Are Cross Trainers Calorie Counters Inaccurate?

Whether you are into tracking your fitness journey or you are looking to calculate calorie burn from exercise, having elliptical machines with a calorie counter is important for both. 

The best types of machines cross trainer wise can track your increase in heart rate to see energy expenditure, tell you your speed and distance, as well as personal calories burnt however, this calorie counting system is not accurate and is said to either under or overestimate your calories by 25%-30%. 

We have put together an informative guide below, that will tell you just how inaccurate your cardio machines might be, personal calorie factors that affect overall burn and alternatives you can use to track your progress. 

Are Cross Trainer Calories & Distance Inaccurate? 

Cross trainers calories and distance measurement systems should always be taken with a grain of salt, distance can be argued to be a little more accurate as it is measured by the sensor in the flywheel of your cross trainer, this counts how many revolutions it has turned to show you the total amount of distance that your have travelled.

Calories burned however are based on the average of people and their body type, they don't take into account a whole variety of factors with vary from user to user when it comes to energy expenditure. 

It is said that on a cross-trainer it can overestimate your calories by 42% due to imprecise calorie counters. 

How Many Calories Can Someone Burn On a Cross Trainer?

So you might be wondering just how many calories someone can burn on a cross-trainer, well, on average, cross trainers measure through a kilogram calorie system like other gym machine types, so a 150-pound user who workouts on a cross-trainer will burn 232 calories on a cross-trainer with medium resistance and pace. 

This figure might change if the user workouts at a more vigorous pace or weighs more as they have a role in calorie burn.

Personal Factors Affecting Calorie Burn 

As we mentioned above, the typical exercise machine will have a standard calorie readout that doesn't take into account lots of variable factors such as users weight. 

We have listed out the most important personal factors that can affect how much someone burns on exercise machines such as a cross trainer below to help you out. 

• Weight - On all kinds of exercise machines, how much bodyweight you have will always affect the actual calories your burn, so if you weigh more, you will burn more calories than someone who weighs less doing the same exercise. 
• Body type - Other body individual factors that affect calorie burn are body composition, some people have a better muscle ratio to body fat and others have a higher metabolic rate, all these factors can affect additional calories burned during cross trainer exercise.
• Usage - One of the biggest machines factor for calorie burn is how you use the machine, people who hang on to the handles will burn fewer calories than those who put more effort in, if you don't know how to use the machine properly this also counts.
• Gender & age - Unfortunately, men have a higher metabolic rate than women and have lower body fat to muscle ratio, meaning that they burn many more calories, older people are also likely to have more body fat than muscle tissue so this can slow metabolic rate down. 
• Intensity - This one is obvious but the harder you go the more you burn, going the same distance on a high resistance setting than going the distance on a low resistance will result in different measurements of heart rate and hundreds of calories burned!

Alternative Ways To Track Calories Burned 

Now we know that calorie counters on cross trainers are not very accurate, it's a good idea to look into some alternative ways to measure your progress that have higher levels of accuracy, we will note the best alternatives below. 

• Take 20% off - One of the easiest ways to get a more accurate reading of how many calories you have burned on your cross trainer is to just take 20% off the figure. For example, if your burned 300 calories on the cross trainer, take this number down to 240.
• Use a fitness watch - Fitness watches are very reliable and have heart rate monitors inside as well as other technology to track how many calories you have burned during exercise.

• Track your heart rate - One of the best ways to see how hard you are working during exercise is to track your perceived rate of exertion and have a target heart rate goal to hit so as you can be sure you are working hard enough during exercise.
• Use an online calculator - There are plenty of online calculators on the web where you can enter in more detail about your body type and composition as well as your type of exercise to get a calorie burn, this still might not be as accurate as a fitness watch is but it does take into account body factors such as weight, age and gender which can affect calorie burn.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cross Trainers Calorie Counters

How can I burn more calories on a cross-trainer? 

You can burn more calories on a cross-trainer by increasing the speed or intensity of your workout, you can spend more time on the cross-trainer too, this will increase the duration of your exercise and burn more.

If you are having a hard time choosing the best exercise equipment to burn more calories, you can check it here.

What machine factors affect calorie burn? 

Cheaper machines will often have a more inaccurate calorie counter as they are built with cheaper technology, you should also be careful about maintaining the belt of your machine and leaning on to the handlebars of the device.

Are more expensive cross trainers more accurate? 

Yes, more expensive machines will often be fitted with better technology for calorie counting and heart rate monitors on the handlebars, these can increase accuracy. 

Does someone who weigh more burn more calories? 

Someone who weighs more will burn more calories than someone who weighs less performing the same type of exercise. The same goes for someone who has more muscle mass.

Will fitness level affect calorie burn?

Yes, if you have a higher fitness level then you will burn fewer calories than someone who is a beginner as you are used to exercising, it might take more intensity or longer duration for you to burn similar calories as a beginner would.

Final Words 

To conclude, calorie counters on a cross-trainer are not very accurate, this is down to the fact they ignore lots of variables such as the body type and weight of the user, as well as how they are using the machine and even their gender. 

We would recommend using an alternative calorie counter such as a fitness watch to track your progress if you want to monitor your fitness or lose weight by tracking calories, knowing your target heart rate is always a good idea too so as you can know how hard you should be working.

To further understand how cross trainers are helpful in burning calories, you can check it here.