Liar, Liar

I started using computers back in 1989. They were a bit more primitive back then (and the first nominee for understatement of the year is . . . ). I used Word Perfect for my writing projects. I remember how sometimes to get the settings to work right I would have lie to the computer, tell it a paper size or a margin was different from what it actually was. That was a liberating realization. It kept from fighting with the computer and allowed me to get my way.

Treadmills are notorious for over estimating the number of calories burned in a session. They give a false sense of accomplishment, making the user feel that he has worked harder than he actually has. But there is a way around this flaw.

Lie.

Select a treadmill that takes weight information. That data is figured into the treadmills computer to gauge calories burned during a workout. For a given speed, the higher the weight entered when the workout began, the higher the number of calories shown as burned. So at the beginning of my treadmill workout I will enter a lower weight than I actually weigh. The final number of calories burned will not be inflated.

This doesn't make the "calories burned" count accurate, but it will avoid the reporting of the unduly inflated number of calories burned.

So how much lower should the weight number be? My guess is about 20%. I'll try to look into that and get a more "fact based" estimate. My personal practice is to put in the weight I want to be, not the weight I am. That gives me some idea of how hard I will need to work to burn a set number of calories. It's still off, but it's a good starting place.

One more note: incline makes almost no difference, though it should. I've experimented with this on a few treadmills, keeping speed the same, but trying various incline settings. I really can't see that there is anything in the treadmills computer function that takes into account steeper inclines resulting in harder work and more calories burned.