We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Hiking calories?

heatherlewisis
heatherlewisis Posts: 118 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!
I have a question about how to enter in a hike to log it in my diary... I went on a 4 mile, 2 hour hike this morning... 2 miles uphill, pretty tough... Obviously going down was much easier and faster... I don't use a Fitbit or any other device like that so I don't actually know how many calories I burned... When I entered in 100 minutes (to account for some stops along the way I took off some time) of "cross country hiking" it calculated over 800 calories (doesn't seem likely), and my runkeeper app estimated 569 calories... How do I log this?

Replies

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    I always log it as walking brisk paced.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    If you go to the exercise tab and select the database, there are a few hiking selections in the dropdown on the right. Put your weight and the number of minutes, and it will calculate the calories for you.
  • heatherlewisis
    heatherlewisis Posts: 118 Member
    There is no option for putting in my weight. My settings should already be taking my weight into account when it calculates calories, right?
  • Becca_250
    Becca_250 Posts: 188 Member
    I would put it in as brisk walk
  • ammo7
    ammo7 Posts: 188 Member
    Hi there, I hope you enjoyed your hike :)

    'Hiking', in contrast to just 'walking', usually involves quite a bit of elevation change and possibly carrying a heavy pack. I've found this online calculator to be helpful in taking those factors into account to give an estimate of calories burnt:
    http://hikingscience.blogspot.com/p/calculate-calories-burned_22.html

    For a 4 mile hike, it may not be a big deal to just think of it as walking. If you end up burning some more calories than you expected, then you could think of that as a bonus towards your weight-loss. If you were going on a considerably longer trip, then it would probably be worth making sure that you are adequately fueling your body.

    I would be interested in any other sources that people have for estimating calories burned from hiking.
  • heatherlewisis
    heatherlewisis Posts: 118 Member
    Thank you! It was a beautiful hike, thank you! I changed the log to brisk walk and it came up with about 520 calories which I guess is more reasonable... I figure the same- any extra will be a nice bonus!
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    heatherlewisis wrote: »
    There is no option for putting in my weight. My settings should already be taking my weight into account when it calculates calories, right?

    Yes. It should.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    heatherlewisis wrote: »
    There is no option for putting in my weight. My settings should already be taking my weight into account when it calculates calories, right?

    When you're online, got to exercise then hit the database option. There on the right you can enter you weight, minutes, and type of exercise. I don't know if it's available on the phones or tablets, though.

    That said, I just did a calculation for my elliptical trainer this morning, and it estimated about 100 calories more than my heart rate monitor and 100 calories less than the machine. It's not real accurate, so be sure to take some of those calories off.
    heatherlewisis wrote: »
    Hi!
    I have a question about how to enter in a hike to log it in my diary... I went on a 4 mile, 2 hour hike this morning... 2 miles uphill, pretty tough... Obviously going down was much easier and faster... I don't use a Fitbit or any other device like that so I don't actually know how many calories I burned... When I entered in 100 minutes (to account for some stops along the way I took off some time) of "cross country hiking" it calculated over 800 calories (doesn't seem likely), and my runkeeper app estimated 569 calories... How do I log this?

    I would calculate for a brisk walk and take off about 25% and log that number.

  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    I did this yesterday and consider it a hike because it is hilly...

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/890405172

    Not sure what classifies a hike as a hike, but that is the activity I used on my Garmin fenix 3 to track it.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    This content has been removed.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories