NordicTrack is a brand name distributor of cardiovascular exercise equipment which ranges far beyond the ski machines from which they derive their names. Many of these machines include a calorie counter to serve as both guide and inspiration for those who climb aboard in order to lose weight.
Calorie Basics
Calories are a measure of energy, with 1 calorie defined as the amount of energy needed to heat 1,000 g of water by 1 degree centigrade. Note that the calories you talk about in fitness and weight loss are actually "kilocalories" -- 1,000 times the size of what physicists mean when they use the word calorie. Your body takes in calories in the form of food, and burns them through activity over the course of the day. If you burn less than you eat, your body stores the rest as fat. If you eat less than you burn, your body deals with the deficit by burning off stored fat.
Counting Calories
Calorie counting is an inexact art rather than a precise science, says Oregon-based fitness coach Ben Cohn. Your speed, body weight, age and the specific workout all combine to give a general idea of how many calories you will burn during a workout session. However, many other factors can contribute to and either raise or lower the actual calorie burn. Some of these factors include the temperature, your personal metabolism, body composition and even your mood during the workout.
How It Works
The computer in your NordicTrack's console includes a database of approximate caloric burns based on the workouts programmed into it. At the most basic level, this works exactly the same as many online resources available to calculate the calories you burn during exercise. However, this database is tuned to the precise specifications of the machine of which it is a part. While a general resource might have average numbers for running on a treadmill, the database on your machine will have numbers for running each particular program on that specific model. When you enter your body weight and age, the computer looks up the associated information, then uses it in conjunction with your workout as it progresses.
Assumptions
The biggest drawback to the calorie calculator in your NordicTrack is that it makes several assumptions. One of the most commonly broken assumptions is that you are using the equipment correctly. Leaning against the rails of a treadmill, or on the handlebars of a stationary bike, will drastically reduce how many calories you burn. Working out in a cold room will burn more calories than the same workout in a warm room, and yet the NordicTrack's computer will not account for that. Cohn advises that you use the calorie readout on your NordicTrack machine as a rough guideline, rather than considering it a scientifically exact count.
References
- Ben Cohn; Fitness Coach; Hillsboro, OR
- Nordic Track Home Page
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