How accurate is my elliptical machine on calories burned?

When I do the 30 min workout it says I burned 350 cals.. its pretty hard throughout the middle, its easy at the beginning and the end and the rest is moderate.  Are these machines pretty accurate when it comes to calories burned?

umm I think it depends. The machine that I use at the gym tells me I burn 25 cals more than my heart rate monitor. I go by my HRM so I dont over estimate. I think it will be pretty close as long as you in put your weight. I usually work out at about 150 average strides per minute. Also I usually burn about 350 in a 30 min work out.

thx gem!! mine doesnt allow me to put in my weight :(  maybe ill find a HRM... are those expensive?

There have been a couple studies on a elliptical machines calorie expenditure estimates. One study found one model overestimated by 30% and another study using a different model by 26%. Remember, the companies that make the machines have an incentive to err on the (sometimes very) high side of expenditure estimates because if you think you burned 800 calories in a 30 minute jog, you'll be happier with their equipment.

Heart rate monitors aren't going to be completely accurate either because there are so many factors that go into energy expenditure. They will probably give you a closer estimation than the machine and you can adjust from there.

ahhh ok :) ill look into getting one :) thx wallpaper!  i figured the 30 min work out on the elliptical didnt actually burn that 350 cals it said... sounded too good to be true :d 

so 300-350cals for 30-40 mins on the elliptical is too far fetched?  It sounds right to me, if you grasp the moving handles as opposed to the stationary handles.

350 calories for 30 minutes of work is definitely not outrageous, but it depends on intensity, body weight, and other functions of your body. While the numbers don't raise suspicion on their own, the fact that you are on a machine that doesn't take into account weight makes it much more likely that it's overestimating. I checked out your profile and 120 lbs is probably under the average weight the machine uses to calculate energy expenditure. The more you weigh, the more calories you burn so if the machine calculations are based on say, an 150 lb person, your calories burned will likely be lower.

I simply think that everyone should be aware that machine readouts can be wildly inaccurate. If you hop off the machine believing you have burned even a moderate amount of calories more than you have, it's easy to end up overfeeding (assuming weight loss is your goal) by enough over the course of a week to stall weight loss or even gain weight.

makes sense, thanks for explaining the thought process behind your reasoning.  will take this into account.

I'm confused about this too. I normally work out 40 mins and I burn around 420 cals accoring to the machine, but I just got a HRM and it says I only burn 300. Isn't 120 cals a little over too much?? My average HR is 158 so I work out pretty hard the whole time.. I hope I'm burning an average of both at least!

i go by my heart rate monitor. it tells me i burn about 240-250 in 30 minutes. the machine will tell me about 365. i usually do 50 minutes and cool down on bike for 10 minutes on my cross training days. and i usually only get to 420 on the elliptical and i really have to push myself. my average HR is about 157, running i usually keep it around 171. there's just nothing that benefits the heart like running, but its just too hard on my knees to do everyday.

Original Post by anoxa:

  Are these machines pretty accurate when it comes to calories burned?

 No. They are not accurate. They give you a general idea.  Sometimes they are close other times, they are so far off, it's a joke!  Invest in a HRM.  Those machines go on weight sometimes weight and age.  You can have two women [men] both on same machine, both same age and weight. Both will more than likely burn a completely diff amount of calories.