What's the best way to count how many calories burned through exercise?
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ebxnyx
Posts: 2 Member
Is it something like a wrist fitness tracker? If so, what's the best one in your opinion?
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The best way is a metabolic chamber. It's kind of like paying $10,000 to live in prison for a day or two. As accurate as you can get.
Next best is a power meter, but that only applies to bikes and to rowing. (Maybe running, I think the jury is still out on that.) This will never be off by more than +/- 2.5% for calories.
Next best is to use formulas based on work done. Running calories = 2/3 body weight in pounds per mile; walking calories are half that. These give very good numbers.
Next best might be a digital pedometer, but that depends what kind of exercise you do. These things can be wildly off. But if most of what you do is walking, they can do a good enough job to lose weight with.3 -
Depends on what exercise you do, might be several tools.0
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For walking I use the Map My Walk app, which syncs up with My Fitness Pal. It calculates calories burned based on body weight, distance, and speed.0
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Is it something like a wrist fitness tracker? If so, what's the best one in your opinion?
Depends what kind of exercise you're talking about. Different types of exercise are best measured in different ways.
If you're talking about running, then GPS is your best bet. If you're talking about classes, or DVDs then generally just approximating based on time is the best bet.
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MeanderingMammal wrote: »Is it something like a wrist fitness tracker? If so, what's the best one in your opinion?
Depends what kind of exercise you're talking about. Different types of exercise are best measured in different ways.
If you're talking about running, then GPS is your best bet. If you're talking about classes, or DVDs then generally just approximating based on time is the best bet.Depends on what exercise you do, might be several tools.
I mean something like a HIIT or Plyometric workout. That and workouts with weights. I mean would HR be a good indicator? I like fitnessblender because they give estimates based on their burned calories, but i was wondering how I'd get something like what they do for myself.0 -
Unfortunately HR doesn't really have much to say about those types of exercise. For weight lifting you could figure it out with crazy complex math about how much weight you moved over what distance, etc.
Go with the best estimates you have, log your exercise, log your food, log your weight. After a month, maybe six weeks, compare how much weight you've actually lost to what the numbers predict, and adjust from there if you have to.4 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Is it something like a wrist fitness tracker? If so, what's the best one in your opinion?
Depends what kind of exercise you're talking about. Different types of exercise are best measured in different ways.
If you're talking about running, then GPS is your best bet. If you're talking about classes, or DVDs then generally just approximating based on time is the best bet.Depends on what exercise you do, might be several tools.
I mean something like a HIIT or Plyometric workout. That and workouts with weights. I mean would HR be a good indicator? I like fitnessblender because they give estimates based on their burned calories, but i was wondering how I'd get something like what they do for myself.
No it would be a dreadful indicator and most likely extremely exaggerated.
Simple HR monitors can be ok for some people doing fairly steady state cardio but even then there are huge variations between different people.
The strength training and circuit training categories in the database here (under CV part of exercise diary) would be a reasonable guesstimates for the workouts you describe. It's free too.
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Alice_in_VVonderland wrote: »For walking I use the Map My Walk app, which syncs up with My Fitness Pal. It calculates calories burned based on body weight, distance, and speed.
map my walk massively over estimates calories burnt, just FYI.6 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »Is it something like a wrist fitness tracker? If so, what's the best one in your opinion?
Depends what kind of exercise you're talking about. Different types of exercise are best measured in different ways.
If you're talking about running, then GPS is your best bet. If you're talking about classes, or DVDs then generally just approximating based on time is the best bet.Depends on what exercise you do, might be several tools.
I mean something like a HIIT or Plyometric workout. That and workouts with weights. I mean would HR be a good indicator? I like fitnessblender because they give estimates based on their burned calories, but i was wondering how I'd get something like what they do for myself.
I would just log those as circuit training, based on time. There is no reliable, consistent and easily usable way to measure work done in that sort of situation.
Specifically HR is an extremely unreliable measure.3 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Alice_in_VVonderland wrote: »For walking I use the Map My Walk app, which syncs up with My Fitness Pal. It calculates calories burned based on body weight, distance, and speed.
map my walk massively over estimates calories burnt, just FYI.
If that's true, then every calculator I can find is wrong? They all show the same ballpark figure, give or take 30 calories.0 -
Alice_in_VVonderland wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Alice_in_VVonderland wrote: »For walking I use the Map My Walk app, which syncs up with My Fitness Pal. It calculates calories burned based on body weight, distance, and speed.
map my walk massively over estimates calories burnt, just FYI.
If that's true, then every calculator I can find is wrong? They all show the same ballpark figure, give or take 30 calories.
Walking is easy to calculate:
Bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x distance in miles4 -
TavistockToad wrote: »Alice_in_VVonderland wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »Alice_in_VVonderland wrote: »For walking I use the Map My Walk app, which syncs up with My Fitness Pal. It calculates calories burned based on body weight, distance, and speed.
map my walk massively over estimates calories burnt, just FYI.
If that's true, then every calculator I can find is wrong? They all show the same ballpark figure, give or take 30 calories.
Walking is easy to calculate:
Bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x distance in miles
Ah, that appears to be Net Calorie Burn. Most calculators seem to use Total Calorie Burn. I wouldn't call that an 'overestimate' because both figures are still accurate based on the equation used. One just shows all calories burned, the other shows calories burned, minus what you would've burned without exercising.
Now, having said that...
I burn about 60 calories an hour at rest. Based on my last 1 hour walk-
Total calories burned calculation shows lbs x 0.53 x 3.24 miles = 266
Net calories burned calculation shows lbs x 0.3 x 3.24 miles = 150
So if at rest I only burn 60 calories, shouldn't my net be more like 200? Are both equations inaccurate?
Source, btw-
https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/a20825897/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning-0/0
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