Treadmill distance vs HRM distance

tuxmomoftoo
tuxmomoftoo Posts: 52 Member
edited December 1 in Fitness and Exercise
Which one is more accurate? Obviously, because the two are different on the distance, the calories burned are off as well. Which one should be logged?

My treadmill says I walked a distance of 2.225 miles and burned 414 calories. My HRM says I walked a distance of 1.67 miles and burned 317 calories.

I understand the treadmill isn't really accurate with CB.
My HRM was calibrated yesterday...2ft stride if I did it right. ;)

I am a 42 yo woman, 5', 145#-down 20#!!!

Replies

  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    I don't know what your HRM is, but I would reevaluate your calibration. Either the calibration is off or it's underreporting steps. I walked a measured distance around a cruise ship of some 700+ steps (counted manually using a tally application on my phone). You can do the same by walking say 1000 feet on your treadmill, manually counting steps, and using that to calibrate your distance. If you only measure steps across 20 steps like this says to, you may introduce error.
  • tuxmomoftoo
    tuxmomoftoo Posts: 52 Member
    I have a Charge HR.
    I walked one tenth of a mile on the treadmill at a steady pace and counted just my right foot steps (121). Doubled that number (242). Divided 528 by 242 which is 2.18 ft. That's my stride right?

    So you're saying I should walk longer to count my steps to be more accurate. Ok. I'll try that.
    Thank you!
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
    Treadmill should be more accurate for distance...unless it's in the basement of an apartment gym than who knows.

    I have a fitness tracker that consistently overestimates my distance compared to known, real life distances. It will give me .5 for what is really .4 miles, or 3.5 miles for what is really 3 miles. I don't use it for distance, just a ballpark of steps. Both calorie counts might be overestimated, it's hard to say. Best to stick to one "system" and try that for a month to see if you are losing like you expect. If you aren't, change something an re-evaluate.
  • tuxmomoftoo
    tuxmomoftoo Posts: 52 Member
    edited April 2016
    So I just walked a half of a mile. Counted 624 right steps which would be 1248 steps. Doubled that to make one mile. Divided. I got 2.11 for my stride.
    Basically the same amount.

    I have a practically brand new NordicTrack T6.5S
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    Go with the treadmill distance unless you have something like a foot pod that you've calibrated with a GPS device.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
    @tuxmomoftoo sounds like you have calibration right.. Next up is dominant/non-dominant. If it's underreporting, you have have it set to dominant, but be wearing on your non-dominant hand.
  • tuxmomoftoo
    tuxmomoftoo Posts: 52 Member
    This makes my head hurt. Haha!
    If I set it to dominant, it would make it less sensitive, right?
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Go with the treadmill. Your stride will change on a treadmill as compared to 'regular' walking, your stride length is likely different.
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