Help! I'm not sure! Calling all experts! :-)

sophialittle
sophialittle Posts: 344 Member
edited September 18 in Fitness and Exercise
hello everyone! :tongue:

ok, so i got one of those stylin' machines over the weekend and assembled it (with minimal cussing involved) all by myself! :tongue:

i bought it at sharper image in the mall. it's called a "swing slider". i think i would describe it as a combo between an elliptical and a stair stepper. . . i don't really have experience with any exercise equipment because i live out in the middle of nowhere. my exercise experiences before this including a treadmill and stationary bike.

so . . my question is this. . . i did the machine for 30 minutes and it keeps track of cals. it said i burnt 480. i'm thinking this is pretty high . . .what do you guys think? i put in elliptical trainer in the exercise log to kind-of compare and it was 280 for 30 min. so do you think i'm just on the dream machine? :laugh: or do you think it's pry more like the site's elliptical trainer?

i guess i'm thinking i would rather underestimate my cals burnt than to be logging higher burnt cals than i'm actually burning and, while eating all my cals, actually eating over without knowing.

thoughts???? any insight would be greatly appreciated, gang! thanks a lot!!:happy:

Replies

  • sophialittle
    sophialittle Posts: 344 Member
    hello everyone! :tongue:

    ok, so i got one of those stylin' machines over the weekend and assembled it (with minimal cussing involved) all by myself! :tongue:

    i bought it at sharper image in the mall. it's called a "swing slider". i think i would describe it as a combo between an elliptical and a stair stepper. . . i don't really have experience with any exercise equipment because i live out in the middle of nowhere. my exercise experiences before this including a treadmill and stationary bike.

    so . . my question is this. . . i did the machine for 30 minutes and it keeps track of cals. it said i burnt 480. i'm thinking this is pretty high . . .what do you guys think? i put in elliptical trainer in the exercise log to kind-of compare and it was 280 for 30 min. so do you think i'm just on the dream machine? :laugh: or do you think it's pry more like the site's elliptical trainer?

    i guess i'm thinking i would rather underestimate my cals burnt than to be logging higher burnt cals than i'm actually burning and, while eating all my cals, actually eating over without knowing.

    thoughts???? any insight would be greatly appreciated, gang! thanks a lot!!:happy:
  • sonia2
    sonia2 Posts: 154
    I would definitely go with the lower eliptical trainer calories for the reason you stated. It's always better to underestimate!!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,411 Member
    sophia -

    Does it ask for your baseline heart rate? Does it ask your age or weight? I found out that loving an elliptical is a difficult relationship. I asked your same question all over the internet, and I didn't get any answer that was definitive.

    If your machine doesn't give you the options to enter either age, weight, or heart rate: then the best thing you can do is invest in a heart rate monitor. The good news about them is that you will get an accurate heart rate for any exercise that you do. Then you can know exactly how to figure your calories burned..

    The Polar F11 that songbyrdsweet has is supposedly the best at $159. You can buy a cheaper one, ($40- 60) since you won't have to worry about "competing" telemetry signals in a gym situation where often several people are using monitors at the same time.

    Research them on Amazon: you can read all the user reviews - always helpful. Good luck. :happy:
  • elevans
    elevans Posts: 9
    These machines are not very accurate. They use different methods. Some count just calories burned from exercise, other count total calories burned (work + BMR calories). I don't worry about that anymore. Just make sure that its not too easy.
  • barefootbabe
    barefootbabe Posts: 271 Member
    sophia -

    Does it ask for your baseline heart rate? Does it ask your age or weight? I found out that loving an elliptical is a difficult relationship. I asked your same question all over the internet, and I didn't get any answer that was definitive.

    If your machine doesn't give you the options to enter either age, weight, or heart rate: then the best thing you can do is invest in a heart rate monitor. The good news about them is that you will get an accurate heart rate for any exercise that you do. Then you can know exactly how to figure your calories burned..

    The Polar F11 that songbyrdsweet has is supposedly the best at $159. You can buy a cheaper one, ($40- 60) since you won't have to worry about "competing" telemetry signals in a gym situation where often several people are using monitors at the same time.

    Research them on Amazon: you can read all the user reviews - always helpful. Good luck. :happy:


    I would also highly recommend the Polar F11. It is fantastic and helps you to have a really accurate reading of your fitness level, heart rate, and calories burned. It even congratulates you when you reach your workout goals! Having that little trophy displayed on my wrist keeps me motivated, small and silly as that may seem! :)
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    yep, I find that the machines are usually over 100 calories off for me. Now, I'm a big dude, and I am very atheltic, and my wife/trainer say that makes a difference, but my heartrate monitor tells me I burn about 350 to 400 cals in 30 minutes (average about 83 to 86% of max heartrate), where as a machine at my gym would tell me 500 to 550. So take it for what it's worth. The polar's ARE awesome by the way. Any model is good for basic heart rate and calorie burn. The 11's have some crazy cool tools like bluetooth upload to your computer and a whole weekly routine, but you don't need that much if you don't want to pay the $130 to $160 they cost. The F6 is what I have, and it only cost $90 and does everything I need. Best investment I never made (my wife got it for me for x-mas).
  • sophialittle
    sophialittle Posts: 344 Member
    thanks a lot for all the advice, guys!:happy: no, it doesn't ask me any of those types of questions. i was afraid it might have been a litle off. well, for now, i'll just log on the lower end, going with mfp and then i'll have to just go shopping! (what a pity! :tongue: ) and pick up a monitor! thanks a lot!:wink:
    have a good day everybody! i'm packing to go away for a few days! spring break for teachers! gotta love it! :tongue:
  • DianneLynn
    DianneLynn Posts: 156 Member
    I agree...calories burned determined in such a non-specific way is merely a guesstimate. The good news ~ you are exercising and its good for ya! Only time will tell if it's what you need either by inches or lbs. lost.
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