Do calories lost on gym machines take into account your weight?

[nahfree]

Hi everyone!

Quick question - when I work out on machines like treadmills and elliptical trainers, I'm told I've lost a certain amount of calories. But I was wondering how this can be accurate. Surely someone who is quite overweight will lose more in say, 15 minutes than someone who is fit?

I went to the gym with my dad yesterday and we both did similar times on similar machines together but he is in the normal weight range while I am SO not.

Any thoughts?

P.S. I didn't enter my weight into the machine before starting my workout. I don't know how to but if it makes a difference in accuracy I will ask one of the gym staff to show me how.

My Blog:

 

[KaraCooks]

No the calorie numbers on the machines aren't accurate, especially if you don't input your weight and it doesn't measure your heart rate. The numbers they provide are only guidelines.

The only way to get a reasonably close calculation of calories burned is to monito your heart rate and then use that in calculation with your weight, and the time exercised, to get an estimate of calories burned.

The machines use an average to give you a "guess" number. It's usually higher than what you really burned.

 

[Jynus]

machine calories burned are not remotely accurate. they also take into account your BMR so people always think they burned way more than they actually did. "Like wow, I burned 600 calories just there" when in reality they would have burned 400 just by being alive and sitting on their ass.

Long story short, don't worry about calories burned while exercising. It's a waste of time and effort. Focus on your total calories consumed per day, and make sure you're eating enough. for you i would imagine somewhere in the area of 1500-1800 to lose weight.

And based on your blog, you're doing too much cardio. Cardio is just a small part of weight loss. resistance training and diet are more important. Continue to do cardio, yes. But add in a healthy dose of resistance training to compliment it.

And with everything related to weight loss, DIET is MOST important. 99% of people I see who are trying to lose weight while eating healthy, are doing it wrong. Without exception people who "watch what they eat" without actual knowledge in the area eat WAY too many carbs, and not near enough protein and fats. Having a breakdown in what you eat would prob go way further than talking about cardio numbers.

 

[nahfree]

Jynus, your post is REALLY helpful. I just need to understand a few things better:

machine calories burned are not remotely accurate. they also take into account your BMR so people always think they burned way more than they actually did. "Like wow, I burned 600 calories just there" when in reality they would have burned 400 just by being alive and sitting on their ass.

According to the tools on say, Calorie Count, I burn more calories during a particular exercise (like 15 min on the Elliptical trainer) than the EL tells me. For e.g. the ET will say I burned 120 calories in 15 minutes without taking into account my personal details. When I use a tool that does take into account my personal details, I'm told I burned more like 350 cals during those 15 minutes.

How come?

Long story short, don't worry about calories burned while exercising. It's a waste of time and effort. Focus on your total calories consumed per day, and make sure you're eating enough. for you i would imagine somewhere in the area of 1500-1800 to lose weight.

That's about right actually according to the research I've done. But what do you mean by making sure I eat enough?

And based on your blog, you're doing too much cardio. Cardio is just a small part of weight loss. resistance training and diet are more important. Continue to do cardio, yes. But add in a healthy dose of resistance training to compliment it.

Got you. You mean using machines at the gym to lift weights? What about Bums, Tums classes where we have to do all manner of lunges, leg lifts... almost like using my own body weight to weight train? Does that help?

And with everything related to weight loss, DIET is MOST important. 99% of people I see who are trying to lose weight while eating healthy, are doing it wrong. Without exception people who "watch what they eat" without actual knowledge in the area eat WAY too many carbs, and not near enough protein and fats. Having a breakdown in what you eat would prob go way further than talking about cardio numbers.

Got you. I'm keeping a food diary on Calorie Count and now have a better idea of a breakdown.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[KaraCooks]

According to the tools on say, Calorie Count, I burn more calories during a particular exercise (like 15 min on the Elliptical trainer) than the EL tells me. For e.g. the ET will say I burned 120 calories in 15 minutes without taking into account my personal details. When I use a tool that does take into account my personal details, I'm told I burned more like 350 cals during those 15 minutes.

How come?

What's EL and ET?

That's about right actually according to the research I've done. But what do you mean by making sure I eat enough?

Too many people follow the mindset of ... cut back and little and lose weight, cut back a lot and lose *more* weight. But it's possible to eat too little and stall out your weight loss, not to mention incur muscle loss, and deprive yourself nutritionally. Drastic cutback of food is not only not necessary, it's counterproductive. Eat a reasonable amount of food to sustain the amount of exercise that you're doing while still losing weight. Most experts will tell you that a reasonable amount is about 30% less than your maintenance calories.

You mean using machines at the gym to lift weights? What about Bums, Tums classes where we have to do all manner of lunges, leg lifts... almost like using my own body weight to weight train? Does that help?

The machines are less effective than free weights, although if the machines are all you have, then use them. Bodyweight exercises like pushups, chinups, lunges, squats, etc. are good ... but most of the classes don't push you really in those areas.

Mind you, I'm not saying the classes are bad, but if you really want good results, quickly, and effectively ... learn to lift weights properly. Either find a trainer to work with or do some research and watch some videos online and get an idea of proper form.

 

[nahfree]

What's EL and ET?

Sorry, meant to say ET in both cases - elliptical trainer.

Too many people follow the mindset of ... cut back and little and lose weight, cut back a lot and lose *more* weight. But it's possible to eat too little and stall out your weight loss, not to mention incur muscle loss, and deprive yourself nutritionally. Drastic cutback of food is not only not necessary, it's counterproductive. Eat a reasonable amount of food to sustain the amount of exercise that you're doing while still losing weight. Most experts will tell you that a reasonable amount is about 30% less than your maintenance calories.

The machines are less effective than free weights, although if the machines are all you have, then use them. Bodyweight exercises like pushups, chinups, lunges, squats, etc. are good ... but most of the classes don't push you really in those areas.

Mind you, I'm not saying the classes are bad, but if you really want good results, quickly, and effectively ... learn to lift weights properly. Either find a trainer to work with or do some research and watch some videos online and get an idea of proper form.

Thanks for this - very helpful. I'll look into trying some gym classes that focus on Power Pumping with free weights to get me started.