Do the Calorie Counts work on Cardio Equipment ????? What's YOUR Target Heart Rate ?

I am often asked if the Electronic Readout / Calorie counts on Gym Cardio Equipment is accurate ??  

Unfortunately, the number of calories a cardio machine shows you burning is usually off by 10-15%!  
It can be off by even more if you don’t input your age and weight.    For a more accurate calorie burn reading, I highly recommend using a Polar Heart Rate Monitor, Garmin Heart Rate Monitor or dotFIT’s Exerspy.    If those are not available to you, when you do cardio make sure you enter your details (age and weight) into the machine and take 10% off the final number of calories the machine says you’ve burned.
Another great idea to maximize your Target Heart Rate is to take your "resting HR" before you begin your exercise (it will vary depending on your age and fitness level) - mine is 66 bpm (which is low/fit).  Then take it half way through your cardio session.

You can also use the Chart below to monitor your preferred / maximum Target Heart Rate.  i.e - Women Age 40 - Aerobic THR should be 130 - 149 bpm with Max being 167 - 180 bpm.

I try to get my THR up to between 143 - 150 and that is a great session for me at age 46 !