Calories burned - treadmill and mfp numbers don't match

hollyntuttle95
hollyntuttle95 Posts: 42 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Which is more accurate? It was a difference of 90 calories...

Replies

  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    if i remember, mfp just goes to 5mph so depending on how fast you were going that could be the difference. i think i might go with the lowest calorie count to be safe
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
    It depends. Probably both wrong and too high. Take the number of miles you ran(or walked) and plug them into the linked formula.

    .57*weight*mileage for walking
    .72*weight*mileage for running.

    https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/a20843760/running-v-walking-how-many-calories-will-you-burn/
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    hollyntuttle95 wrote: »
    Which is more accurate? It was a difference of 90 calories...

    How far did you run?
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    I would go with the lower one. Mine is usually the treadmill. I have a fancy one I bought used when my school upgraded thier equipment. I upload all of my info: weight, height, gender, age, you can even enter body fat and measurements if you want to, and has a chest strap to measure heart rate, so I actually trust it more than MFP. MFP also doesn't account for the difference in running at 6mph vs 6.1mph, you're treadmill does.
  • GrumpyHeadmistress
    GrumpyHeadmistress Posts: 666 Member
    hollyntuttle95 wrote: »
    Which is more accurate? It was a difference of 90 calories...

    Well MFP knows your weight and height so could be more accurate as it takes that into effect BUT MFP massively over estimated burns and doesn’t take account of any incline you had set up on the treadmill.

    The treadmill knows exactly how far you walked and at what incline and at what speed so should be accurate for that. But unless you put your weight in it doesn’t know what size of body you are moving through the space so will be inaccurate for that.

    I’d probably take a figure somewhere between the two.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Actually telling people if you were walking or running, how much you weigh and how far you walked or ran and what calories both gave you would help.

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
    The classic formula that @stanmann571 lists is OK, but probably falters for slow jogging or if you use an incline. This is probably what MFP uses (or something related to it).

    The estimate given by a good gym-quality treadmill should be very reasonable so long as you are honest about your weight. (It works for me!)

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