| Treadmill accuracy |
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gkr747
New Member
| Joined: | 9 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 20 |
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Posted: 11 May 2008 01:01 am |
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Hi All,
I have been doing treadmill for 1hr at around 4mph speed with incline at 2 periodically in short bursts. I weigh 200 pounds now which I enter on the treadmill before I start. At the end of it I finish off at 550 - 600 from what is shown on the treadmill.
Now, is this reading reliable ( or somewhat correct)?. Because I compared the accuracy in the "calories burned calculator" with same things ( except that I cannot enter incline ) and it is showing I would have burnt 450 cals. So there is around 100-150 cals difference from what the treadmill is showing.
Which do I need to consider? Please do let me know if treadmills are not reliable numbers ( they cannot be accurate anyway ) and if our online calculator is the best and closest to accuracy. I think 50 cals difference would have been fine but 100-150 cals difference is little too much and I want to know which one can I rely on.
Thank you.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 11 May 2008 06:16 am |
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Treadmills tend to overestimate calories burnt for some people, I believe estimates for the over-estimate range from 10% to 30%. I believe the figures for the online calculator here are essentially copied from one of the treadmill brands so are no better or worse (except they don't take account of the incline). I believe both use the M.E.T. method (read about it in the calculator help topics) which takes account of the activity and your weight, but not your height or body fat - remember that muscle is more metabolically active so person X who weighs the same as person Y but has more muscle than fat will burn more calories than Y doing this same treadmill workout, yet the machine and the online calculators give the same estimate for both.
I assume you are not holding on to the treadmill as calorie figures do not apply if you do (you burn less). When doing daily calculations, don't forget to subtract the calories you would have burnt in that hour if you had not exercised (which are the calories you require to maintain your weight with a 'sedentary' activity factor, divided by 24)
at the end of the day these are all estimates...
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gkr747
New Member
| Joined: | 9 May 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 20 |
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Posted: 11 May 2008 04:30 pm |
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| Thank you for letting me know...and yes I will catch the treadmill while doing
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