| cheekymo
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Hi Everyone,
I have noticed that lots of people (myself included) like to be able to rely on the "calories burned" number on a piece of cardio equipment to gauge how much they're really burning. I used to love to rely on this number too - plug in my weight and sex, and BOOM! A number to help me "measure" how well I did.
I read a couple of years ago, however, that those fitness machines usually assume a certain percentage of body fat, and so therefore, they are not as accurate for larger people, who may have a higher fat:muscle ratio than someone who is more fit. Therefore, the readouts can be misleading (also due to things like improper form, leaning on handlebars, etc.). The article I read said that machines often over-estimate your calories burned by anywhere from 10%-30%, depending on how much lean body mass you actually have. Therefore, the article suggested putting in a lower weight (it didn't say by how much, though), or just reducing the amount of calories the machine says that you burned by around 15% or so. Wouldn't it be great though, to know what manufacturers input as a "standard" body-fat %? I've looked, but can't find the information anywhere.
I can't find the article now, but I thought I would mention this anyways, for those that are working out like mad but still not sure why the weight just won't go.
Hope it's helpful :wink: |
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Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:11 pm |
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| maltby_gardner
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| I just assume that the actual number is meaningless and use the calorie readout as a relative gauge of how hard I'm working from session to session, which can be hard if you vary your speed and incline from session to session or during the course of a session. |
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Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:24 pm |
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| cheekymo
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I totally agree. I focus on keeping my heart-rate up and challenging myself, and making sure that my workouts aren't becoming "mindless." I figure that's a better guage of how much I'm improving my fitness than the numbers that a machine spits out.
All the same, it seems like there are people on the board who like to keep track of the amount of calories they've burned in a workout session. I found the article to be a great reality check, and thought I would pass on the info. |
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Mon Jun 11, 2007 11:30 pm |
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| ladybugnessa
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cheekymo wrote: I totally agree. I focus on keeping my heart-rate up and challenging myself, and making sure that my workouts aren't becoming "mindless." I figure that's a better guage of how much I'm improving my fitness than the numbers that a machine spits out.
All the same, it seems like there are people on the board who like to keep track of the amount of calories they've burned in a workout session. I found the article to be a great reality check, and thought I would pass on the info.
well i think if a person keeps track of it merely as a data point and does not adjust their food based on what they 'think' they are burning on the machine i can't see anything wrong with it. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2007 12:40 am |
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