How reliable is the calorie expenditure calculated by a training computer?
The calorie expenditure applications in training computers are usually very accurate. Most devices calculate the results from personal information and from the actual heart rate. Different training computer models may apply additional personal information to the calorie expenditure calculation in order to make it even more accurate. Information applied besides heart rate are age, height, weight, and gender. Other applicable information are oxygen uptake (OwnIndex), resting heart rate and maximum heart rate. The margin of error is only 0.3–0.5 kcal/minute.
