treadmill calorie count accuracy

[dce2956]

Does anyone know if the 'calories burned' counter on things like treadmills or eliptical machines are accurate? I find it hard to belive that on the lowest setting possible and going quite slow on one of the eliptical machines at my gym that i'm burning ~600 cals/hour as it says. Thats about the same the treadmill was saying i was burning while running at 6.0 MPH. There seems to be some inconsistancy to me. I could be wrong. Anyone know of any proof or a better way to calculate calories burned while doing cardio?

 

[BiggT]

The most accurate way is to get a heart rate monitor, it really is the only way to truly know......if you enter your weight on a treadmill, the calories burned count is a 'rough estimate' at best and should be taken with a grain of salt as your bodyfat is not taken into account as well as your heart rate (how hard you're actually working).....some guy who is 200lbs with 35% bodyfat may be dying as they run at a 6.0 setting for a mile, while a guy who weighs 200lbs at 9% bodyfat may be on cruise control......the total calories will say the same on a treadmill, but in reality they are nowhere near each other.