Hey, what do those gauges on the exercise equipment mean?
Not a damn thing
Sometimes when I put someone on an exercise bike to warm up, they comment that they burned 50 calories. They are looking as some of the digital numbers on the display. Unfortunately, these gauges are not accurate.
Most of the gauges on exercise equipment are gimmicks. I don’t think a manufacturer would place them there unless they helped sell the product. Hey, we like shiny things.
Common gauges display calories burned, watts, METS, RPMs, resistance, etc. When the machine claims that it knows what calories you have burned, that is a complete guess. The machine does not know your metabolism, weight, age, gender, altitude your exercising at, humidity, etc. In 5 minutes you’ve probably burned enough to eat 3 grapes.
Watts can be a cool metric if you track it. That’s total output of work, so if you strive for more, that might help you get some work done. RPMs and resistance can be important for defining your goals while you work out. Do you want more muscle building, cardiovascular, or fat loss.
Here’s a recent study finding published by Pub.Med.gov;
There was little indication that wearable devices provide a benefit for health outcomes. Of the 6 studies examined, only one study showed a significant reduction for weight loss among participants who used wearable devices. No significant reduction was discovered in cholesterol or blood pressure. Among the 6 studies, only one study examined hemoglobin A1c, and it showed a significant reduction in older patients with type 2 diabetes. The current literature evaluating wearable devices indicates little benefit of the devices on chronic disease health outcomes. Wearable devices play a role as a facilitator in motivating and accelerating physical activity, but current data do not suggest other consistent health benefits.1
There’s good and bad news about our metabolism. It’s very hard to count calories. It is usually not a one to one relationship. In other words, if you THINK you burned 250 calories, you’ve earned a candy bar. That accounting doesn’t really work.
But if you are really ramping up your metabolism, it will help burn calories over the long haul. 24-48 hours after the workout, you are still burning more than your basal rate of calorie burn. Triathletes are a good example. They have very little body fat, yet consume massive amounts of calories.
Ironically, we are both using a device to write and read this. Let’s shut it down, and go take a walk.
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Jo A, Coronel BD, Coakes CE, Mainous AG 3rd. Is There a Benefit to Patients Using Wearable Devices Such as Fitbit or Health Apps on Mobiles? A Systematic Review. Am J Med. 2019 Dec;132(12):1394-1400.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2019.06.018. Epub 2019 Jul 11. PMID: 31302077.