calories burned on equipment vs website

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cronus404
cronus404 Posts: 31
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently purchased an airdyne and have been using it to exercise. It has a calorie burned counter that I use when I enter my numbers for my exercise. The nearest equivalent on this website shows that even at a slow pace the number it comes up with is almost twice what the airdyne shows. Does anyone know what number is more accurate? Or has anyone else noticed that the calories burned listed on this website are higher/lower than the actual calories burned?

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  • hazelnut861
    hazelnut861 Posts: 390 Member
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    Mfp always under estimates my calories burned and the machines always over estimate my calories burned. I go by what my heart rate monitor says.
  • leezanicole
    leezanicole Posts: 96
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    I've noticed this when I use the elliptical. I go by what my machine says to play it safe, the website is usually 100 calories more than what my machine says.
  • kandrews24
    kandrews24 Posts: 610 Member
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    My gym instructor explained that machines are programed (with one set of info = average). The machine does not know your age, gender, weight, etc. MFP does. As between a machine and MFP, I'd go with MFP, unless it is your machine and you were able to program it.

    I have heard that a good heart rate monitor is the most accurate. I don't have one. I will probably get one eventually but thus far, I've had success with MFP, so I don't NEED it yet.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Truthfully, it doesn't matter if its the site or the machine or an HRM, they are all just guessing anyway. The machine's guesstimate is based on its programming, the site's guesstimate is based on its programming, and the HRM measures your heart rate and produces its own guesstimate. Some could argue that the HRM is programmed with a formula to calculate calories, but it is still just a guesstimate. This is why I choose to net low most days because there really is no definitive way of knowing for sure. Everyone's body is different.
  • robinellis
    robinellis Posts: 66
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    my nordictrack elliptical tells me i burn about half of what MFP tells me so i always went with the machines number so that i was not over-calculating. Now i have a HRM and it tells me i burn a small amount more than my machine so i am glad i always went with it.
  • cronus404
    cronus404 Posts: 31
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    yeah ive been going with the lower number because i feel its better safe than sorry. I just wasnt sure if one was more accurate than the other. Either way its still good because as long as i'm being proactive and doing something I feel better about myelf.
  • Brandicaloriecountess
    Brandicaloriecountess Posts: 2,126 Member
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    MFP always gave me a number way higher than the machines. My hrm gives me a number even lower than the machine for elliptical and higher than the machine for the treadmill. I always go with the lowest number to be cautious.
  • Fiyero
    Fiyero Posts: 31
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    Yeah, it really depends on the machine. My rower has an heart rate monitor input, data is fed to the PC, the software on which knows my height, weight and age. Given that it has all this data, I tend to trust its values which are generally higher than MFP. I imagine a cycling computer would be similar like a computrainer etc. But if the machine is "dum" IE it doesn't know your details, I wouldn't trust it at all.

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