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

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monicalynne68
monicalynne68 Posts: 87 Member
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.
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  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    not.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    Sorry, I tried to make a chart, but when I posted it, it came out a bit messy,
  • CharlieBarleyMom
    CharlieBarleyMom Posts: 727 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    MFP estimates are really high compared to my HRM.
  • wildkatt7
    wildkatt7 Posts: 163 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    My fit pal says to put in what the machine says you've burned there at the gym.
  • courtneymal17
    courtneymal17 Posts: 672 Member
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    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.

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