Never-Ending Rain and Treadmills

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springlering62
springlering62 Posts: 7,475 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
It has not stopped raining here for what seems like an eternity. Neighbors offered me use of their treadmill while they are gone.

Very interesting. Their treadmill recorded “480 calories burned” on a three mile walk.

My Apple Watch shows 321 total but only 251 “active” calories. I’ve always felt my Apple Watch was pretty accurate.

That’s less than half what the high end treadmill showed.

Quite a divergence. I can see how people could think they’re burning tons more calories than they are. Even eating back only half the treadmill’s recorded calories in this case would have simply left me at break even, or a bit above.

Dear lord, please let the sun back out. I am so tired of treadmills and legions of wet umbrellas and being cooped up, I could scream. (Is that an NSV right there?!)
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Replies

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,676 Member
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    My treadmill seems to think I weigh about 200 lbs. It will say I'm burning 1000 calories per hour when I'm running about 6 mph, so not even close. I wish it were true. I use MFPs numbers which have worked for me.

    You get used to the TM if you run on it regularly. Doing intervals or changing incline often helps make it more interesting. I do a lot of ladder runs - start slow and build up to marathon pace then drop back. The more variation, the more interesting.
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    To calculate net calories burned walking (ie additional calories attributable to exercise) multiply .30 x weight (in lbs) x distance (in miles) eg a 200 lb person burns approx 60 additional calories per mile walked unless you're walking at more than 5 mph or at a significant incline.

    But I'm with you.....treadmills are so boring compared to walking or running outside. At least here it may get to -40C but you can dress for that.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,969 Member
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    None of my business, but where do you live? I'm in the Pacific NW and even we don't have non-stop rain.

    ((eHug))
  • bearly63
    bearly63 Posts: 734 Member
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    My apple watch is almost always 50-75% less calories burned than the dreadmills or machines at my gym. Interestingly, when I attempt to measure my heart rate, they are pretty accurate compared to the watch. Whatever algorithm the machines use is less than accurate. I think its the same idea as clothing stores where sizes are "lower"
    - they give a false sense of accomplishment. :D
  • midgetgrl72280
    midgetgrl72280 Posts: 27 Member
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    I don't think the treadmills are accurate. They would have to be adjusted to your specific height, weight, age. on the Runners world website the calculator there says I burn about 100 calories per mile whether walked or ran.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    I’d second running in the rain. I did that accidentally recently, and it was a very fun run. I was soaked, but did 5 miles while it rained the whole time. Luckily I had put my phone in my waterproof case just in case it did rain.
  • DyneSalcar
    DyneSalcar Posts: 45 Member
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    Treadmill calorie estimates are usually pretty inaccurate. I would go by your watch
  • youngmomtaz
    youngmomtaz Posts: 1,075 Member
    edited February 2020
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    I hate rain. A lot. It makes my face itch, I can’t see because it runs down my glasses, wet and running is just no fun! But... I have a dog who loves walks and runs. And we had a lot of rain this fall. I actually went out in the rain a few times just to please him. Wicking layers underneath my vented rain coat, with shorts because even though it was cool my legs warm up and I wanted less weighed down layers, I clipped my hood to the front of my hair so it would not blow back, and I wore contacts. I survived and it wasn’t even bad. Give it a shot. I also hate treadmills.

    ETA: I will run in -40C or knee deep snow any day. But I will continue to have to psyc myself up for rain.
  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,563 Member
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    I live where it's God awful cold for about 6 months of the year... And I do NOT do cold / snow running. The treadmill is pretty much the only way I can get my steps in.

    It sucks, but it's better than nothing.

    As for cals burned... I think mine under estimates.... Right now it says 63 cals burned and my Fitbit says 79... But the treadmill is more accurate for distance (.7 miles vs 0.65).

    Hope it clears up for you soon!(and I hope for an early spring for me!)
  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,563 Member
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    youngmomtaz wrote: »
    I hate rain. A lot. It makes my face itch, I can’t see because it runs down my glasses, wet and running is just no fun! But... I have a dog who loves walks and runs. And we had a lot of rain this fall. I actually went out in the rain a few times just to please him. Wicking layers underneath my vented rain coat, with shorts because even though it was cool my legs warm up and I wanted less weighed down layers, I clipped my hood to the front of my hair so it would not blow back, and I wore contacts. I survived and it wasn’t even bad. Give it a shot. I also hate treadmills.

    ETA: I will run in -40C or knee deep snow any day. But I will continue to have to psyc myself up for rain.

    Kudos to you... I cannot bear the cold, but I do love a light rain run. Crazy (awesome) how we're all so different!
  • adotbaby
    adotbaby Posts: 199 Member
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    After many emails back and forth to customer service, I found out the calories burned on my treadmill is based on 185 pounds, which is a standard often used for exercise machines.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    You must live in the PNW. I feel your pain!😜
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,475 Member
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    Nope. Deep South. We’ve had two glorious days of sun then another week of rain starts back tomorrow. :'(
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I'm sorry. This time of year is so depressing.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    When the weather is gross, I run on the treadmills in my apartment gym. Even though I enter my weight, the calorie burn is always astronomically high -- sometimes hundreds more than what my Fitbit records for the same run (and I know from experience that my Fitbit is pretty accurate for me). I have no idea what the discrepancy is, but if I was burning that many calories each time I ran, I'd be a stick.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    PS I think the calorie burns reported by the Precor treadmills in my gym seem entirely reasonable. I compare to my Garmin, which reports somewhat lower. But the Garmin doesn't know that I'm always running at a slight incline.

    If you look through my threads, I have found that one of the 7 treadmills in my gym is miscalibrated by about 10%. You have to set it 10% faster to achieve the same speed as the others (as reported by the Garmin watch). This is a big problem with treadmills in general.
  • IThinkICan_Dejay
    IThinkICan_Dejay Posts: 17 Member
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    Buy a light rain jacket and run outside..... Treadmills are too much work to not get anyplace. You said you live in the South; you get just as wet running in July on a clear day as you do in February in the rain. :smiley:

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