truth about burning calories on eliptical

Finally verified what I had heard from the gym PTs and suspected. The eliptical machine at the gym overstates calories burned. I got a heart monitor for xmas - that also indicates calories burned. Here's what happened. Went 35 mins on eliptical, hills/intervals at level 10. The machine said I burned 369 cals, but my heart my heart monitor said 279. Grrr. .

Tue. Jan 1, 5:15pm

well, unless you're at a super strict point in your diet..100 calories won't make a huge deal.

i try to not let 100 calories in either direction bother me or screw me up.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 5:39 PM

Do you like your heart rate monitor? I've been thinking about getting one - I like data! I've heard that about the calories being inaccurate on almost any cardio machine. I think it's always good to have accurate info - some people give themselves license to eat more than they might normally when they see how many calories they've 'burned' on those machines!

Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 7:09 PM

Yes, I've heard that the elliptical overstates by about 25%.
The bike understates, not sure by how much.
The treadmill is very accurate (it's been around the longest).

Tuesday, January 1, 2008, 11:57 PM

Yes, I've read the same thing, probably in Fitness Magazine. I try not to focus on the numbers as a guide to eat more or less. I use the numbers to motivate me to keep going, for instance: If I am at 398 calories after 1 hour, I'll go the extra time to get to 400 calories.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 10:47 AM

Also bear in mind that heart rate monitors aren't entirely accurate either. There are a lot of variables that it doesn't take into account, like body temperature. Example: a sweaty power yoga class, according to a dozen online activity calculators, burns 500-600 calories for someone my weight - but my heartrate rarely gets into triple digits. Anyway, the best gadget out there claims to be 92% accurate, and it's not the heart rate monitor (linked below - not spam, it's too hard to get your hands on for spamming to be worthwhile).

Link

Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 11:27 AM

How do people use any of this information? Is it information just to have? Do you change your eating habits based on numbers you see on a machine or from a heart rate monitor? Do you adjust your workout?

Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 11:36 AM

I use this info because I'm counting calories in, calories out on a daily and weekly basis. I couldn't understand why weight loss was slower than I expected and this calorie info helped me figure it out. I also forgot to subtract how many calories I would have burned just sitting on the couch during the time on the eliptical. So, if I thought I burned an extra 400 cals through the exercise, it turnes out it was more like 250 EXTRA. that's a big difference for me. I like data to.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 11:55 AM

I need to keep my calorie deficit (calories in minus calories out) under 1000 a day. Sure, losing 2 lbs a week is considered healthy and achievable, but my 30-something body doesn't accept that - "starvation mode" seems to kick in whenever the deficit is too big, which the numbers have shown me happens at around 1000 calories.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008, 12:11 PM

"Yes, I've heard that the elliptical overstates by about 25%.
The bike understates, not sure by how much.
The treadmill is very accurate (it's been around the longest)."

so the ten miles I just did on the bike equates to what??

Thursday, January 3, 2008, 8:31 PM

I've always heard the calories that show on any cardio machine are only an estimate for motivational purposes. I've never put too much stock into it.

Thursday, January 3, 2008, 9:09 PM

I don't believe the comment about the treadmill being "very accurate" I travel a lot for my job and use various treadmills at the hotels I stay at as well as my own at home. The one at home always gives me a higher calorie count burned than most of the ones in the hotels. Same time/intensity etc but different levels of calories burned. Can be very discouraging at times, especially when you don't know which one is right so I choose to go by mine... which is usually the highest! LOL!

Friday, January 4, 2008, 8:06 AM

My treadmill lets me input my weight so the calories burned will be more accurate. Do the elliptical machines and bikes let you do that too?

Friday, January 4, 2008, 9:59 AM

The ellipticals at my Y do accept age and weight input, but I thought that was only for heart rate analysis. (ie: whether or not you're in the zone)

Friday, January 4, 2008, 11:00 AM

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