Calories burnt Spinning

droutledge

Question.

MyFitnessPal says 45 minutes of spinning is 423 calories but 45 minutes of "Bicycling, 16-20 mph, very fast" is 725 calories.
To me, spinning is the same excercise as "cycling very fast". This seems to be contradictory? Any idea which is correct? I feel short-changed only getting 423 calories for 45 mins of killing myself in the spinning room!

stephanieGmo

I found the calories for a lot of the cardio were not that accurate. I bought a heart rate monitor. Now I know exactly how many calories I'm burning. It has really helped me stay motivated.

Tracey_Smith

I cycle loads and find that I go with whatever my HRM tells me. MFP is only a guideline as we are all built differently, I know it shows a difference when I put in what I've done. Spinning and cycling fast outdoors is different in that you have to contend with wind, rain, road surface, that's why I use a HRM.
A calorie burn of 423 for 45 mins spinning is a great calorie burn and I wouldn't be too disheartened at what you have achieved, but it may be better for you to get a HRM which would reflect more accurately what you've actually burned off.

kendrafallon

I agree entirely with stephanieGmo. For 60 mins of Tae Kwon Do, MFP has it at about 928 calories burnt. Since getting a HRM I know that I burn between 200 and 600 calories for a 60 min session. If you don't plan on getting a HRM, take the calories burnt for various exercises as a guestimate at best.

Fattack

Spinning is not the same exercise as cycling very fast. A proper spin instructor will ensure that the class is filled with interval training - varying speeds and resistance - which will impact your heart rate and in turn, affect your burn. For example, I do a lot more burning in one track than another (I know this because of my HRM). Somethings are overestimated on MFP, other things are underestimated, and then there's your level of effort that can affect it both ways.

droutledge

Thanks all. Sounds like - assume 425 or by an HRM. Ta!

keiraev

The spinning bike has a calorie counter on it and it always says about 400 on there when I do it- I think because it's stationary biking it burns less than actual cycling outside.

GoneWithTheWhinge

The spinning bike has a calorie counter on it and it always says about 400 on there when I do it

which is only as accurate as a finger in the wind unless you put all of your statistics in and it monitors your heart rate. As I found out when I got my HRM, the spin bike was reading around 350kcal, the reading from my HRM is 500-550kcal for the same class

aussiesarah

I'd recommend a HRM too as it all depends on the intensity of the class and your own age, build etc etc.

The spin class I do has an evil (but very good!) instructor who makes us stand for almost the entire 45mins. My HRM shows close to 600 cal for the class which is more than when I run a 10k!

Enjoy!