How to Calculate Weight Loss on a Treadmill

Treadmills help you track the calories you burn while working out.
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If you're looking for a way to burn calories to help you lose fat that doesn't involve running laps in the wind and rain or swimming in a community pool filled with screaming kids, a treadmill workout is a logical choice. You can not only stay out of the elements, but also catch up on a TV program as you work out. Treadmills are ideal for exercise, in part because they track the calories you burn.

    Step 1

    Familiarize yourself with the relationship between calories and fat to help you understand how to calculate how much weight you lose during your workout. To lose a pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories more than what you consume through eating and drinking.

    Step 2

    Check how many calories you burned by either walking or running on a treadmill. On virtually all modern-day machines, you can find this information displayed on the screen or by pressing the "Calories" button. For example, if you weigh 125 pounds and run for 30 minutes at a speed of 6 miles per hour, you'll burn 300 calories.

    Step 3

    Calculate the percentage of a pound you burn during the workout by dividing the calories you burned by 3,500. For example, if you burn 300 calories during the workout, 300 divided by 3,500 equals roughly 0.086, or nearly one-tenth of a pound.

    Tips

    • The amount you sweat during a workout isn't related to the calories you burn. Sweat relates to your water weight and isn't an effective way to realistically track weight loss. As soon as you rehydrate after working out, you replace any weight you lost through sweating.

    Tips

    • The "Globe and Mail" warns that calorie counters on exercise machines base their results on averages, so don't take their findings as the absolute truth. If your calculations show that you've burned enough calories to lose nearly one-tenth of a pound of fat, the actual number might be slightly more or less.

    Warnings

    • If you experience pain in your joints during or after walking or running on a treadmill, discontinue this exercise.

    Warnings

    • Consult a doctor before adding new exercises to your workout plan.

    Things You'll Need

    • Calculator

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