Calories burned for Spinning

purpledeb
purpledeb Posts: 2
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
I am 65kgs and off to spinning tonight with my new HRM so will be interesting to see how many actual calories I burn instead of what the machine estimates. Does anyone know what I can except to burn off - I work very hard and am usually a purple quivering mess by the end of a class lol :frown:

Replies

  • rndalsn
    rndalsn Posts: 26
    I am anxious to know how many cals it says you burn, also. I figure my cals through MFP, but I always think that I burn more than it says because I, too, am a sweaty, wore out mess afterwards! I know when I log into MFP for 50 mins of vigorous spinning, it shows that I burn around 499 cals. I'm anxious to see if it's actually more than that.
  • foxxybrown
    foxxybrown Posts: 838 Member
    At 160 lbs in a very vigorous class, I burn between 650-800 in an hour.
  • Ellem86
    Ellem86 Posts: 204
    This was the main reason I bought my HRM! I used it today for the first time and burned 401 calories (45 min class plus 5 min cooldown). I thought I burned more calories but this was only about 50 more than MFP estimated for me.

    I'm 5 ft3, female, 138 pounds.
  • happy_jax
    happy_jax Posts: 289 Member
    ...I think you are going to get a very nice surprise!! :happy:

    Obviously a lot will depend on weight/height/effort/energy etc...but I currently weigh just under 65kg and usually burn on average 750-800 calories in a 45 minute class...

    Spinning is for sure one of the best burns for me (without feeling quite as near death as running!) :laugh:
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    I was estimating 500-600 an hour and when I got my HRM I was actually doing 900-1200 an hour.
  • Ellem86
    Ellem86 Posts: 204
    I am so ridiculously envious of those calorie burns for spin!!!
  • misstricky
    misstricky Posts: 5
    This is good to hear! I just got my HRM, and tried it during my hour-long spin today. It said i burned 1300 calories! I am not that big, so I found it hard to believe. I still think its high, but this makes me less worried about it!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    This is good to hear! I just got my HRM, and tried it during my hour-long spin today. It said i burned 1300 calories! I am not that big, so I found it hard to believe. I still think its high, but this makes me less worried about it!

    I am sorry, but that number is not anywhere close to being accurate. Lance Armstrong would have difficulty burning 1300 calories in a 1 hour spin class.

    If you are pretty fit and able to run at about 7mph for an hour, and you were able to push that hard throughout the entire 60 min of the spin class, then you probably burned about 1/2 that number.

    Here are the possible reasons for the high number:

    1. Your actual max heart rate is substantially (+20-30 beats) higher than the age-predicted number.

    2. Somehow your HRM thinks your VO2 max is about twice as high as it probably is.

    3. You may have entered your weight in KG instead of pounds.

    4. You have a cheapo HRM (e.g. a Mio) that does not use a chest strap.

    5. Any combination or all of the above.

    If you want to provide more details or send me a message, I can try to help troubleshoot your setup.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    ...I think you are going to get a very nice surprise!! :happy:

    Obviously a lot will depend on weight/height/effort/energy etc...but I currently weigh just under 65kg and usually burn on average 750-800 calories in a 45 minute class...

    Spinning is for sure one of the best burns for me (without feeling quite as near death as running!) :laugh:

    See my comment below. At 65 kg, it would be extremely unlikely that you could burn calories at a 1200/hr rate. At your weight, burning 1200 calories an hour would mean running 5:00 miles for one hour.

    At 65kg, if you are burning 400 calories in 45 minutes, that would be a very good effort (9-10 METs).

    I hate to be the bad guy here, but the numbers being reported are not physiologically possible.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I am anxious to know how many cals it says you burn, also. I figure my cals through MFP, but I always think that I burn more than it says because I, too, am a sweaty, wore out mess afterwards! I know when I log into MFP for 50 mins of vigorous spinning, it shows that I burn around 499 cals. I'm anxious to see if it's actually more than that.

    The MFP numbers are actually pretty close for your weight -- that may just be a coincidence, since I don't think the MFP numbers are that good, but 499 for 50 minutes would represent a pretty good effort.

    Just as a baseline: Calories burned per hour is equal to your weight (in KG) times the aerobic intensity of the activity (expressed in METs).

    Running a 10:00 mile (6 mph) outdoors is about 10 METs. Running an 8:00 mile (7.5 mph) outside is about 12 METs.
    So, at your weight (looks like a little under 60 kg (132lbs) from your ticker), running at 6mph would put you at a rate of around 600 calories per hour.

    You can use that as a benchmark. Can you sustain a 10:00/mile pace? Higher? Lower? Use that effort (and your HR at that effort) as a "calibration tool". It will help you set up your HRM more accurately.
  • misstricky
    misstricky Posts: 5
    This is what I figured, and I'm certainly not counting it at 1300 calories (I'm actually still only counting it at the MFP quote of MFP of 439 for an hour).
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