Band Vs. X-Box Fitness Calories

[Anthony Lower]

I am a big advocate of Kinect's Fitness Games, having lost 50 pounds with them 4 years ago. I received an Xbox One as a bDay present in November, and a Band for Christmas. On Xbox One, I am doing the Insanity workouts. When I do them with the Band in exercise tracking mode, I see vastly different numbers. Today for example, the Xbox told me 118 calories for a 30 minute workout, the Band told me 480.

I get that the band has better sensors touching the skin. I get that when I have my shirt off with the Kinect camera above the TV that it tracks better -and that's where it was. But I was really shocked at the big difference. I wrote to Band support and they wrote back that they'd have to get an Xbox engineer to consult. But I thought I'd share here for folks reaction. For calorie counting purposes, would you just go with the 480? Split the difference?

 

[realwarder]

The band likely includes calories from simply living the period as well (I.e. if you are just breathing + exercise) and the Xbox may show only the additional calories burned from the exercise. However that is still a big difference for 30 minutes. The band does monitor your heart rate and use that to work out calories - perhaps you really are having a good workout. 480 is not unlikely for a really serious bit of exercise. 118 is likely too low.

 

[onlysublime]

If you're doing Insanity, I'd say the 118 is too low. It'd be much closer to 480 than 118.

How is the lighting in your room? Is it like your avatar pic because that lighting is not good for the calorie counting of the Kinect. The factors that will be calculated on the Kinect to determine calorie count are age, weight, counted motion (check that it is properly counting how many jumps you are taking or how many squats, etc. etc.), and changes in skin color. The Kinect looks at the RGB feed as well as the infrared feed. It sets a baseline before you start. And then as you exercise, more blood is flowing to the face so your face changes color which the Kinect interprets. So lighting greatly affects the RGB data.

That said, it's not the numbers that really matter. It's doing the exercise and being motivated to continually exercise. A number is just a number.

 

[eyecrispy]

I don't know much about Xbox but from my experience, I think the Band is pretty accurate. With the HRM, it should be able to get a good estimate of calories burned.

 

[mijacs]

You can get a basic estimate via various web sites and apps. For example:
http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
Also check the Band's heart rate to see if it makes sense.

I would burn 180 calories via a decent 30 minute walk. Probably more.