How many Calories did you burn on the Cardio Machine Today?

HOW MANY CALORIES DID YOU BURN ON THE CARDIO MACHINE TODAY?

Probably not as much as you thought.

How does the machine even know how many calories you burned?

The numbers spit out by the machine are based on an average of test subjects. The machine knows how long you were on it and it gives you a number of calories based on that. Do you have the same fat/lean ratio as the test subjects? Did you put your hands on the rails? Did you lean on the rails? Did you work as hard per minute as the test subjects? Would you get the same number for calories burned on a different brand of machine?

Tests show that most of the time the machine overstates the number of calories burned.

That’s just the beginning of the problem. According to a study in 2014, the harder you “think” the workout was the more you will eat afterward! In the study, subjects in the group who were told they worked harder than another group ate more. Even thought the workouts were identical in intensity and duration.

“I worked harder so I deserve a reward” will get you in trouble every time.

 Try to use the same or similar machine each time. Choose the ones that allow you to input as much personal information as possible (Height, weight, age, etc).

Even the most advanced fitness trackers on the market have errors as high as 40%. If you are going to rely on any machine, use the output as a benchmark only.

Try to improve on the number each week and measure success only by what you can measure yourself.

Leave comments or questions below or email to alphaedgefitness@gmail.com


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