Calorie accuracy

Inthefridge73
Inthefridge73 Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've recently joined the gym and started a routine of approx 30 min cardio and some weight machines.

The rower, cross trainer and stepper give me a number of calories burnt at the end of my exercise program. How accurate are these likely to be given the fact they do not take account of my height, weight and age?

An example on Sunday would be
Rowing 15 minutes 189 calories
Stepper 10 minutes 151 calories
Cross Trainer 10 minutes 91 calories

I understand I need to eat calories burnt back as MFP gives your goal without exercise so these figures need to be reasonably accurate.

Thanks for any advice

Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    calling @AnnPT77 - she has a good reference chart link for calculating how many calories are burned during various exercises
  • CharlieCharlie007
    CharlieCharlie007 Posts: 246 Member
    It takes me 70 min to burn 1000 calories on the stairmaster. I climb 6000 stairs for this. That is an accurate number because it is roughly 17% of stairs climbed which is what has been scientifically established. MFP would have me at 1600. Reduce all MFP numbers by 35%, and it will be close to reality.
  • CharlieCharlie007
    CharlieCharlie007 Posts: 246 Member
    Inthefridge73 wrote: »
    I've recently joined the gym and started a routine of approx 30 min cardio and some weight machines.

    The rower, cross trainer and stepper give me a number of calories burnt at the end of my exercise program. How accurate are these likely to be given the fact they do not take account of my height, weight and age?

    An example on Sunday would be
    Rowing 15 minutes 189 calories
    Stepper 10 minutes 151 calories
    Cross Trainer 10 minutes 91 calories

    I understand I need to eat calories burnt back as MFP gives your goal without exercise so these figures need to be reasonably accurate.

    Thanks for any advice

    By cross trainer do you mean elliptical? I burn 36 calories in 5 min. So in 10 72.

    Steppers are useless. Sorry, but they are. Use stair master.

    Rowing also burns a crapload. That one may be accurate.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,965 Member
    Inthefridge73 wrote: »
    I've recently joined the gym and started a routine of approx 30 min cardio and some weight machines.

    The rower, cross trainer and stepper give me a number of calories burnt at the end of my exercise program. How accurate are these likely to be given the fact they do not take account of my height, weight and age?

    An example on Sunday would be
    Rowing 15 minutes 189 calories
    Stepper 10 minutes 151 calories
    Cross Trainer 10 minutes 91 calories

    I understand I need to eat calories burnt back as MFP gives your goal without exercise so these figures need to be reasonably accurate.

    Thanks for any advice

    If it's a Concept 2 rower, it assumes you weigh 175 pounds. If you don't, then use the calories burned per hour (in the Memory option on the monitor), plus your workout time, to adjust for your weight using this calculator: https://www.concept2.com/indoor-rowers/training/calculators/calorie-calculator

    Whether the other machines are accurate is a crapshoot. You can always compare their estimates to other sources (like the MFP exercise database, which often is not as nutzoid as some people say), then pick the most likely to be accurate (if you have reason to believe one over another), or the lowest of the estimates (if you have no clue ;) ).

    A fitness tracker or heart rate monitor may give you a decent-ish estimate for the others, if they're done as steady state exercise of moderate intensity. They're likely to be less accurate at estimating intervals, especially high-intensity intervals; or sub-aerobic or very intense cardiovascular exercise; or anything with a major strength component, especially if arms overhead. Concept 2's estimate is likely to be better than an HRM, though it can understate a bit for someone who's not very efficient at rowing (so they're spending lots of energy that doesn't go into the flywheel and get measured ;) ).

    The main thing is to be consistent in how you estimate the exercise calories, and how much of them you eat back. Stick with a routine for 4-6 weeks, then look at your average weekly weight loss. If it's higher than sensible, eat more accordingly (using the 3500 calories = 1 pound approximation). If it's lower than you'd like and it can be higher and still sensible at your current weight, eat a little less accordingly. In that context, being consistent is vital, even if you're not able to be 100% accurate. I hope that makes sense!

    Best wishes! :)
  • Inthefridge73
    Inthefridge73 Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks all.
    The link to concept was useful and as i'm 208lbs burning slightly more.
    I'll start by eating the rowing calories back and banking the others from the other CV machines.
    After 4 weeks I'll see what my weight loss trend looks like and if i'm losing over 2lbs a week eat more calories back.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,965 Member
    Inthefridge73 wrote: »
    Thanks all.
    The link to concept was useful and as i'm 208lbs burning slightly more.
    I'll start by eating the rowing calories back and banking the others from the other CV machines.
    After 4 weeks I'll see what my weight loss trend looks like and if i'm losing over 2lbs a week eat more calories back.

    That sounds like a good plan!

    I'd suggest one slight tweak: If you seem to be losing fast before 4 weeks, and start to feel even a bit fatigued or weak for otherwise unexplained reasons, I'd suggest eating a little more.

    Sometimes people don't understand that MFP's calorie goal is a statistical estimate, not a crystal ball. It will be close for most people, off a bit (high or low) for a few, and substantially off for a very, very few. I lost too fast at first (MFP underestimates my calorie needs by a good bit), got weak and fatigued, and it took several weeks to recover fully.

    That's unlikely to happen to you, but it's important to realize that it's possible.

    Best wishes!
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,181 Member
    Inthefridge73 wrote: »
    I've recently joined the gym and started a routine of approx 30 min cardio and some weight machines.

    The rower, cross trainer and stepper give me a number of calories burnt at the end of my exercise program. How accurate are these likely to be given the fact they do not take account of my height, weight and age?

    An example on Sunday would be
    Rowing 15 minutes 189 calories
    Stepper 10 minutes 151 calories
    Cross Trainer 10 minutes 91 calories

    I understand I need to eat calories burnt back as MFP gives your goal without exercise so these figures need to be reasonably accurate.

    Thanks for any advice

    the're not, accurate at all, you should get a Polor PT4 or some sort of heart rate monitor.
    You may not burn the same amount of calories per exercise, as you lose weight.
  • RovP6
    RovP6 Posts: 108 Member
    Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about how many calories you burn through exercise. Exercise should be for physical fitness or strength gains or alleviating joint problems etc. Concentrate on getting your weekly energy balance right through the food you eat for whatever calorie deficit you require and enjoy the exercise for what it is. If you average your weight and calorie intake over a week you'll soon get an idea of whether or not you're eating too much or too little for your goals. Generally speaking a good way to work out what sort of deficit you need for weight loss is to multiply your bodyweight in lbs by 10-12, 12-14 is generally good for maintenance and 14+ is good for gaining. Once you try that for a couple of weeks and get a flavour for the overall effect you can adjust up or down to have the desired effect.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    Commander_Keen wrote: »
    Inthefridge73 wrote: »
    I've recently joined the gym and started a routine of approx 30 min cardio and some weight machines.

    The rower, cross trainer and stepper give me a number of calories burnt at the end of my exercise program. How accurate are these likely to be given the fact they do not take account of my height, weight and age?

    An example on Sunday would be
    Rowing 15 minutes 189 calories
    Stepper 10 minutes 151 calories
    Cross Trainer 10 minutes 91 calories

    I understand I need to eat calories burnt back as MFP gives your goal without exercise so these figures need to be reasonably accurate.

    Thanks for any advice

    the're not, accurate at all, you should get a Polor PT4 or some sort of heart rate monitor.
    You may not burn the same amount of calories per exercise, as you lose weight.

    There's every chance a HRM will be just as inaccurate - especially a very basic one like the FT4.
    The rower can be reasonably accurate (as detailed upthread), the other machines no so much.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    RovP6 wrote: »
    Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about how many calories you burn through exercise. Exercise should be for physical fitness or strength gains or alleviating joint problems etc. Concentrate on getting your weekly energy balance right through the food you eat for whatever calorie deficit you require and enjoy the exercise for what it is. If you average your weight and calorie intake over a week you'll soon get an idea of whether or not you're eating too much or too little for your goals. Generally speaking a good way to work out what sort of deficit you need for weight loss is to multiply your bodyweight in lbs by 10-12, 12-14 is generally good for maintenance and 14+ is good for gaining. Once you try that for a couple of weeks and get a flavour for the overall effect you can adjust up or down to have the desired effect.

    Sorry but the bolded is a horrendous way to try and estimate a person's calorie goal - might as well sacrifice a chicken and measure the arterial spray.... :)
    My maintenance multiplier is 18 - 21 depending on season.

    There's far better methods available including MyFitnessPal and TDEE calculators which at least try to take into account gender, exercise and activity.
    The adjustment based on results over an extended period of time is spot on advice though.

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