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How accurate are calorie counter on exercise machines?

post #1 of 9
7/12/09 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
So I've got this elliptical that I do about 70 minutes per day.

Fairly intensive workout, get my heart rate in the mid 160's.

It says I've burned around 1000 calories. Can this be true?
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post #2 of 9
7/12/09 at 11:21pm
Not very. I'd estimate around 2/3 of that at best. Also, it's the internet so I don't have to provide any sources for the above info since everyone on the internet is an expert on whatever opinion/info they provide.
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post #3 of 9
7/12/09 at 11:35pm
It's actually going to depend on quite a number of factors e.g. if the machine asks your age, weight, height, gender. Then your intensity, how much you lean on any handles, if you're used to doing the same exact speed, incline, etc. which means your body becomes more efficient at that particular setting. All in all, don't count on it being too exact.
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post #4 of 9
7/13/09 at 3:27am
It CAN be true. But likely not. For your benefit, that is if you are truly tracking your calories, underestimate at 70% or so and you should be ok.
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post #5 of 9
7/13/09 at 3:28am
Sources are for MD's (McDonalds of course)
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post #6 of 9
7/13/09 at 3:36am
Go with 50% of the overall count.
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post #7 of 9
7/13/09 at 9:51am
Every one is different and burn calories at different speeds so you cant rely 100% on the calorie counter. it going to be more accurate if you input data like age, height, weight etc. it is possible to burn that much calories, and if you are then you work out is going great.
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post #8 of 9
7/13/09 at 11:47am
From my understanding, the calories estimate is based on how much energy is required to make the machine move/work. So if you are using an elliptical machine, based on how much energy is needed to move the steps and the handles, the machine would estimate how many calories you've used to generate the said amount of energy. For treadmill, for instance, the machine estimates how much energy is required to move a body of a certain weight at a certain speed for a person of a certain age. That's what I've been told, and if that's the case, I imagine it can be quite accurate.

But then, I'm just another "internet expert", so what do I know?
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post #9 of 9
7/22/09 at 12:42am
I spend about 22 minutes on the elliptical. Set at resistance of 8 and increase to 9 or 10 during that period. I get my heart rate up to 174-176 most of the time for about 5-6 minutes. It says I ran about 2 miles and burned about 270 calories. I weigh about 146 pounds, 24 years old and 5 foot 7. By the end of these workouts I'm pretty soaked and need a 5 minute break before I start lifting. Think it could be accurate? I'd be dissapointed if I feel like I do and burned half of the calories.
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