Calories burned

angee1126
angee1126 Posts: 185 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I have a question.......I've been using my Nordic Track Elliptical machine lately and the calories burned on the machine says 602 (for 60 minutes) but yet when I input my exercise information on MFP it gives me 1239 calories burned!! Which should i go by? Not that I'm going to put all those calories back in my body, but i just like to know at the end of the day how many calories i burned.

Thanks for your help!

Replies

  • Shawn_Marie
    Shawn_Marie Posts: 307 Member
    THAT is what made me buy a heart rate monitor - I know that all devices are an estimate but at least I know that when I post my 500 calories burned from an hour at the gym I am logging a good estimate - MFP is an awesome site but I do not use their calorie burned numbers I always use my HRM. I have a Polar FT4 that I bought from amazom . com. it is not top or bottom of the line - I am happy with it.
    Hope this helps
  • deathstarclock
    deathstarclock Posts: 512 Member
    HRMs and cardio machines use the same equation for calculating calories.
  • nicolealison
    nicolealison Posts: 27 Member
    I either go by what the machine says if I'm using the heart rate monitoring on it. Like, on the treadmill, I always do a cardio program and hold the little heart things (I know I'm not pumping my arms but it keeps track of my heart rate and adjusts the incline to keep me in zone). Or, if I'm not on the treadmill, I always wear my Heart Rate monitor now. I have the Polar FT7. It's truly eye-opening! Our 1 hour of personal training used to give me 999 calories on MFP. Now, I burn between 550-600. Huge difference! I could have been eating all those extra calories!!!!
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    HRMs and cardio machines use the same equation for calculating calories.

    No. HRMs calculate using your sex, weight, age, sometimes height, and heart rate. The machines base the calorie count on intensity and, if you enter it, your weight and age. The machines seldom know or take your heart rate into account, and they rarely take your sex into account.

    If you get fitter but fail to increase intensity, the cardio machine will continue to give you the exact same calorie reading for the same workout. A HRM, however, will adjust downward.

    OP, 1200 for 60 minutes of exercise is highly unlikely. 600 calories sounds more like it.
  • deathstarclock
    deathstarclock Posts: 512 Member
    To get calories burned all you need is weight, time, and the METs (metabolic equivalent). Gender has nothing to do with determining energy expenditure, nor does height or age. Those parameters are probably use for data comparisons (where you stand in this age group, in this sex group, etc).
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