Master of Puppets asked:


When I run a mile on a treadmill at around 8 miles an hour, it says I’ve only burned around 140 calories.. this occurs on /all/ the treadmills at my gym.. its not just one faulty one. So are calorie counters on treadmills accurate?

9 Responses to “Are calorie counters on treadmills and bikes accurate?”

1. surferbabi on July 31st, 2006 10:28 pm

   yeah thats totally innaccurate…when i run a mile on the treadmill i burn 100 so you should be burning a lot more

2. wowfood on August 1st, 2006 9:41 pm

   no, they’re just a rough estimate for the “average person” what ever the average person is. it varies a hell of a lot.

   I spend 10 minutes on a running machine at 7kmph, but i spend the entire 10 minutes power walling (almost now upper leg movement, propelled forwards by feet alone) By the end of my session i’m not worn out, or even out of breath but my heart rate is up to the 170’s anyway.

   I highly doubt i’d have burnt off the same amount of caloree’s as somebody who’d been lightly jogging at that speed, or striding etc etc.

   Anyway yeah its just a rough estimate depending on your method of USING the machine it will vary… just use that as a guideline

3. Amanda P on August 2nd, 2006 12:42 am

   No, they’re not.

4. jMAC on August 2nd, 2006 4:46 pm

   It depends for how long you go for. I usually do three miles at 3.0 mph and burn 450ish calories (this is also using an 10% incline) though.

   If you work out at a gym you should ask one of the specialists there.

5. Irene K on August 4th, 2006 12:43 pm

   they aren’t accurate.

6. Violation Notice on August 5th, 2006 10:10 am

   They can never be 100 percent accurate. Everyone’s body burns calories at a different rate. We aren’t all alike! When you run a mile, you are burning a lot more than 140 calories. Sometimes I think those things are a cruel joke. The makers just sit back and think…”Well, obesity in america is getting really bad so we will alter this little calorie counter to make them think they need to work out even more!” I don’t know about how much your burning but it’s more than a pitiful 140.

7. Barberry on August 5th, 2006 11:56 pm

   It depends on your weight. If you’re dialing your weight into the machine, then it will give you a pretty close picture of how many calories your speed and length of time will be burned on average. If you’re a muscular person, you are probably burning more; if you’re flabbier, you probably burn less. If you’re only running one mile, it’s very likely you’re only burning 140 calories. I’m a small person so when I do the same activity as a larger person, I burn much less than they do. Those machines are not pinpoint accurate, but they are generally in the ball park if you are including your personal weight in the equation.

8. Dissy on August 8th, 2006 7:52 pm

   Running burns about 100 calories a mile - but it’ll be more if you run on an incline, or if you weigh a whole lot, and less if you’re very tiny. The calorie counters on machines are just to give you an idea of your progress - if they make you input your weight they’re probably more accurate than one that doesn’t factor that into its calculations.

9. silverbullet on August 10th, 2006 3:45 am

   They aren’t all that accurate, but 140 calories for a mile of running is certainly in the ballpark.