Calorie burn/heart rate measures on machines

[gramboh]

Hi,

I've always wondered, are the heart rate monitor and calorie burn measures on elliptical/treadmill machines reliable readings? Tonight I did 25min of 1min:1min intervals on the elliptical (pretty much max exertion on the sprints) and the machine claimed I burned 560cals, with my heart rate getting up to 175 on the last few intervals. This seems a bit high in terms of the burn rate. My dad has one of those Garmont heart rate monitors, I think I'll borrow it sometime and see what it reads out.

I'm assuming the cal burn is just a formula based on the bodyweight you enter times the average capacity of a regular person?

 

[edcarman]

The calorie counts on exercise machines are usually based on relations for moderate intensity aerobic activity and are usually applicable only below your anaerobic threshold.
Once you start doing high intensity activities such as sprints the calculation becomes much less accurate. I believe this is a limitation for all heart rate based calorie counts.

You can read a similar topic over here:
Calorie discussion
My post at the end explains how the different relations work.

 

[gramboh]

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it, I'll take a look at your post now.