How effective are workout machines at determining calories b

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rachelleh09
rachelleh09 Posts: 35
in Fitness and Exercise
im just starting to question at how accurate workout machines are at determining how many calories you burn I just did a 40 min workout on the elliptical machine at a good intensity with intervals and it said i burned 197 calories. but when i put it in fitnesspal it says way more and when I looked online it also says that for my weight (160) I would be burning more calories per half hour than what the machine told me.. what should i input into my exercise diary?? Any help would be much appreciated :)

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  • birdlover97111
    birdlover97111 Posts: 346 Member
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    Were you able to enter your height, age and weight on the elliptical that you worked out on..??...
  • vacagal
    vacagal Posts: 5
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    That seems really low. I'm 166lbs and I just finished only 20 minutes on the elliptical and it said 198 calories burned. MFP gave me 225 calories for it, so I'm thinking the MFP count is definitely closer than what your machine said.
  • lalalazzz
    lalalazzz Posts: 131 Member
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    NOT accurate. At all. My treadmill says I burn more than double wht my HRM says. Get a good HRM with a chest strap if you really want to know what you are burning. You also have to subtract calories needed to sistain life. So if your on whatever machine for 1 hour and it says you burned 300 cals you then need to subtract 90 cals for living, breathing etc. I use my HRM then subtract.
  • kapeluza
    kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
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    I have notice that go about 20%-30% above what you are actually burning. And MFP goes way too high.
  • hm_day
    hm_day Posts: 857 Member
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    I work at a gym, and the machines are very generalized, even when you put in your weight, height, age, etc. They go above what you actually burned.
  • rachelleh09
    rachelleh09 Posts: 35
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    thanks everyone. i'll take it into consideration and just use what I put into my diary as an estimate then. I cant afford to buy a heart rate monitor.
  • greatdragon
    greatdragon Posts: 64
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    The Machines are not really all that accurate or in accurate, but loosing weight is all about averages anyway, even HRM with the chest strap are NOT accurate as there is no external way to really measure the what your body is using.

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