Calories Burned - Go kart racing/Motorsport in general

Ashthm

Hi Guys.

Looking for a rough idea about how many calories you would burn by racing go karts (or any other motorsport for that matter) say over a 15 min race. To clarify I am talking about proper racing karts with high power and soft sticky tires; not your average rental kart which are a physically taxing as driving to work by comparison. I thought i'd ask as racing these things give you a hell of a work out, so I thought I should probably add it as an exercise.

joshdann

if I had to guess I'd say not as much as you might think. The increased adrenaline and heart rate you get will burn some calories for sure, but the "workout" part (I assume from wrangling the wheel and leaning, etc) won't be much calorie-wise. It *will* help you build some strength and tone up those muscles, though.

IMO, logging this type of activity is not going to be super productive. I think if I were in your shoes (or your seat?) I'd probably not log it and consider it a "bonus" activity.

MrsMX

Looking for some way of logging motorsports myself as I ride a dirt bike on the weekends, sometimes up to 100kms (62 miles) at a time with river crossings and jumps etc ..

I've have been told that some of the more technical media loggers like fitbit or similar
may be capable of tracking such sports but I haven't gone into it fully ..

I've just noticed that the app on my mobile MapMyRide has a listing under all activity for Vehicle
and that has motorcycle and a few others .. sadly no go-kart!

I'll try the motorbike one this Saturday and see what it comes up with
but I sure would love something like a fitbit that could tell more!!

good luck finding something

edit .. Sorry "not a guy" .. Lol

joshdann

sadly, I don't think the fitbit devices will help here. They just monitor steps and floors climbed (using barometric pressure changes), so it would probably yield some pretty inaccurate data from motorcross... given the vibrations, jumps, etc.

MrsMX

sadly, I don't think the fitbit devices will help here. They just monitor steps and floors climbed (using barometric pressure changes), so it would probably yield some pretty inaccurate data from motorcross... given the vibrations, jumps, etc.

which is why I said something similar ...
I have heard there are ways of tracking it but I forgot to write down what I was told and I am unsure of who told me ..

I'll try the MapMyRide app and see what it says all the same.


p.s sorry I had no intention of pinching the post ... Lol

Ashthm

Thanks for the replies guys.

For anyone who has never driven a race car / go kart before this article may be of interest:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/new-cars/auto-news/think-race-car-driving-looks-easy-you-dont-know-fit/article13138763/?page=all

marksawatsky

I own a kart track and I also have a heart rate monitor that calculates calories burned based on my age, weight, sex and fitness level. I think if I go for a race, I could get the numbers pretty easily. I'm guessing 10-15 calories per minute.

marksawatsky

Ok, I have a Polar RC3 watch with heart rate monitor and all the GPS toys and I went kart racing in a shifter kart this weekend. I am 45 years old, 172 lbs and am very active with an at rest heart rate of 40 bpm. When I started the kart race I started my heart rate monitor and my peak heart rate was 167, average was 154 and minimum was 111 bpm. The race was 20 minutes long and the watch calculates that I burned 262 calories. That's 13 calories per minute.

Adjel1

I am very interested in this, as well. I race in a league indoor electric go-karts that go up to 50 mph. When I finish a race, I'm breathing hard and sweating buckets, because I am in a true competition, up against some serious (male) drivers. It is hard work! When I just go out there to practice, or race with the general public, I don't work as hard, but it's more work than just driving my (regular) car around. I have no idea how to calculate calories for it, because when we first start a race, we are going very slow, warming up the tires for the first lap or so. Then it's hard core for 13 laps. I think Marksawatsky is probably right. I'd like to know your stats (age, weight, etc). I am a 58 y.o. female, 160 lbs, and my fitness level is moderate.

Mr_Knight

Ashthm wrote: »

Looking for a rough idea about how many calories you would burn by racing go karts (or any other motorsport for that matter) say over a 15 min race.

Too few to count.

Mr_Knight

marksawatsky wrote: »

Ok, I have a Polar RC3 watch with heart rate monitor and all the GPS toys and I went kart racing in a shifter kart this weekend. I am 45 years old, 172 lbs and am very active with an at rest heart rate of 40 bpm. When I started the kart race I started my heart rate monitor and my peak heart rate was 167, average was 154 and minimum was 111 bpm. The race was 20 minutes long and the watch calculates that I burned 262 calories. That's 13 calories per minute.

That is a completely inappropriate and unintended use of an HRM. The burn number is complete BS.

For the 8 billionth time on MFP...heart rate and calorie burn DO NOT correlate, except under very specific conditions, none of which are met by go kart racing.