Calorie counters are usually found on cardio machines, including ellipticals and treadmills. After working out, you will see how many calories you have burned.
It often makes people feel better while staying motivated to exercise more every day.
However, are treadmill calorie counters really accurate?
Perhaps you’re using the treadmill for weight loss purposes. Knowing the number of calories you are burning after a workout can be essential in successfully losing weight. Digital readouts on treadmills are valuable tools in counting calories, but if they are not accurate, there may be some potential drawbacks.
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How Treadmill Calorie Counters Work
Most calorie counters determine caloric burn using weight and height, among other factors. Interestingly, they don’t consider muscle mass in their readings. If two users, for instance, weigh the same and run at equivalent speeds, then the counter may give the same caloric burn rate. This is why some fitness experts say these workout tools may not always be accurate.
When it comes to mass mileage, it’s important to consider body fat percentage in order to get a more accurate result. A person with low body fat percentage is expected to burn more calories during workout since muscle mass basically needs more energy. To track how many calories you burn throughout your run, your weight is considered by calorie counters.
The challenge here is that not all these treadmills request for weight. Instead, they use automated go-to weight when someone runs on the treadmill. Another factor which makes calorie counters inaccurate is the fact that many users lean on or grip onto the handrails.
Understanding the Calorie Basics
Weight loss is about establishing an imbalance of calories in the body. You burn calories to accomplish this by doing physical activities, such as running on a treadmill. Once the body gets a negative calorie imbalance, it will burn body fat to get extra calories. This is basically what drives you to exercise even more daily.
Some of the most common things you do on a treadmill is walk and run. You can determine your caloric burn rate per minute by comparing your pace and body weight. Then you multiply the number by how long you finish the workout. There are online and print resources to help you get these numbers more accurately.
On the other hand, you should know that these numbers are only rough estimates of how many calories you burn. There are other cardio machines that provide more accurate numbers than treadmills. But the key point is that, none of these tools will give you 100% accuracy. So generally, you may overestimate the numbers by 20% because a lot of factors are involved.
The following are some calorie burn factors that may be considered in order to get a more accurate result:
Age – There are workout machines that include age to calculate caloric burn. As you age, the amount of calories you burn will not be the same as when you’re younger. To make sure you are burning more calories, you can extend your cardio exercises and intensify your workout routines.
Body size – If you have a bigger body size, you are expected to burn more calories than others with the same weight.
Body composition – For those who have just started their workout, they are likely to have more body fat than their muscle mass. This means they will be burning fewer calories during the first few days. However, the body burns more calories while building muscle for the same workout time.
Fitness level – If you’re new to an exercise routine or you have just switched to a new workout, you are likely to burn more calories. As you get more fit, your body will start burning fewer calories while exercising on the same time and activity.
Efficiency and form are two important factors in the success of any calorie-burning program. The machine has nothing to do with the number of calories you burn per day.
Tips in Getting More Accurate Caloric Burn Readouts
If you really want to lose weight and burn more calories during a workout, there are some helpful tips you can consider. Here are some of the best tips from fitness experts to help you achieve your calorie-burning goals:
- For more effective weight loss, don’t rely on calorie counters usually found on treadmills and ellipticals.
- According to studies, ellipticals may overestimate how many calories you burn per 30-minute exercise by over 100 calories.
- To calculate an exact caloric burn, it’s important to measure how much energy the human body cells expend. This is not possible just by using any workout machine.
- Getting the most accurate readout is possible by using a stationary bike. Ellipticals, treadmills, and stair climbers are only second options.
If you don’t want to depend on calorie counters in cardio machines, you can use a personal fitness tracking tool. This wearable device is designed to monitor everything that is connected to health and fitness level.
Experts recommend personal fitness trackers as reliable tools for tracking workout activities.
Whether you’re using a fitness tracker or cardio machine, it’s always important to be careful in considering caloric burn readouts. While it’s okay to use them as standard for your exercises, consuming extra calories because the numbers say so is still not ideal.
For instance, if your treadmill readout says 300 calories burned, subtract some 20% and estimate around 240 calories to be safe.
Conclusion
Having an idea how treadmill calorie counters work and the basics of computing caloric burn is important for fitness enthusiasts. After all, knowing how many calories you burn per workout day can help improve your overall health.
It also manages weight loss activities so that you can effectively cut down some extra pounds.
Always remember that if you’re fit, then you are likely to burn less calories because your body is healthier and more efficient.
But keep in mind that having more muscle mass is also a common factor for more fit people. So, do you think you will get a more accurate readout the next time you use a treadmill calorie counter?
