Strange calorie/watt readings

R

runnerRT

0
I recently joined a gym that has a lot of nice aerobic exercise machines (treadmill, exercise bike, etc.) that have displays for calories/hour and watts that (I presume) are based on how hard you are exercising. The thing is, I’ve noticed that the calories and watts never seem to match up properly.

Yesterday was pretty typical; I was working out on an elliptical machine that said I was working at 100 watts and burning about 900 calories/hour. The thing is, a calorie is 4200 joules. So if I was going at 100 watts, that would only be about 85 calories/hour. On the other hand, if I was really burning 900 calories/hour then I would be expending around 1100 watts.

This has been a problem on pretty much every aerobic exercise machine I’ve tried. Does anyone know what’s going on? Does the fitness industry have some sort of strange definition of watt that's out of line with chemistry/physics?
 
Q. Why do machines display Watts?

A. Watts is an expression of the mechanical rate of work (power output) for a device such as a cardiovascular machine. In other words, a watt is a measurement of the amount of power required by the machine to maintain the workload (pedal resistance, speed and incline) being experienced by the user.

On some cardiovascular machines, watts allow a fitness professional or the user to program the machine at a specific watt level. This allows you to work at a consistent level of intensity. Watts are also used as a guideline for fitness professionals to develop an exercise program for a client, progress a client at specific intensity levels and easily measure levels of improvement.

For instance, a personal trainer may have a client who is recovering from heart problems. The doctor may recommend that the client exercise on a cardiovascular machine at an intensity of 100 watts. The trainer can then program the treadmill, cycle or other cardio machine to operate consistently at 100 watts. As the client improves and with doctor's approval, the personal trainer can then increase the watt level in specific stages.
Greg Bahnfleth and Stephanie M. Vlach
Life Fitness Academy


--- So I guess it's the watt of the machine, not you. If you need more info, just google it :p
 
Trash the info. It's over-estimated on most machines. Machines need to make you like them. After all if you only burn 100 calories an hour on the treadmill but you can burn 600 calories per hour on the elliptical... which would you choose?

Treadmills wisened up and said, "hey if we increase total output then people will use us more... meaning gyms buy us more!"

Sad, but often true. Focus your results on your intensity level.
 
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