Elliptical Madness!!

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lorenzoinlr
lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I used to work out on a Lifefitness elliptical for 30 minutes and it calculated I would burn around 420 calories.

Recently I purchased a Smooth Fitness elliptical. I work out harder on that for 40 minutes and it calculates around 225 calories lost.

What gives? If I use the calculator on this site it's over 500 calories for 40 minutes.

Is the difference what you burn exercising vs. doing nothing? When you enter calories in the food tracker, what should I enter???

Replies

  • Loves418
    Loves418 Posts: 330 Member
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    Here is one for you. I was working out at the gym on the elliptical Last week I bought a heart rate monitor went and did 50 minutes on the elliptical at the gym: READY: the machine said I burned 484 calories my heart rate monitor said 303. 181 calorie difference. Which means I was eating 1086 calories too much a week ( I work out 6 days) also I do Jillian Michaels 30 day shred every other day (due to heel issues) and MFP gave me 50 calories too much on that so add on another 150 more calories means I was eating 1236 calories too much in a week...I was eating for 8 days instead of 7. Now I know why the weight wasn't coming off. This week I lost 3 pounds keeping track the right way...
  • KNMD
    KNMD Posts: 28 Member
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    There is a typical formula used for ellipticals....

    Calories = [(0.6309 x Heart Rate) + (0.2017 x Age) -- (0.09036 x Weight) -- 55.0969] x Time / 4.184

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/238635-how-to-calculate-the-calories-burned-on-an-elliptical-machine/#ixzz1lS34zDvM

    Your Elliptical doesn't know your heart rate, your age, or your weight, so they use an average. I've heard it can be as low as 150lbs. MFP uses a similar equation that guesses at your heart rate but uses your last weight and age.

    The best way to know is to buy a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM).
    I tend to just go with what MFP tells me and record in the notes the program I used and the distance the machine reported.
  • lorenzoinlr
    lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
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    There is a typical formula used for ellipticals....

    Calories = [(0.6309 x Heart Rate) + (0.2017 x Age) -- (0.09036 x Weight) -- 55.0969] x Time / 4.184

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/238635-how-to-calculate-the-calories-burned-on-an-elliptical-machine/#ixzz1lS34zDvM

    Your Elliptical doesn't know your heart rate, your age, or your weight, so they use an average. I've heard it can be as low as 150lbs. MFP uses a similar equation that guesses at your heart rate but uses your last weight and age.

    The best way to know is to buy a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM).
    I tend to just go with what MFP tells me and record in the notes the program I used and the distance the machine reported.


    Thanks for the link. Well, assuming their formula is correct, my current ellipticacl (Smooth) is right and the Lifestep was wrong, as is the rule of thumb on this site. Makes you wonder what's going on.
  • hypersensitiveb
    hypersensitiveb Posts: 342 Member
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    This is the exact thing that had me so frustrated that I took the past 2 days off don't have a heart rate monitor nor do I have any clue the calculations I would need to do once I got one. I knew the numbers were off on here and at the gym despite the gym having machines that take your pulse. Besides that the advice on here is so conflicting my head is spinning. Eat your exercise calories .. Don't eat them . Count your vegetables.. don't count them. Count flavored water.. don't count it. I really just want to know what I have to do so I can do it . I really don't care if it comes down to eating a cracker a day and exercising for 3 hrs I just want to loose this weight before I go nuts. Sorry for the rant just very frustrated.
  • marie2585
    marie2585 Posts: 1
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    If there was one method that worked for everyone we'd all be supermodels. Do what feels right/works for you. 6 years ago I lost 40kgs unfortunately a change of job has caused me to put most of it back on. Trying to do what I did before just isn't working. So it's back to the drawing board.
  • amoffatt
    amoffatt Posts: 674 Member
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    My elliptical is completely off so I now use a HRM with all my workouts. Some days I burn more on my 30 day shred because I can keep up with it so I adjust the amount of time doing these exercises when I enter it in MFP. Id rather have the correct calories then time.
  • lhabedank
    lhabedank Posts: 149 Member
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    This is the reason i do not eat my exercise calories. I figure between the incorrect numbers from that as well as missing calories here and there it will work out in the end. However, I usually take what mfp tells me and knock off about 20%, but I like seeing a bunch of cals burned off, it makes me feel as though I accomplished a lot and gives me the incentive to keep going back. I think when you try to be too picky with numbers your goals get lost.
  • lorenzoinlr
    lorenzoinlr Posts: 338 Member
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    This is getting stranger. Got a Polar FT-4. My Smooth elliptical receives Polars. Entered the exact same info in both, upon checking they were logging the exact same heart rate HOWEVER the machine calculated 20% fewer calories than the wristwatch.

    What the heck??????

    How are we supposed to factor in calories when we really don't know what they are?????
  • dewaynechapman
    dewaynechapman Posts: 14 Member
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    I was doing 30 minutes on my NordicTrack Elliptical and it told me I was burning around 330-350 calories. I recently purchased a Polar FT7 and the same 30 minutes on it the HRM says anywhere from 430-450. I am burning about 100 more calories than the machine was telling me I was.

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