Workout Wendnesday: Cardio Debunk

HAPPY HUMPDAY!!

Let’s talk about cardio machines.

Every single day, I see Snapchat & Instagram photos from girls (& celebrities!) of their cardio machines, on how many calories they have burned on the elliptical // stair master // treadmill.  Captioned with something liked “Killed it! 500 calories in 30 minutes!!”

………….

Guysssssssssssssss.

Ya’ll know better.

But I get it, I also enjoy seeing that high number on the machine. It gives motivation & makes you feel great! Yet then again…it’s also really bad because it leaves you thinking you just burned 500+ calories when in reality, you most likely only burned half of that.

The truth is, cardio machines do not accurately track your heart rate throughout your entire workout, and most of us do not put in our actual weight/height into the machines data base to even try to make it accurate.

Soooooo, lucky for you guys, I did a test! Remember how I told you guys about this awesome heart rate monitor that I wear when I work out?? I mentioned it in this post. Well, with this monitor, I am able to track my heart rate & calories so that I am able to compare it to what the machines says.

For the test, I wore my Heart Rate Monitor, and plugged in all of my information into the cardio machine. I then started both of them at the exact same time, and did a low intensity cardio session for 30 minutes.

Start

IMG_5755

IMG_5759

Finished

IMG_5760After I completed my 30 minute cardio session, the stair master says that I burned an amazing number of 372.5 calories.

When in reality, as you can see on my watch, that number may be a little too high..

IMG_5756

Ater completing my workout, my heart rate monitor shows that in reality, I probably only burnt half of what the cardio machine said.

I know this isn’t a “fun post” it’s really important! Finding this out was a HUGE shock to me. If you’re working out, and think that you’re burning x amount of calories at the gym and then eating more afterwards to justify it, then thats why you’re having a hard time losing weight. Cardio machines cannot accurately tell you how much you have burned.

Alsooooo, I’m not saying that the heart rate monitor is perfectly accurate, but I am saying that it does give a closer read than the cardio machines do.

If you are serious about your fitness journey, then I highly suggest investing in a heart rate monitor to track your workouts!

xo,

Lauren

Instagram feed