treadmill, whats true?

hgirl1021
hgirl1021 Posts: 115
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
at my gym on the treadmill, there is an option to 'quickstart' OR to enter your age and weight for it to 'better calculate' your calories burned. when i choose the quickstart option, it says i have burned many many more calories (guesstimate 200) than when i enter my age and weight. is anyone familiar with this and which is more accurate? confused.....:huh:

Replies

  • alicnc
    alicnc Posts: 9
    I believe the theory is that the age/weight make it more accurate because they both impact how many calories you burn. The quick start is around an average.

    I remember reading, (forgot where, sorry! Maybe Runner's World) that the younger you are the more calories you'll probably burn.

    The more you weigh the more calories you'll generally burn.

    http://runnersworld.com/cda/caloriecalculator/0,7153,s6-242-306-313-0-0-0-0-0,00.html
  • HealthyKt78
    HealthyKt78 Posts: 439
    anytime I put my info in it's always WAY more than I would burn by just pressing quickstart. Probably because I am young and way overweight.
  • neenaleigh
    neenaleigh Posts: 584 Member
    At my gym the machine will allow you to hit quick start and then enter your age and weight in later in the exercise....when i dont enter anything it basically says on the eliptical that you burn 100 calories every 10 min, this is based on someone 35 years old weighing 150 pounds...(i assume this is some kind of average human). enter your info its worth it....
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    The best machines will not display calories at all unless you input a weight--even in quick start mode.
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
    age and weight being entered are best, especially if you are not too overweight. Best option of course is a Heart rate monitor, that will be the most accurate. My treadmill on quickstart always says I burned more than when weight is entered and with my HRM I have found that even with weight entered I am really burning about 100 calories less an hour than the machines say.
  • hgirl1021
    hgirl1021 Posts: 115
    hmmm...thanks guys! so much for all those calories....lol:explode:
  • hgirl1021
    hgirl1021 Posts: 115
    so i entered my age and weight today...60 mins later, 410 calories! woot woot. i wasn't too depressed afterall!!

    :bigsmile:
  • countindowntothin
    countindowntothin Posts: 201 Member
    my personal trainer told me the same that when you quick start it was set for the avg person, which they seem to think is 30 yrs old, and weighing 125 lbs.... I used to do it that way too, but then I put the real thing in and WOW, there was a HUGE difference!
  • annaliza
    annaliza Posts: 809
    The gym machines are usually spot on according to my HRM as long as I put height/weight in.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    As a rule, esp for walking, treadmill numbers should be pretty close. The equations used to estimate energy expenditure (and thus calories) for walking and running, on the flat and on an incline, are pretty well established and easy to program, even on a cheap treadmill. They don't have to do their own validation studies or anything like that.

    This also assumes that you do not hold on to the handrails at any time.

    When you get to faster speeds, treadmills start to overestimate actual calorie expenditure. This is most likely due to the lack of wind resistance and the fact that a treadmill has more of a "bounding" movement than a "forward propulsion" movement. Some studies suggest that, once you get to running speeds past about 6.2 mph, you should increase the grade to 1% to compensate. Another study suggested that, at faster speeds (7.5+ mph) treadmills overestimated calorie expenditure by up to 15%.

    Heart Rate monitors, OTOH, tend to underestimate calorie expenditure at lower intensity levels (55%-65%), as well as not accounting for cardiovascular drift (which would overestimate).

    Bottom line: whatever number you choose, you need to live with the fact that there is likely a 15%-20% error factor. Without your own metabolic cart, I don't think you can get it any closer than that.
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