Calories burned on elliptical

landerson574 · October 2017

Hi everyone! I'll give you a little info about myself and then see if anyone can help answer my question. I'm a 28 year old stay at home mom. I joined MFP in March, but had been on a weight loss journey for a while before that. I had my oldest daughter in May 2015 and at that time I weighed 227 pounds. After she was born I started losing weight, and when I gave birth to my second child in November 2016, I weighed 199. Today I'm in maintenance right around 135 (133-137 is my range). I have been exercising since February, and have always estimated my calories burned. However, I always used a low estimate to make sure I continued losing.

We just recently got an elliptical, and now that I'm in maintenance, I'd like to be eating back all my exercise calories. I know that things are trial and error, but I have read a lot about how overvalued elliptical burns are. I typically do 30 minutes at a time, and my machine says I burn around 350-375 calories. I usually give myself 225-250.

My question is, has anyone uses a Fitbit on their elliptical to get an accurate calorie burn? I am hoping to get one for Christmas and thinking that may solve my problem.

I guess I'm just mostly curious what other people use to estimate their calories burned on the elliptical. I do other forms of exercise too, but I feel fairly confident in my estimates in those areas through trial and error. Thanks!

Sp1tfire · October 2017

I have found my fitbit to be EXTREMELY inaccurate on elliptical. I also find that most ellipticals overestimate for me around 33%. When in doubt, underestimate exercise calories.

Azdak · October 2017

Your weight is 62 kg. Based on the average persons fitness level (and your weight), your net calories burned per hour is likely in the 300-400 per hour range.

bendyourkneekatie · October 2017

I haven't used a Fitbit to compare as everything I've heard about them sounds like they're just as innacurate as any other estimator. I go on the elliptical about 105 minutes a session and the machine tells me I burn 1500 calories. I work pretty damn hard but I'm sure Michael Phelps would work harder so whatevs. I've been in maintenance at 56kg for a year or two now.

sijomial · October 2017

We just recently got an elliptical, and now that I'm in maintenance, I'd like to be eating back all my exercise calories. I know that things are trial and error, but I have read a lot about how overvalued elliptical burns are. I typically do 30 minutes at a time, and my machine says I burn around 350-375 calories. I usually give myself 225-250.
Think you are very wise to cut that number down - it would take an extraordinary level of fitness for someone your size to get close to the machine's estimate.
You haven't mentioned your intensity/effort level of your workout. A gentle effort versus maximal effort would give vastly different numbers.

My question is, has anyone uses a Fitbit on their elliptical to get an accurate calorie burn? I am hoping to get one for Christmas and thinking that may solve my problem.
Unlikely a Fitbit would be accurate, most likely it will just give you a different inaccurate number.

I guess I'm just mostly curious what other people use to estimate their calories burned on the elliptical. I do other forms of exercise too, but I feel fairly confident in my estimates in those areas through trial and error. Thanks!
I rarely use an elliptical but I used a HRM that I could calibrate to my own particular stats (tested VO2 max and max HR) and compared the results against more accurate power based estimates (high end indoor bike trainer and Concept2 rower). That would be a bit of overkill for a casual exerciser!

Some gym quality ellipticals can give quite reasonable estimates but some give dreadfully inflated numbers.

Suggest you simply go by Azdak's recommendation and save your money you would otherwise spend on gadgets you don't need.

If you can run non-stop for half an hour you could try and get an idea of your calorie burning capabilities - it would at least allow you to throw out numbers that are clearly erroneous.
https://www.runnersworld.com/tools/calories-burned-calculator

aliyusaf · October 2017

landerson574 wrote: »

I guess I'm just mostly curious what other people use to estimate their calories burned on the elliptical.

I use a Fenix 3 with a chest strap. I have been using it for a couple of years now and it seems accurate enough. Here is a typical reading:

40 minutes on the trainer with my heart rate from 140 - 150 bpm gives a calorie burn of about 600 or so.

In comparison, a 5k run with my heart rate at about 130 bpm for 28 minutes gives a calorie burn of about 400 or so.

robertw486 · October 2017

I'd agree with some others stating that your machine is probably spitting out a really high number. For someone as small as you, that is a fairly solid effort, probably equal to a 7.5-8 MPH running pace for that half hour. If you are fairly fit and doing the work of a reasonably quick run, the machine might be close. If you are just taking it easy the machine is likely high.

If you compare the elliptical output numbers to approximate effort of actual walking or running, you might be able to nail your numbers down closer. Since there are studies for calorie burns walking and running, you could just use that as a gauge of sorts and adjust from there.

We own an elliptical and for logging I just use what it spits out. But it's also a higher end elliptical and tests show it to be fairly accurate. I am fairly certain that it estimates for gross calorie burn vs net, so if I want a more accurate measure I simply subtract the 1 MET value and use that number.

landerson574 · October 2017

Thank you all for the replies! I think I am going to estimate 200 calories for 30 minutes and then adjust if my weight seems to be dropping/increasing out of my maintenance range. I appreciate all the good info!

Calories burned on elliptical

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