elliptical machines and calories burned

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ralostaz2000
ralostaz2000 Posts: 135 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I was recently reading alot about Ellipticals and the majority of the websites say that around 70%-80% of the calorie readings after Elliptical workout are wrong by 30%-40%...as most of them don't take into consideration your Gender, age, height. .....etc.
So now I am confused.....but what I am asking is...would my polar sports watch give a good indicate for calories burned??

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  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
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    The ellipticals at the gym I work out at ask for your age and weight and the calorie burn adjusts accordingly, not gender though. Don't know about your watch, but I have a fitbit and it is pretty close to the elliptical.
  • ginaraus
    ginaraus Posts: 5 Member
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    I actually don't use the counters on the machines. I use the exercise option on "myfitnesspal". All of my information is in there including my current weight. That's the only one I trust. I do use the machines as a guide but not set in stone.
  • tgrzela
    tgrzela Posts: 7 Member
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    So far my nabu x fit band is recording on UA Record which then transfers the info to myfitness.....so here's to hoping these fit bands work
  • MichelleLea122
    MichelleLea122 Posts: 332 Member
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    I wul
    ginaraus wrote: »
    I actually don't use the counters on the machines. I use the exercise option on "myfitnesspal". All of my information is in there including my current weight. That's the only one I trust. I do use the machines as a guide but not set in stone.

    I wouldn't use the exercise option on myfitnesspal if I were you. It notoriously overestimates exercise burn.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Would question those stats - sounds a bit like "99.7% of statistics are made up on the spot". :)

    Ellipticals vary enormously in design and movement so there isn't a single recognised calorie table. They will vary according to make, model and method used to come up with an estimate. That's why the MFP value is a complete lottery and the numbers I've seen people quote seem very, very high.

    I use one (Cybex ARC trainer) which has a very thoroughly worked out custom calorie table and it agrees very closely with the readings I get from a variety of other sources (custom calibrated HRM, power meter, C2 rower...). But I've also used more budget ones which give comical estimates (both low and high).

    Different ellipticals will be over, under or very accurate (far more accurate than a basic HRM for lots of people). The difficulty is in knowing which is which. Have a bit of a Google with the make and model you are using to see if there's info on how they come by their estimate.

    The advantage of using your own measuring device isn't really in accuracy - it's in the consistency.
    If your particular elliptical gives "reasonable" estimates when compared to the numbers you get from other sources then that's probably good enough.

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