I'm working harder but burning fewer calories?

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kczemerys
kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
edited December 2018 in Fitness and Exercise
I don't understand how the treadmil is calculating my burned calories and distance. I've been keeping the same incline and speed, just increasing the amount of run time vs walk time in a 30 minute workout.(walking at 3.5 mph, running at 4.5 mph, and sprinting at 5.5mph)

See images
1st image - ran for 10 mins, walked for 20 mins

2nd image - ran for 11 mins, walked for 19 mins

3rd image - Sprinted for 1 min, ran for 12 mins, walked for 17 mins

4th image - Sprinted for 1.5 mins, ran for 14 mins, walked for 15 mins

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Replies

  • kczemerys
    kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
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    Let me see if I can explain. All of this is done in a 30 min time frame. Whatever I cant run, I walk the rest of the time.

    I ran one minute more on day 2 (11 mins) and burned 13 more calories and went .12 miles further.

    But how come when I ran for 6 mins more on day 5 (16 mins total), I only burned 11more calories and went 0.08 miles further?

    On day 5,shouldn't I burn 65 calories more and go 0.6 miles further?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Do you have to input your weight and age? Did either of those change?
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    Which is day 5? Which is day 1? I’m not sure I’m following either? These numbers all seem fine to m.

    But when you run a minute instead of walking it, you will only increase your mileage/calories/etc by the difference between what you burned when you were walking them vs what you’re doing now that you’re running. So you’re running for 11 more, but walking 11 less.

    And the one minute jump in calories and distance seems quite large. Meaning, I woouldnt use that as your proxy for what every minute of running should gain.

    As an example, I burn 4-5 calories/minute when I’m walking. I burn 8 when I’m running and maybe 9 when I’m sprinting.

    I’m only burning 3-5 calories more when I run (or sprint) for a minute instead of walking.

    Your specific numbers will depend on how much you weigh, but 13 calories for one minute for just the amount over and above what you burned walking is...very high.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    You could probably work out the math if it was really that important to you, but my guess is that the difference in distance covered and calories burned sprinting vs jogging vs walking isn't as great as you think it is, especially over relatively short periods of time (like 1 minute).
  • kczemerys
    kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
    edited December 2018
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    I undetstand running one minute more from one session on the treadmill to the next will not make a huge impact on calories burned and distance traveled. What I don't understand is why did I travel 0.12 miles more and burn 13 calories more going from running 10 to 11 minutes but only went 0.01 miles more and burned 0.6 calories more going from 15 to 16 minutes of running.

    The math isn't adding up.

    I did not imput anything like my height or weight into the treadmill.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
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    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    kczemerys wrote: »
    I undetstand running one minute more from one session on the treadmill to the next will not make a huge impact on calories burned and distance traveled. What I don't understand is why did I travel 0.12 miles more and burn 13 calories more going from running 10 to 11 minutes but only went 0.01 miles more and burned 0.6 calories more going from 15 to 16 minutes of running.

    The math isn't adding up.

    I did not imput anything like my height or weight into the treadmill.

    Did you use the HR sensors?
  • kczemerys
    kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
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    Yes, but only very briefly.
  • kczemerys
    kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
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    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.

    Not taking into account speed doesn't make sense to me because then 30 minutes of walking vs 30 minutes of running would then burn the same amount of calories.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited December 2018
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    kczemerys wrote: »
    Yes, but only very briefly.

    That could be part of the reason why. HR is highly variable and, assuming the treadmill uses HR as part of it's calorie burn formula, can easily account for high degrees of discrepancy.

    I'm not sure why the distances would be off, but I'm guessing the machines simply aren't as exact/precise as you want them to be.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    kczemerys wrote: »
    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.

    Not taking into account speed doesn't make sense to me because then 30 minutes of walking vs 30 minutes of running would then burn the same amount of calories.

    No it wouldn't
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited December 2018
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    kczemerys wrote: »
    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.

    Not taking into account speed doesn't make sense to me because then 30 minutes of walking vs 30 minutes of running would then burn the same amount of calories.

    It's accounted for in the distance you cover.

    Walking for 30 minutes = 1.5 miles (for sake of conversation)
    Running for 30 minutes = 3 miles (again, for sake of this conversation)

    Speed is accounted for because you cover more distance.

    Alternatively, if you cover 2 miles in 20 minutes vs that same 2 miles in 45 minutes... speed is accounted for by the change in duration/time.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,943 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You're overthinking this big time. All of this is just estimation and the variations you're talking about are pretty inconsequential. It may or may not be off by several calories, but not a whole lot. You're going to drown in that kind of minutia.

    This, a thousand times this.

    Pick a number and use it. I sometimes used treadmill numbers, I had a HRM for a while. I used averages of several online calculators....blah blah blah.

    The numbers are smaller than I would like. If I use an electronic device it's not going to be accurate. Pick a number and use it.

    All of this is estimation. Guess what else? You aren't calculating your calories eaten exactly either. It's not a perfect process and close enough is good enough.
  • kczemerys
    kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    kczemerys wrote: »
    Yes, but only very briefly.

    That could be part of the reason why. HR is highly variable and, assuming the treadmill uses HR as part of it's calorie burn formula, can easily account for high degrees of discrepancy.

    I'm not sure why the distances would be off, but I'm guessing the machines simply aren't as exact/precise as you want them to be.

    Now THIS makes sense to me, thank you.
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    kczemerys wrote: »
    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.

    Not taking into account speed doesn't make sense to me because then 30 minutes of walking vs 30 minutes of running would then burn the same amount of calories.

    It's accounted for in the distance you cover.

    Walking for 30 minutes = 1.5 miles (for sake of conversation)
    Running for 30 minutes = 3 miles (again, for sake of this conversation)

    Speed is accounted for because you cover more distance.

    Alternatively, if you cover 2 miles in 20 minutes vs that same 2 miles in 45 minutes... speed is accounted for by the change in duration/time.

    ^ This guy gets it. Again, these are all estimations to get you in the approximate range. Nothing will be exact.
  • kczemerys
    kczemerys Posts: 11 Member
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    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    kczemerys wrote: »
    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.

    Not taking into account speed doesn't make sense to me because then 30 minutes of walking vs 30 minutes of running would then burn the same amount of calories.

    It's accounted for in the distance you cover.

    Walking for 30 minutes = 1.5 miles (for sake of conversation)
    Running for 30 minutes = 3 miles (again, for sake of this conversation)

    Speed is accounted for because you cover more distance.

    Alternatively, if you cover 2 miles in 20 minutes vs that same 2 miles in 45 minutes... speed is accounted for by the change in duration/time.

    ^ This guy gets it. Again, these are all estimations to get you in the approximate range. Nothing will be exact.

    Yes, that makes sense. What hasn't been making sense is if I know I travel further yet the treadmill says I havent. It must be the machine's inaccuracy.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
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    kczemerys wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    kczemerys wrote: »
    Estimation of calories burned from running/jogging/walking = body weight * .63 * distance in miles. (calculation to be used for no incline. Adding incline would increase calories burned, but is also a much more complicated formula) Amount of effort/speed does not impact calories burned, only amount of time required to burn those calories.

    Using that calculation, you would only burn 65 calories in .6 miles if you weighed ~172 lbs.

    Not taking into account speed doesn't make sense to me because then 30 minutes of walking vs 30 minutes of running would then burn the same amount of calories.

    It's accounted for in the distance you cover.

    Walking for 30 minutes = 1.5 miles (for sake of conversation)
    Running for 30 minutes = 3 miles (again, for sake of this conversation)

    Speed is accounted for because you cover more distance.

    Alternatively, if you cover 2 miles in 20 minutes vs that same 2 miles in 45 minutes... speed is accounted for by the change in duration/time.

    ^ This guy gets it. Again, these are all estimations to get you in the approximate range. Nothing will be exact.

    Yes, that makes sense. What hasn't been making sense is if I know I travel further yet the treadmill says I havent. It must be the machine's inaccuracy.

    I bet it's an accuracy/calibration issue with the treadmill. Could also be differences in accuracy/calibration if you're not using the same treadmill each workout.