Cycling calorie counts?
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I usually estimate about 40-50 cal/mile of sustained, rigorous cycling. If you're climbing or riding into the wind, it's a bit more. A power meter is the best way to estimate effort. At some point I need to buy one.0
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The stars have finally aligned, and I started bike commuting this week. I biked on Tuesday and felt good as long as I kept eating and eating. Today (Wednesday) I drove, but am STILL ravenous. My hunger cues are screwy, so I'm not sure if this is exercise-induced hunger or hormonal (aka insatiable) hunger.
MapMyRide (retroactive mapping, not the app) seems to think that I burned 940ish calories in 73 minutes, but I question my ability to burn 770 calories per hour. With online calculators varying from 700-1400, what do people find is reasonably accurate?
MapMyRide is way off in their calculations. I'd say they overestimate by about 100% (meaning that you probably expend about half the calories MMR reports, maybe less).0 -
To the OP: just wanted to say yay! for biking to work. I hope you continue to do so. It's such a great way to get exercise. I don't know your stats or how fast you ride but those calories don't raise my eyebrows on first glance. I think it's partly because I burn mucho calories on my rides. If you're averaging 14mph or more, it's definitely probably along with the commute time. My conclusion: hunger pangs.0
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PingiePingPing wrote: »I started cycling last summer and still have a hard time believing in the calorie burn. The different apps and calculators will give me (female 5'4" 142lbs) between 800-1200 calories for my rides, which are usually 2-3 hours at 20km/h average of hilly terrain. Even 800 just seems insanely high for two hours of exercise...
Can't see why you'd think that was so out of line. 400 cal/hr in hilly terrain strikes me as somewhat low, if anything, especially once you knock off your RMR.0 -
Avg Power: 167 W
Normalized Power (NP): 178 W
Distance: 22.68 km
Time: 46:01
Avg Speed: 29.6 km/h
Elevation Gain: 126 m
Calories: 369 C
Avg Temperature: 11.2 °C
From this morning. That's 20 mph, in the foothills and wind. You burn a lot less on the bike than you think. It's not fair but it is what it is. I wish there were power meters for running and swimming.
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Avg Power: 167 W
Normalized Power (NP): 178 W
Distance: 22.68 km
Time: 46:01
Avg Speed: 29.6 km/h
Elevation Gain: 126 m
Calories: 369 C
Avg Temperature: 11.2 °C
From this morning. That's 20 mph, in the foothills and wind. You burn a lot less on the bike than you think. It's not fair but it is what it is. I wish there were power meters for running and swimming.
That seems wrong, actually. With a variability index of 1.06 and avg power at 167 that *should* be an approx 450 calorie effort. Do you have the data that shows kilojoules expended? (That should come right from the power data)0 -
So I accept that my HRM is overestimating, but pedal meter base their results on the assumption humans are "25% efficient when cycling." I would think an experienced cyclist would be much more efficient than a novice.
Also, I assume the pedal meters are strain gauges. From my lab experience, these get out of calibration very easily if knocked. Perhaps the pedals are a different type or less prone to shock but i'd be surprised.
OP: I eat back half of what my HRM (Endomondo) measures and bank the rest to possibly use later. I've been averaging a little less of 2lbs/week loss so my diet and exercise measurements seem to be dialed in.0 -
Generally I find if I am riding at easy endurance pace I get about 100 cal for 10 minutes (600/hr).
We can figure it out almost exactly if we use power values: an average of 166 watts for an hour will net you just about exactly 600 calories burned.
Turns out by some odd trick humans are about 25% efficient when cycling (meaning 25% of the calories you burn end up as power to the pedals). It also happens that there are about 4 kilojoules per kilocalorie (its actually 4.18 but close enough).
Watts are joules/second so if we know how many watts we are riding (need a power meter for this), we can be fairly close in our calorie burn estimation.
For example - lets say we rode at 166 watts for an hour. That might be tough for a newbie cyclist but for me that is a stroll down a nice trail. (166 watts * 3600 seconds)/1000 = 600 Kilojoules
(the divide by 1000 is to go from joules to kilojoules).
Since we happen to be 25 % efficient and there are 4ish KJ per KCal, it is a 1 to 1 conversion to calories. Therefore 600 kilojoules expended into the pedals is almost exactly 600 kilocalories burned by the body overall
That is the best explanation i have ever read Nice write up
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chadboyer64 wrote: »So I accept that my HRM is overestimating, but pedal meter base their results on the assumption humans are "25% efficient when cycling." I would think an experienced cyclist would be much more efficient than a novice.
Also, I assume the pedal meters are strain gauges. From my lab experience, these get out of calibration very easily if knocked. Perhaps the pedals are a different type or less prone to shock but i'd be surprised.
OP: I eat back half of what my HRM (Endomondo) measures and bank the rest to possibly use later. I've been averaging a little less of 2lbs/week loss so my diet and exercise measurements seem to be dialed in.
The difference is actually minimal. Untrained cyclists have been measured at 24% and the most well-trained Tour-level riders only measure at 27%.
The meters are not necessarily in the pedals but yes they are strain gauges. I have one on each bike, one is in the crank spider itself (Quarq) and the other bike has it in the rear wheel hub (Powertap). Both are demonstrated in lab settings to not drift out of calibration much at all (and if they do they are defective)0 -
Avg Power: 167 W
Normalized Power (NP): 178 W
Distance: 22.68 km
Time: 46:01
Avg Speed: 29.6 km/h
Elevation Gain: 126 m
Calories: 369 C
Avg Temperature: 11.2 °C
From this morning. That's 20 mph, in the foothills and wind. You burn a lot less on the bike than you think. It's not fair but it is what it is. I wish there were power meters for running and swimming.
That seems wrong, actually. With a variability index of 1.06 and avg power at 167 that *should* be an approx 450 calorie effort. Do you have the data that shows kilojoules expended? (That should come right from the power data)
Just what garmin connect is pulling from the upload. Not using cheetah or anything:
Avg Power: 167 W
Max Power: 478 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 170 W
Normalized Power (NP): 178 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.892
Training Stress Score (TSS): 54.5
Work: 416 kJ
Here's another one from Saturday - seems a touch low in my mind as well considering the effort but still better than my old 25 cals/km ballpark.
Distance: 85.72 km
Avg Speed: 28.4 km/h
Elevation Gain: 845 m
Calories: 1,216 C
Moving Time: 2:59:58
Max Speed: 57.2 km/h
Elevation Gain: 845 m
Elevation Loss: 844 m
Avg Power: 162 W
Max Power: 649 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 199 W
Normalized Power (NP): 181 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.902
Training Stress Score (TSS): 221.9
Work: 1,597 kJ
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Calories: 1,216 C
Work: 1,597 kJ
I am curious why it is calculating 1597 kj for that ride (which is spot on what I would predict based on the avg and NP), but then says 1216 calories. Perhaps it is calculating it off heart rate instead of power, but your cycle computer should NOT be doing that if it has power available. Your cycle computer should be simply taking that KJ value and calling it calories (KJ expended and calories burned are close enough to the same that they just take one for the other)
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Calories: 1,216 C
Work: 1,597 kJ
I am curious why it is calculating 1597 kj for that ride (which is spot on what I would predict based on the avg and NP), but then says 1216 calories. Perhaps it is calculating it off heart rate instead of power, but your cycle computer should NOT be doing that if it has power available. Your cycle computer should be simply taking that KJ value and calling it calories (KJ expended and calories burned are close enough to the same that they just take one for the other)
Just to ditto the curiousity. Especially as converting the kJ number to calories produces a result that actually looks pretty reasonable.
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Calories: 1,216 C
Work: 1,597 kJ
I am curious why it is calculating 1597 kj for that ride (which is spot on what I would predict based on the avg and NP), but then says 1216 calories. Perhaps it is calculating it off heart rate instead of power, but your cycle computer should NOT be doing that if it has power available. Your cycle computer should be simply taking that KJ value and calling it calories (KJ expended and calories burned are close enough to the same that they just take one for the other)
I have been wearing my HR strap (for myfitnesspal more than anything) but as you know with lack of hard sweating it's sporadic. I just assumed the work/cals would have been PM only.
This morning's commute:
Avg HR: 123 bpm (probably)
Max HR: 182 bpm (no)
The saturday 3 hr easy ride one:
My max hr is somewhere around 175 (and I do wet my strap before going). I was not doing any crazy intervals.
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I wore my HRM for the first time on a fairly tough ride on Saturday (62 miles, 2500+ ft, 19+ mph winds) and averaged close to 16 mph. HRM said only 1311 calories, which seemed very low for the conditions.0
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Hard to know for certain without a power meter, but I noticed at least Garmin's algorithm seems to be a little low when using the HRM for calorie estimation0
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I have a mini portable pedal cycle and although I can keep a good pace for at least an hour, my heart rate only goes up to about 110-120. I know its better than nothing and I can do it while watching TV and such so I only count 1 calorie a minute and don't eat them back. Some days I can pedal 3-4 hours.. But I still don't feel like it does more than fidgeting.0
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I estimate 400 calories per hour. That seems to be about right given my weight loss.
To be more specific ... I estimate 100 cal for every 5 km.
Generally speaking, I ride somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 km/h, but if I ride slower or faster, the 100 cal/5 km calculation still works.
Therefore, if I do a 41 km ride, like I did last Sunday ... 41/5 = 8.2 * 100 = 820 cal. I'm not sure how long the ride took me ... at least a couple hours.
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I also commute to work by bike April to November. My ride is short enough that time is almost equal to transit and long enough that I get 500 - 600 extra calories to play with a day. I also ride longer distances on the weekend. I generally find MFP really over estimates the calories burned compared to what my HRM tells me. MFP is closest in the spring when I'm out of shape and in the fall when it is colder and windier.
My ride to work is 11 km with a 92 m elevation gain. Home is the exact reverse. Weight has also varied between 190 lbs and 220 lbs. It has taken me anywhere from 28 minutes (home) to 45 min (to work) mostly depending on wind and traffic lights. Wind is the big variable. I've logged between 225 cal (August, tailwind and green lights) and 400 cal (April, headwind and pain :-) ).
Since I've found time dependent on external factors, I like to challenge myself with HR, particularly average HR.
I've also found that for the longer rides (plus 3 hrs), there is a limit to calories I eat back. I never log more than 1500 cal per ride.0 -
Hard to know for certain without a power meter, but I noticed at least Garmin's algorithm seems to be a little low when using the HRM for calorie estimation
More Garmin wackiness - didn't wear the HRM but same bike/route/powertap:
Distance: 17.04 km
Time: 36:26
Avg Speed: 28.1 km/h
Elevation Gain: 103 m
Calories: 569 C
Avg Temperature: 12.1 °C
Avg Power: 158 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 172 W
Normalized Power (NP): 175 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.876
Training Stress Score (TSS): 41.7
Work: 314 kJ
WTH - what other metric could they be looking at?
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