Issues with staionery bike riding

jaygirl3

I rode my stationary bike for one hour, moderate effort, and after calculating calories burnt, it said 420 though mfp says 560.
I am a student so i try to kill two birds with a stone by riding the bike while reading.
However i dont believe i even burn up to 200 calories doing this, because, no matter how fast i go, i dont sweat, i dont feel tired. I know how tired i feel when i burn 500 calories with jogging or aerobics, so to believe that i burn similar with bike riding is hard. Because i dont even breathe fast when bike riding.

Dows anyone have the same issues? As much as i enjoy the bike riding, because it actually is the easiest workout for me, i dont want to waste time i would have used in actually burning more calories.

pls advice

Christine1110

Maybe you need a new exercise....just because it is to easy for you.

SimplyDeLish

I believe your instinct is correct. If your heart rate isn't elevated you aren't burning that amount of calories. Try adjusting the tension so it's harder. If that isn't possible - move on to something that makes you sweat! Good Luck!

stacimusmax

I like the stationary bike as well (my knees can bother me if I do too much on the treadmill). I like the encouragement that MFP gives me by telling me how many calories I burned (yes, it is sometimes greater than what the machine says). However, I never enter my height, weight, and age in the bikes at the gym. MFP knows that infomation. I don't sweat alot either, no matter what exercise I am doing. So, I am not sure sweat is the correct measurement.
A heartrate monitor is probably your best bet for accurate numbers. I choose to believe in the general burn that MFP says. It has been paying off for me (in weight loss) since I started 6 weeks ago.
If the scale (and my clothes) tell me I'm losing, I don't care what the numbers are on the machines....lol

lilwashee

sweating does not define how hard you are working on something.try looking up www.healthstatus.com to tell you what you are truly burning.

chuckyp

Are you getting that calorie reading from the computer on the bike itself? If so, that should be correct and does not sound unreasonable at all for that long of a workout. With a machine, calorie burn is easy to figure because it's just a physics problem that the computer takes care of. It takes x amount of energy to spin a flywheel of a certain weight a certain RPM for a certain amount of time at a given resistance level. It's the exercises that have other variables like running that are harder to calculate.

doramouse

I would adjust the tension / resistance on the bike. I know you said you are reading at the same time. When I read I find I am not working as hard as I could be working, just because i am concentrating on reading.

If you increase the resistance you will probably burn more calories.

The bike is one of the gentler cardios (IMO) - maybe try the treadmill and reading. You'd be using more of your own body and probably burn more calories.
Good luck - with school too!