Ok So just how accurate are the calorie counts on the Cardio

monicalynne68
monicalynne68 Posts: 87 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm beginning to wonder just how accurately the amount of calories burned are when I log my cardio. The machines at the gym( Treadmill, stairmaster, bike etc) all have calorie counters on them that tell you how many calories you are burning. The amount on the machine and the amount that MFP allows never coincide. The number on the machines is usually half of what MFP says. I know that the number on the machines are generalized but it still makes me wonder if I should still be eating back all my exercise calories in case MFP isn't correct.

Replies

  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    that is why i got a HRM. The guesswork was killing me. For me the calorie count on the machine was too high, and i would say that the best estimate was MFP but still a bit over too. The problem is the fact that the healthier you are, less calories you burn doing the exact same thing. Perso, if you can´t have a HRM i would eat back 75% of what MFP give you.
  • monicalynne68
    monicalynne68 Posts: 87 Member
    Do HRM give you a calorie count? The reason I ask is because the cardio machines at the gym show you your heart rate as well. I usually try to keep it between 127-147. How do you figure out how many calories you burned by your heart rate?
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
    Do HRM give you a calorie count? The reason I ask is because the cardio machines at the gym show you your heart rate as well. I usually try to keep it between 127-147. How do you figure out how many calories you burned by your heart rate?
    a good HRM will have a chest strap and will give you an accurate calorie burn with your age, you weight. It is not perfect but it is as close as you can get.
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
    Personally I think that MFP way over estimates.

    Having said that it's important to realise that an estimate is all it can ever be. It's all you are getting from the machines as well.

    So I do eat some of my work out calories but I aim not to use them all because I'm pretty sure they are too high.
  • temp666777
    temp666777 Posts: 169
    The short answer is, they are not AT ALL accurate! As most people have said, they way overestimate. Never trust them.

    If you're a jogger, here's some detailed research ... at least for jogging and also walking.

    http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
    not.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    This is one of the biggest problems with eating back your exercise calories - it's very hard to measure accurately.
  • steviegreeks
    steviegreeks Posts: 35 Member
    You can find handy more detailed calculators online also. I have "created" My own exercises and use these so that I have a accurate calculator for my rpm classes, zumba, combat, pilates etc... If you're really committed to finding the information it's worth the effort :)

    Good luck
  • douglasmobbs
    douglasmobbs Posts: 563 Member
    unless you put in your weight to the gym equipment it will only give you an approximate average.

    For me the average is way less than other calculations (but I am a 300+ lb male)

    An example

    40 mins on the cross trainer.

    Without putting my weight into equipment it said I burnt 450 cals in 40 mins.
    Putting my weight into equipment it said I burnt 670 cals in 40 mins
    Using the pulse function on the equipment and calculating weight loss from there I got 690 cals in 40 mins.
  • Aèlis18118360
    Aèlis18118360 Posts: 19
    I did some calculations about heart rate and calories, here is what I got:


    BPM. Cal/H. 30m. 45m. 20m.

    Very light effort. < 68. 211. 105. 150. 70

    Light effort. 68 - 104. 387. 193. 290. 129

    Moderate effort. 104 - 133. 493. 245. 367. 163

    It works for me (both MFP and my stationary bike tell me I burn more calories than I actually do, so I always look at this chart.
  • Aèlis18118360
    Aèlis18118360 Posts: 19
    Sorry, I tried to make a chart, but when I posted it, it came out a bit messy,
  • CharlieBarleyMom
    CharlieBarleyMom Posts: 727 Member
    Do HRM give you a calorie count? The reason I ask is because the cardio machines at the gym show you your heart rate as well. I usually try to keep it between 127-147. How do you figure out how many calories you burned by your heart rate?

    Here is a site I use to get my calorie burn amount because my HRM gives me my average heart rate but the caloric burn it gives me is like 3x what it should be.

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm
  • wendywwhite
    wendywwhite Posts: 24 Member
    Agree with this - i routinely compare my HRM calories to the ones here and mine are always significantly lower even when I am working very hard.
  • cowgirlslikeus86
    cowgirlslikeus86 Posts: 597 Member
    I have found that MFP way over estimates amounts burned.

    On that note, I have friends who run about the same speeds I do and same distances and only burn about 2/3 what I do. My heart rate, hight, weight, age and fitness level determine what I burn. The machines do not take into account all these variables..

    I highly recommend spending 80$ on a HRM with a chest strap, it takes all the guess work out of it.

    exercise.png
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
    MFP estimates are really high compared to my HRM.
  • wildkatt7
    wildkatt7 Posts: 163 Member
    it has been pretty accurate for me...I tend to overestimate on food and underestimate on exercise though. the number of calories burned has changed as I have lost weight though.. which means my hour workout doesn't buy me as much extra food as it used to... but that is okay... I am healthier for it...
  • Moonbeamlissie
    Moonbeamlissie Posts: 504 Member
    Do HRM give you a calorie count? The reason I ask is because the cardio machines at the gym show you your heart rate as well. I usually try to keep it between 127-147. How do you figure out how many calories you burned by your heart rate?
    a good HRM will have a chest strap and will give you an accurate calorie burn with your age, you weight. It is not perfect but it is as close as you can get.


    What this poster said is pretty accurate. It is not PERFECT but it is better than relying on this site or the machine. TBH, I always thought my HRM was not correct. It always would lose my heart beat and I would have to move it around. Now my HRM is totally not useable so I just rely on where I made up my own exercises using my hrm BUT this is one of the reasons I never did eat all my calories if any at all. Since I am not perfect the room for error is great. I can error logging my food, I can error logging my calories so I usually just left them and ate them on an as needed basis.
  • Tourney3p0
    Tourney3p0 Posts: 290 Member
    Seem to be pretty accurate for me. On the elliptical, I put the resistance up to about 90%. When I'm finished, I'm sweating profusely (it's actually disgusting) and pace myself such that when that last second ticks off, I couldn't possibly do another minute of it. My calorie count is usually about 25% more than MFP's estimate.

    Conversely, my girlfriend can only do roughly a quarter of the resistance I can (but she goes a bit faster to compensate). Her calorie counter is usually a little over half MFP's estimate.

    I usually use the lower of both numbers. If MFP is lower than the machine's number, I use MFP's. And vice versa. Results so far follow the calculations pretty well.

    MFP definitely expects you to give it your all on the machines, though. It can only help you.
  • seanrgallagher
    seanrgallagher Posts: 6 Member
    My fit pal says to put in what the machine says you've burned there at the gym.
  • courtneymal17
    courtneymal17 Posts: 672 Member
    I have found that MFP way over estimates amounts burned.

    On that note, I have friends who run about the same speeds I do and same distances and only burn about 2/3 what I do. My heart rate, hight, weight, age and fitness level determine what I burn. The machines do not take into account all these variables..

    I highly recommend spending 80$ on a HRM with a chest strap, it takes all the guess work out of it.

    exercise.png

    This over and over again. A good heart rate monitor with a chest strap will give you a far far far more accurate number of calories burned than MFP, the machines, or even the most detailed of online calculators. If you're on a budget you can find HRMs with chest straps on amazon for 30ish$. Mine is a Polar ft7...it cost significantly more than that, but it is easily THE most important thing that has helped me lose weight thus far. edited to add: and yes, it gives you calorie count as ewll as heart rate. Mine also stores a bunch of workouts and will give you time, amount of itme in 'fat burn', calories burned, etc etc.
  • chiera88
    chiera88 Posts: 155
    pretty darn accurate! i bought a HRM because i was worried but the numbers pretty much matched. MFP uses the same stats as the monitor. only thing thats better is that it also uses your heart rate but as long as you're actually working hard you should be fine. of course i'd be wrong if you stopped alot or just stood around while you were working out ha.

    and if you do anything like jillian michaels, input is as circuit training. that most matched my hrm number
  • kammy92
    kammy92 Posts: 408 Member
    My treadmill and elliptical overestimated badly my calorie burn............so does MFP ...........which is why I have a HRM...............
  • delilah47
    delilah47 Posts: 1,658
    You can change the calories you log. Go to Exercise, then My Exercise and enter what you believe to be more accurate. I have done this because I do some low impact aerobic exercise, but I am not able to do "normal" aerobics. So, I entered a lower calorie count for it and named it something like Low Impact Aerobics Modified.

    And, since my lifestyle is otherwise VERY sedentary, I usually only eat about half my exercise calories.
  • cbl40
    cbl40 Posts: 281 Member
    They are more accurate than the cardio machines at the gym. I bought an HRM and on two occasions my HRM and MFP were exact!!!
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    Unless you buy a HRM that you can enter your body data into, you're going to get an "average" just like on the machines. It's still more accurate that MFP which over estimates for lighter people, underestimates for heavier folks with more muscle mass.

    I've got a Garmin that interfaces with my computer, so I can enter height, weight, general activity level and an estimate of BMR that is calculates using my resting heart rate (via chest strap).

    I don't know if dropping the money for a HRM that fancy is worth it just for gym workouts, but mine has GPS too, so I can map my runs and rides and that's pretty cool. And I live in CO, where elevation is everything, so seeing how many vertical feet I do in a workout can be pretty motivating too.
  • spectralmoon
    spectralmoon Posts: 1,179 Member
    Depending on what exercises I do, MFP is either pretty accurate, or underestimates my burn. My HRM syncs up for jumping jacks, but the calories I burn doing strength training with dumbbells... MFP gives me 1 calorie burned for every 3 that my Polar HRM records.
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