how accurate are the calorie counters on cardio machines?

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angie_sample
angie_sample Posts: 190
in Fitness and Exercise
Just wondering how accurate the calorie counters on treadmills and elliptical are? I put in my age and weight so im hoping that helps it be a little more accurate.

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  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Not very.
  • methodless
    methodless Posts: 62
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    Some are pretty crappy some are pretty close

    I have found the elliptical I use tends to be very accurate, but I once used one that I was unfamiliar with, putting in very little effort and I was averaging 17 calories per minute, very very unlikely.

    For a treadmill, ignoring incline, as a baseline test, I find that take your weight in lbs, divide by 2 and that's roughly the calories per kilometre, if you're somewhere near that - I'd trust it
  • jrodx2
    jrodx2 Posts: 203 Member
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    They are actually notoriously known for being inaccurate. They tend to give you a much higher burn than you are actually reaching. My best suggestion is to purchase a HRM so that you will know what you have really burned for each workout. Best of luck!


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  • XoSaraoX
    XoSaraoX Posts: 97 Member
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    the cal count can be out up to 30+% wrong according to my hrm
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    The Life Fitness elliptical I use will say perfectly even with my Polar HRM for the first 15 minutes or so, then it will start to fall behind. At the end of a 60 minute workout, the HRM will usually give a 100 calorie higher number than the machine (machine gets my HRM from my strap). The treadmill usually falls behind even faster.

    Since the machines don't know my height or gender, I tend to trust the HRM numbers more.
  • angie_sample
    angie_sample Posts: 190
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    i figured they weren't totally accurate. On the elliptical it says i can burn about 100 cal in 10 minutes. I do the "cardio" setting and it takes my heartrate the whole time and my heart rate is usually 145-155 depending on how fast i go. Well my birthday is next month so i'll just ask for a HRM so i can feel more confident in my results. Thanks! :)
  • thepetiterunner
    thepetiterunner Posts: 1,238 Member
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    Uh, let's put it this way. I USED to believe I burned about 500-600 calories / hour on the treadmill. When I used my HRM, it was closer to 350-450. So I'd say there's a 30-40% error rate. At least in my experience, anyway.
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
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    The machines at my gym allow you to enter in your stats and the machine always matches up to my Polar FT4 almost perfectly. I think there's a 1 calories difference and a 1 heartbeat difference between the two.
  • mes1119
    mes1119 Posts: 1,082 Member
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    It really depends. I wear a HRM and sometimes the machine is higher and sometimes it is way, way lower. Usually when I do intervals on the machine the calorie count is way lower than it really is.

    Just get a HRM, they are cool and fun :smile:
  • OnWisconsin84
    OnWisconsin84 Posts: 409 Member
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    Last night I entered my age & weight and did 60 minutes of run intervals on the treadmill. It said I burned just under 550 (yay!). My bodybugg (similar to HRM, gives you calories burned) showed I actually burned 669 (even bigger yay!!). For me, it was pretty inaccurate. Other days it seems to be more close to what my bodybugg gives me. So uh, that's my experience, lol.

    ETA: I find that when I use the bikes at the gym the calories it gives me are WAY HIGH vs. my bodybugg. I was shocked one day when it said I burned close to 600 on a pretty decent resistance level only to go home & check my bodybugg -- not even 300 actually burned. Womp womp.
  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
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    They are more accurate than some, but not great. They never ask your height, so it's far from perfect! My HRM takes into account my age, height, weight and fitness level! (It has a fitness test I do ~1/month! I'm an out of shape girlie!) It's far better than the treadmill ever gives me. Or the elliptical, but I rarely use them as they hurt my back really bad. You can use the number as a "ball park" figure. It's far from exact.
  • EndofEternity
    EndofEternity Posts: 108
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    I wouldn't rely on them, but if you can program in your weight and such you can compare it to a more reliable device such as a heart rate monitor. Couldn't hurt to leave something behind when you head to the gym if it turns out it's not necessary.

    I myself am deadly lazy when it comes to accounting for the calories I burn at the gym. I just fill out the time I spent doing my various exercises on this website and rely on that since I am good at sticking to my diet.
  • methodless
    methodless Posts: 62
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    i figured they weren't totally accurate. On the elliptical it says i can burn about 100 cal in 10 minutes. I do the "cardio" setting and it takes my heartrate the whole time and my heart rate is usually 145-155 depending on how fast i go. Well my birthday is next month so i'll just ask for a HRM so i can feel more confident in my results. Thanks! :)

    Not sure how much you weigh, but this is relatively consistent with what I have seen when peeking over other peoples shoulders and calculating their statistics - 100 in 10 is the higher end of normal for what I see for most women, but certainly within reason (I usually would see closer to mid-90s)
  • jademh
    jademh Posts: 94
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    Depends on the brand on the machine.
    I use an elliptical at my gym with a POLAR HRM built into it and I hang on most of the time (occasionally letting go to adjust headphones lol)

    So a few weeks ago I got an actual polar HRM for Insanity and whatnot...out of curiousity I wore it to the gym. ...it was VERY close...I actually burned more on my personal HRM than what the machine said & It's probably because I was not consistently holding the bars. The heart-rate was pretty much the same on my watch and the machine and I was shocked to see that!! So it depends on the machine & brand but they can be pretty accurate...for me it was within 15 calories! :)

    also another factor---if the machine asks your weight & gender. (which the elliptical i use does) hope i helped!

    if you want to know your calories burnt for sure, i'd highly recommend a HRM!
  • Bestrada521
    Bestrada521 Posts: 1 Member
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    Trying to decide on what is the best HRM and the best price any ideas?

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