As I slice further into the dark underbelly of exercise I fight increasing disillusionment. It's all lies, well OK let's be fair, there are lies about calories and you know who's doing it? The machines! They lie to us, Sarah Conner was right! It's insane to trust the little bastard calorie counters, don't listen to them!
I've got to act natural, my Garmin is growing suspicious, I don't like the way it's looking at me.
I got the following email from Bubbles yesterday
Read your article today/this weekend and sought out a reliable source for you to understand that the calories-burned display on the machine is not factual!
I know how awesome it is to see a big number on the calories-burned screen after a hard workout. But the sad truth is that that number is usually inflated. If you think that you burned enough extra calories this morning to eat that cheeseburger for lunch and that extra handful of Doritos, think again. Even when you specifically enter your gender, weight and age, your estimate (yep, it's just an estimate) could be off by tens to hundreds of calories. Hundreds! In fact, the majority of cardio machines manufacturers test their equipment on big, muscular guys and not your everyday Joe. Because of this, the estimated calorie burn that is programmed into the machine is based on a large man who burns tons of calories just breathing.
On average, most people burn about 100 calories per mile walked or ran. If your cardio machine’s calorie count registers way more than this, then err on the side of calorie caution when planning your meals for the rest of the day. In general, all machines and online calculators offer mere estimates of calories burned, so never take them as fact. A better and more accurate way to estimate your calories burned for any workout is to invest in a good heart rate monitor (your Garmin) that estimates calories burned based on your actual workout intensity.
Have a great day!
Bubbles
p.s. With your last estimated VO2 Max test, you burn approximately 15 calories/minute when you are working at 70% of your max heart rate. I would say that this is more reliable than what any cardio machine throws at you. I would like to think that is very close to what your Garmin is telling you since it is incorporating Heart Rate and your actual intensity of exercise.
Hmmmm. I've done some digging and the only thing harder to get than exactly how the Garmin calculates calories is how the government is going to run health care. In short this is something Garmin does not talk about but I can tell you this, motion is involved. So when I do some horrific workout in the gym my calorie readout from the Garmin is zero, I need to move. If heart rate is involved it's coupled with motion.
But the VO2 information that Bubbles kicked out is VERY interesting. So let's peep it out, and since Bubbles is the definition of magnificence she kicked out the following chart for me - this is based off of my VO2, not yours so don't go thinking its universal.
OK my workout today I did an average HR of 122 and we'll say that was 30% so6.48 X 35min = 227
The machine said 325. The machine should be ashamed of itself!
Let me bore you just a little bit further and look at my inspiring over two and a half hour bike ride last Saturday.
Garmin says 1,919 calories burned.
This heart rate calculation (again my average HR was 122)
6.48 X 158min = 1,024 calories burned - a 900 calorie difference.
I'm not saying that this HR calculation is the truth on what Bill burned but I believe it's a nearer truth then what the machines are telling me. I was making diet decisions based off the machine numbers which is why (and let's not forget my lack of discipline) I gained a pound over the weekend. I honestly thought I burned way more than I did.
Keep it in mind when you come off a little lying liar pants machine.
So, I'll put the kershaw away and move on to Bubbles next part of this - visualization.
Bubbles sent me the link/article and here's her take on it, "I love this article because I speak to my athletes about this concept of visualization and how if you can't see yourself doing something then it is pretty tough actually performing the skill. Same idea with weight management..."
That makes sense, I haven't read it yet and have prattled on enough for today anyway.
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