How much do you burn cycling in an hour?

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neldabg
neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
edited March 2016 in Fitness and Exercise
I can't decide if I should trust my FitBit's calorie estimate for my bike ride. I rode my bike 3.2 miles one way and then 3.2 miles back, which took about 53 minutes total, and Fitbit estimates a total burn of 207 calories. It's the Charge HR so my heart rate WAS recorded, but for an average speed of (6.4/.8833), or, 7.245 mph, I'm not sure if it's correct or not.
Does 207 seem accurate to you all? How much do YOU burn cycling in an hour?
Note: I don't let my Fitbit automatically detect bike rides; instead, I set my Charge HR into workout mode for the duration of my bike ride.

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  • LCD_80
    LCD_80 Posts: 26 Member
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    I cycle 11 miles to work, takes me a little under 50 minutes and my HR monitor and garmin say I burn about 500 calories in that time, so probably equates to 600 an hour. I cycle pretty hard and heart rate is around 140-150bpm the whole time.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    I burn about 600 calories on an hour road ride (HRM data), but my pace would be around 14-16mph.
    It can also vary by the terrain... hilly course vs flat route etc.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,126 Member
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    http://www.acaloriecalculator.com/calories-burned-calculator/

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    LCD_80 wrote: »
    I cycle 11 miles to work, takes me a little under 50 minutes and my HR monitor and garmin say I burn about 500 calories in that time, so probably equates to 600 an hour. I cycle pretty hard and heart rate is around 140-150bpm the whole time.

    We're pretty close, I'm 19km each way and my burn is about the same.....

    OP you're riding at a pretty leisurely rate. I'm riding at quite a bit higher intensity and average just under 30 cal / km, at your pace the burn doesn't sound unreasonable.
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    OP: what is your current weight? This will also influence your burn.

    Try this... http://www.bicycling.com/training/weight-loss/cycling-calories-burned-calculator
    although the calculator only starts at 10mph really. I tapped in my stats and it came out at 230 for 53 mins at 10mph, so considering you're slower than that the 207 is probably not a bad estimate.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    edited March 2016
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    LCD_80 wrote: »
    I cycle 11 miles to work, takes me a little under 50 minutes and my HR monitor and garmin say I burn about 500 calories in that time, so probably equates to 600 an hour. I cycle pretty hard and heart rate is around 140-150bpm the whole time.
    Thanks for sharing! :)
    rileysowner wrote: »
    http://www.acaloriecalculator.com/calories-burned-calculator/

    OooOoOOoo. This is a very handy calculator. Thanks!
    CollieFit wrote: »
    I burn about 600 calories on an hour road ride (HRM data), but my pace would be around 14-16mph.
    It can also vary by the terrain... hilly course vs flat route etc.

    Oh yeeaahhh. I did ride up some hills a few times.

    BrianSharpe wrote: »
    LCD_80 wrote: »
    I cycle 11 miles to work, takes me a little under 50 minutes and my HR monitor and garmin say I burn about 500 calories in that time, so probably equates to 600 an hour. I cycle pretty hard and heart rate is around 140-150bpm the whole time.

    We're pretty close, I'm 19km each way and my burn is about the same.....

    OP you're riding at a pretty leisurely rate. I'm riding at quite a bit higher intensity and average just under 30 cal / km, at your pace the burn doesn't sound unreasonable.

    Thanks for the reassurance! ^^

    CollieFit wrote: »
    OP: what is your current weight? This will also influence your burn.

    Try this... http://www.bicycling.com/training/weight-loss/cycling-calories-burned-calculator
    although the calculator only starts at 10mph really. I tapped in my stats and it came out at 230 for 53 mins at 10mph, so considering you're slower than that the 207 is probably not a bad estimate.

    Oh dear. I completely forgot to post my stats. Sorry! I'm about 5'2", 20 years old, and 110 lbs. Thank you for that calculator!



    Thank you so much for the responses you all! Putting it all together, I am very confident about the predicted burns now. :)
  • cronus70
    cronus70 Posts: 191 Member
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    Your young and light riding at a very light to moderate pace so your calorie burn sounds reasonably accurate.
  • djspacecaptain
    djspacecaptain Posts: 366 Member
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    I use the stationary bike and do 10 miles in 40 mins on a pretty high resistance and alternate with HIIT. I dont know how much i burn but i just put down 350.
  • ironhajee
    ironhajee Posts: 384 Member
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    My first long cycling ride yesterday and I burned about 1700 calories at an avg pace of 10mph ... across 40 miles.
  • jennybearlv
    jennybearlv Posts: 1,519 Member
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    My Vivoactive guestimated 374 calories yesterday for riding my bike 3.7 miles for 25:05 minutes at 8.2 mph. I'm 265 pounds, so I'm going to burn calories at a higher rate, but your calories do still seem pretty low. Does your Fitbit have GPS? Can you turn off the HR and let it calculate calories based on time and pace for comparison?
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
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    neldabg wrote: »
    I can't decide if I should trust my FitBit's calorie estimate for my bike ride. I rode my bike 3.2 miles one way and then 3.2 miles back, which took about 53 minutes total, and Fitbit estimates a total burn of 207 calories. It's the Charge HR so my heart rate WAS recorded, but for an average speed of (6.4/.8833), or, 7.245 mph, I'm not sure if it's correct or not.
    Does 207 seem accurate to you all? How much do YOU burn cycling in an hour?
    Note: I don't let my Fitbit automatically detect bike rides; instead, I set my Charge HR into workout mode for the duration of my bike ride.

    Depends on if you are riding at 7mph, 15mph, 28mph - how much you weigh, how much power you put out, etc... .

    At your pace, that calculation sounds fairly in the ball park. All gizmos, HR monitors, computers are guesstimating. Wind, elevation, surface (gravel, pavement, cement, dirt, grass, rocks), temperature, hills, etc... add to the calculation. Some "gizmos" do a better job at getting accurate estimates, but they cost more than most bikes. B)
  • Michael190lbs
    Michael190lbs Posts: 1,510 Member
    edited March 2016
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    30 min ride from this am says I burned more than I really do
    I ride every morning most days 60 min average just over 20mph and count it as 500 calories or 250 for 30 min ride. HR average is typically high 120- low 130's Interval level 15 of 20

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  • julyrunner
    julyrunner Posts: 79 Member
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    This is fairly unscientific, but if I need to guesstimate calorie burn, I assume 100 cal/mile for running and 40 cal/mile cycling. I don't figure speed/effort in at all, although I typically ride at a brisk pace (16-17 mph).
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    I use a power meter to measure my energy output on the bike, which is much more accurate than an HRM. Here's data from some recent rides.

    * 3/26: 56.6 mi in 3:43 (15.2 mph) with 635 feet elevation gain: 1,823 kJ
    * 3/25: 11 mi in 41 mins (13.4 mph) with 400 feet elevation gain: 375 kJ
    * 3/24: 12.8 mi in 1:17 (10 mph) with 831 feet elevation gain: 496 kJ
    * 3/22: 2.2 mi in 16 mins (8.2 mph) with 377 feet elevation gain: 155 kJ <- short, steep hill repeats
    * 3/21: 3 mi in 17 mins (12.2 mph) with 195 feet elevation gain: 124 kJ <- errands
    * 3/19: 54.7 miles in 3:48 (14.4 mph) with 2,282 feet elevation gain: 1,753 kJ

    Calories = kJ * 1.13 to 1.15 depending on the individual.

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