People who mainly exercise to lose weight have one pressing question whenever they shut down the machine for the day: how much did I burn off? Exercise machines these days have a way of measuring the amount of calories burnt off during the exercise period, and when people step off the treadmill or elliptical, fitness is measured by the numbers shown on that small screen.
But research has shown that these numbers may not be completely accurate. Did you really just burn off one thousand calories, or is it more like one hundred?
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Specialists have varied opinions on the matter. Some say that the treadmill and elliptical fitness measurements are fairly accurate while others believe they are at least 50% off mark. Weight loss is slow, as anyone overweight and trying to lose it would know.
The effects don’t appear after the first day or even the first week. It takes at least a month of constant exercising without slacking off for the results to be seen. So if the machine states you lost 1000 calories today, it makes people feel better about themselves, like what they are doing is actually paying off.
Losing weight isn’t just about the weight itself; it needs high self-esteem, high self-confidence and very high commitment, because stopping midway is the fastest route to failing.
When comparing the calorie meters on treadmills and elliptical machines, experiments show that treadmills are far more accurate. This is mostly because treadmills have been around for a lot longer than ellipticals and the technology involved is no longer considered new.
Measuring elliptical fitness is possible but users are advised to take the returned calorie loss with at least a grain of salt. The machines are rumored to be at least 20-30% off the true number, but with time they will become as accurate as the treadmills and bring a true smile to the face of any exerciser. Until then, try not to rely too much on the numbers presented to you. A normal scale will do the same job and be more accurate than your exercise machine could ever be.