Can you burn 1200+ calories on an Elliptical machine..

Options
KickassAugust
KickassAugust Posts: 1,430 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
..in half an hour? Is this possible?


Today I went for:

30 mins

@ 450 watts 26.2 mets

I'm 203 lbs

& the Elliptical said I burned 1278 calories...

Again, is this possible or is my machine whack?
«1

Replies

  • katysmelly
    katysmelly Posts: 380 Member
    Options
    The only way you can really get an idea of what you burned is via your heart rate.

    I find that some of the things in the database here are close to accurate and others are not.

    I use calculators on other sites and input some heart rate info (I have a HRM, although it doesn't tell me how many calories I have burned. I have to keep track of the HR and put it in, myself). I also calculate how much I would have burned if I'd spent that time sitting in front of the computer and subtract that from the total. When my exercise is in the form of an all-day hike, that can make a difference of hundreds of calories. It's not such a major factor for a 30-minute run.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    You would have to weigh A LOT and go very, very, very fast at a very high level. I don't think anyone with the body mass to do it would be able to use an elliptical.

    For an idea, I'm 150 pounds. If I work out in intervals and use a VERY high level and go hard, I can burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes (based on a heart rate monitor with chest strap).
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    Options
    No. Maybe in 2 hours.
  • KickassAugust
    KickassAugust Posts: 1,430 Member
    Options
    So I vote for my machine is whack..! Thanks guys.. :bigsmile:
  • finchase
    finchase Posts: 174
    Options
    You'd have to really go hard for a long time. A lot more than 30 minutes.

    I do the elliptical all the time and MFP WAY overestimates the number of calories burned. I wear an HRM, and the amount it tells me that I'm burning is 1/3 or less of what MFP says, and about half of what the machine says. So while I enter my minutes on MFP, if I ate back the amount of exercise calories it says, I'd gain a couple of pounds a week!
  • shadee321
    shadee321 Posts: 30 Member
    Options
    You'd have to really go hard for a long time. A lot more than 30 minutes.

    I do the elliptical all the time and MFP WAY overestimates the number of calories burned. I wear an HRM, and the amount it tells me that I'm burning is 1/3 or less of what MFP says, and about half of what the machine says. So while I enter my minutes on MFP, if I ate back the amount of exercise calories it says, I'd gain a couple of pounds a week!

    THIS IS VALUBLE INFO AS I WILL TRY TO REMEMBER NOT TO EAT BACK CALORIES-THANK YOU
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    Interesting. With my HRM, MFP's estimate is usually very close for the elliptical. MFP assumes a certain level of effort for the machine, I guess. If you go below that, your calories are going to be different.
  • jskaggs1971
    jskaggs1971 Posts: 371 Member
    Options
    I vote for "don't trust the machine".

    If I run on a treadmill for 1/2 hour near the upper end of my aerobic capacity (around 155 bpm) I burn 600ish calories per my Polar FT4. I weigh 235. I doubt you can burn double that on an elliptical in the same period of time.
  • KickassAugust
    KickassAugust Posts: 1,430 Member
    Options
    So if I can't believe the silly machine and I can't believe MFP.. what the heck?

    MFP said I burned 400 something in the same 30 mins!
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    Options
    MFP said I burned 400 something in the same 30 mins!

    400 is a much closer estimate than 1200, but it all depends on how hard you were working and your fitness level. (and therein lies the problem with "eating exercise calories"...without an accurate way to measure them, you could be eating away your entire deficit).
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    Options
    ..in half an hour? Is this possible?


    Today I went for:

    30 mins

    @ 450 watts 26.2 mets

    I'm 203 lbs

    & the Elliptical said I burned 1278 calories...

    Again, is this possible or is my machine whack?

    Only if you set yourself on fire.

    Pro cyclists have to work their butts off to avg 450 watts for 30 min.

    Can't explain why you got such wacky numbers, but they are indeed whacky numbers.
  • nutritionwhiz
    nutritionwhiz Posts: 221
    Options
    I find MFP and my machine are inline.....an estimate of 250 Calories for a 20 minute workout that has a variety of tensions built in.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,280 Member
    Options
    So if I can't believe the silly machine and I can't believe MFP.. what the heck?

    MFP said I burned 400 something in the same 30 mins!

    That is why I try to only eat back about 1/2 of my exercise calories. It seems to have worked so far!
  • jjelizalde
    jjelizalde Posts: 377 Member
    Options
    Are you sure it wasn't revolutions/distance rather than calories?
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Options
    So if I can't believe the silly machine and I can't believe MFP.. what the heck?

    MFP said I burned 400 something in the same 30 mins!

    That may be accurate. At my weight, I can burn 300 in 30.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Options
    10 calories a minute is a safe estimate if you're working hard. I burn, through much testing with HRMs, VO2 rates etc etc.... about 740 cals in an hour on my machine. That being said, to give you an example of how much I'm sweating, my weight is typically 4 lbs less after my workout than right before it. That's LOTS of water I'm wringing out of my clothes afterwards...every piece from the socks on up are completely drenched like I took a bath in my clothes.

    -M
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
    Options
    I was so disappointed the first time I wore my HRM on the elliptical.

    30 minutes the machine said 350. I was working hard, thought that sounded fair. HRM said only 150 :sad:
  • TheWinman
    TheWinman Posts: 700 Member
    Options
    It takes me about 70-75 minutes to burn that on the elliptical, even when I weighed 270 and I go hard at it.
  • ChasingSweatandTears
    ChasingSweatandTears Posts: 504 Member
    Options
    My elliptical came with a HRM and I go by what the machine tells me. Now my machine is a pretty high end model and it's my freakin new best friend, so I do trust it. Mfp overestimates the number of calories for me by about 75 cals, but in the beginning it was over 100. All that being said, if you are at 26 mets.... Wow! I can't get over 11 mets and I push myself! So if you are really at 26 mets, then at your weight it's probably a very very good burn, and way more than 400 cals
  • Jen16226
    Jen16226 Posts: 20 Member
    Options
    Sooooo glad that I found this!

    I decided to wear my HRM at the gym for the first time since I started going back a month ago.

    I am 205lbs, my workout was week 4 day 3 of C25K (which I was all over the place on MPH during the running portion but basically all in between 4.8 to 5.6 and at 4.0 for walking) and then I did 40 minutes of upper body weights, 8 different exercises.

    My HRM says I burned 1238 calories and then MFP says 584.
    When I was on the treadmill during walking, I did bring it down to 3.9 a couple of times(because the machine will not go into HRM mode at 4mph or more) and used the HRM on the machine to see if it was the same as what was showing on my HRM and the numbers were exactly the same.

Categories