to track miles and estimated calories, I just used the common sense method of move more and eat less. I joined MFP mostly to keep a better grip on the nutrition side of things as my workouts got longer over time. I still don't weigh any food, and have had no problem keeping the pounds going down.

So there are loads of ways to do it that work.