How do you know what the calorie burn is?

PeekABooGirl
PeekABooGirl Posts: 218 Member
edited November 10 in Fitness and Exercise
Example: elliptical at my gym says in 12minutes (don't laugh!) I burned 50 calories. If I look on MFP or on the "self" website's calorie calculator, it shows between 130-180. Big variation. Same variations with the stationary bike. So does anyone have a good website that has a reliable calculation?

THANK YOU!!

Replies

  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    Anything between 5-10 calories per minute is a good estimate for cardio. Anything higher is likely wrong.

    Strength training would be even lower.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    One thing any site can't know is your fitness level. This is what a heart rate monitor attempts to measure. As you get more & more fit, the calories burned will decrease over time.

    I don't know of any sites off hand, but look for one that asks for your height, weight, gender, and age.
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
    i use a heart rate monitor.
  • SarahElittlebit
    SarahElittlebit Posts: 66 Member
    A good Heart Rate monitor that asks for height, age, and weight is your best bet. They can be a little pricey, but are worth it. If not, use your best guess. Many people will only allow themselves to eat 1/2 of their exercise calories in order to account for that variance.
  • sirphilipe
    sirphilipe Posts: 43 Member
    Any exercise I do, I use a heart rate monitor as well.

    It is the only way to be sure of your calorie burn...
  • rednblack84
    rednblack84 Posts: 31
    Heart rate monitor is your best option. You can get one for about $50 that will simply tell you your current calorie burn. The more expensive ones track you calories over time and do alot of other crazy stuff, but if you're just wanting to know what you're burning, a basic model will do fine.
  • noexcuses84
    noexcuses84 Posts: 100 Member
    i ALWAYS go off the machine. i don't have a HRM yet so for me this is the most accurate esp if u take the time to enter ur details (age, weight). i've searched for sites out there but really they r all only an estimate! if ur willing to pay big money for a monitor then do it, can't wait to get mine!!! good luck
  • rides4sanity
    rides4sanity Posts: 1,269 Member
    I agree the HRM is the best, but if you don't have one I'd go with the reading from the machine I was using, especially it it has you enter your age, weight & height. Plus elliptical takes into account your speed, resistance, etc. whereas the sites list an estimate based on accumulated data.
  • hsmithway
    hsmithway Posts: 191
    I also use a HRM these days, but before it arrived I used the number on the machine because the mfp number just seemed ridiculously high. My HRM gives me a number that's higher than the machine, and lower than mfp.
  • MHunte
    MHunte Posts: 149
    Example: elliptical at my gym says in 12minutes (don't laugh!) I burned 50 calories. If I look on MFP or on the "self" website's calorie calculator, it shows between 130-180. Big variation. Same variations with the stationary bike. So does anyone have a good website that has a reliable calculation?

    THANK YOU!!


    You don't need no website to tell you your calorie burn, you need to look into getting a Heart rate monitor, don't trust what the gym equipment says. what ever HRM you get make sure it has a chest strap....I recomend getting a HRM by Polar. I use a Polar RS100 and i love it.....
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
    It depends on your exertion level.

    12 minutes and you can barely get a word out if you tried to talk would be about 10 calories per minute.
    12 minutes and you can carry on a conversation or sing a song is probably about 5 calories per minute.
  • MHunte
    MHunte Posts: 149
    i ALWAYS go off the machine. i don't have a HRM yet so for me this is the most accurate esp if u take the time to enter ur details (age, weight). i've searched for sites out there but really they r all only an estimate! if ur willing to pay big money for a monitor then do it, can't wait to get mine!!! good luck


    I don't see how spending $100.00 - 150.00 is big money.....Getting a HRM is the BEST thing anyone can invest in...IMO
  • madameduffay
    madameduffay Posts: 166 Member
    The HRM that I have does not show the calories. Does anyone know if I can figure out the calories based on heart rate and the time that I worked out?
  • christina0089
    christina0089 Posts: 709 Member
    It depends on your exertion level.

    12 minutes and you can barely get a word out if you tried to talk would be about 10 calories per minute.
    12 minutes and you can carry on a conversation or sing a song is probably about 5 calories per minute.

    Agreed ^^^^^^^^^^^^
  • courtneymal17
    courtneymal17 Posts: 672 Member
    i ALWAYS go off the machine. i don't have a HRM yet so for me this is the most accurate esp if u take the time to enter ur details (age, weight). i've searched for sites out there but really they r all only an estimate! if ur willing to pay big money for a monitor then do it, can't wait to get mine!!! good luck


    I don't see how spending $100.00 - 150.00 is big money.....Getting a HRM is the BEST thing anyone can invest in...IMO

    I've seen them for less than that even....try amazon or ebay for a cheaper one with a chest strap...I've been looking for a long time and finally got a polar ft7 yesterday...i looove it so far...I'd so agree...get a heart rate monitor...dont trust what MFP gives you (its ridiculously high in a lot of cases) and websites, again just go off of accumulated data and what YOU put in....what you think is "vigorous" to a website might only be intermediate and you'll get a wrong calculation...you can get a fairly cheap HRM from amazon, or go for the 'better' ones. Trust me, I dont have a job atm, but the 100 bucks for mine is the best money i've spent so far in my journey, other than the 10 bucks for 30 day shred LOL
  • MMarvelous
    MMarvelous Posts: 1,067 Member
    Example: elliptical at my gym says in 12minutes (don't laugh!) I burned 50 calories. If I look on MFP or on the "self" website's calorie calculator, it shows between 130-180. Big variation. Same variations with the stationary bike. So does anyone have a good website that has a reliable calculation?

    THANK YOU!!

    Never be ashamed of how much you worked out as it is an improvement! Smile and be proud of every small step you are taking to make a healthier you :-) A HRM is the best tool to determine your calorie burn but like an MFP'er says 5 cals per min if you could talk and 10 cal if you thought you were about to die!!! Lol I try to do the about to die part 20-25 mins on the arc trainer lmao
  • PeekABooGirl
    PeekABooGirl Posts: 218 Member
    Thanks everyone! I'll look into a heart rate monitor. Good thing I didn't eat all my burn calories yesterday b/c Ihad a hard time believing I burned over 500cals in an hour. THANKS AGAIN!
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