Downhill Skiing Calorie Counts... How Accurate?

getthebuzz

MyFitnessPal either is very generous with calorie burn on Alpine skiing, or I am doing more work than I thought.

I do ski moguls, trees, deeper powder, off-piste, and generally am an all-around aggressive skier. I know that I am working hard. Am I supposed to be adding up ONLY the total minutes going downhill, or what? If I skied 9-4 with an hour off for lunch, that's 360 minutes. That's 4,158 calories for the day, which seems an awful lot.

OTOH, I know that when I finish a run, and ski immediately back onto the lift, I am cooling down for at least half my ride. After burn continues. My average one hour of cardio (Skier's Edge plus elliptical) burns around 1,000 calories, according to my Polar Loop. Is it possible that in a six hour day of aggressive skiing, I burn twice as many calories as my controlled cardio? I think it might be possible. That would be recorded as 180 minutes of skiing, according to MyFitnessPal.

How much should I be recording?

punchgut

You only count the time you're actually doing the activity. Riding the lift doesn't count. Also, if you're really good the caloric count will be way off. The better skier you are the more economical you'll be with your movements. I've been skiing for over 42 years, been a ski instructor at a major colorado resort and raced growing up. I can ski aggressively all day and not work any where near that many calories off. That said, one season of skiing over 100 days will trim me down slimmer than anything.

glevinso

I would only count the down-hill time. I know for a fact that unless I am skiing in bumps or tight trees or deep powder I am not working hard. IE - a day spend on groomers probably doesn't count for much of any sort of calorie burn.

lishie_rebooted

I'm such a sucky skier I don't even worry about it lol

Is the polar loop like a Fitbit or is a HRM? (too lazy to google)
How big of a deficit are you running? If it's 500 cal, I'd probably just eat at maintenance on a ski day...

getthebuzz

Loop has an HRM, but a serious PITA to use under my gear. Not a groomer skier, here. I will typically run about 18 runs in a day. It will take a good 8-12 minutes, depending on difficulty, to get down a run. So, yeah. I could see getting to the 180 minute mark. Somewhere between 120 and 180 seems right to me.

getthebuzz

I'm guessing that between skiing, cinnamon whiskey, and a green chile cheeseburger for lunch, I'm probably not going to do serious damage to my weight.

slomo22

exercise calories is guess work especially with something like skiing. You probably burn at least 2000 easily if your skiing moguls/trees/powder. Just eat until your not hungry. You'll be fine unless you drink/eat excessively.

TinaBaily

I haven't gone skiing yet since getting my Polar FT4, but plan to wear it the first time out on the slopes, just to see what the burn rate is. I'm a mid-range skier, and can do all but black diamond runs, and have yet to learn powder or moguls (at my age, I worry about bone breakage if I were to fall doing such difficult stuff) but do challenge myself when out on the hill. If yours works similar to mine, you have to press a button to start and stop the recording, so I understand the PITA remark. But, if you truly are curious, try it once and see what you get. Have fun and ski safely!

999tigger

I thought HRMs were only any goo for steady state cardio? Good for heart rate and less good as calorie counters.

I had a look at rates and it seems anywhere from 200-600 an hour depending on intensity. The guides also suggested that the better you are the less work you will be doing as you are more efficient.