Accuracy of calories

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racheltomasek360
racheltomasek360 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone, I was just curious if anyone knows how accurate treadmills and ellipticals are with calories burned? On some workouts the treadmill says I burned a certain amount, and then when I try to log it on my garmin express menu it estimates a totally different number :/

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  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
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    I'd say not very... I wouldn't rely on numbers from a machine at all!
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    For me personally, they are very over estimated. The elliptical will say I've burnt 800 cals per hour, I believe its very high and not accurate
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    How much info did you plug into the machine? Height, weight, age, gender? Machines can easily inflate the numbers.

    Go with the lowest estimate (Garmin or machine). Use that estimate for awhile. You may find you still need to dial it back a bit. MFP users generally eat back 50-75% of exercise calories to make up for estimation errors.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Not very accurate at all.
  • racheltomasek360
    racheltomasek360 Posts: 8 Member
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    I have my height, age, and weight usually typed in when I workout. Would it be better to just cut what the machine says I burn in half? I use garmin express also and it seems pretty accurate but Idk what to do for better accuracy.

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