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lalalacroix
Posts: 834 Member
I hike 2-3 times per week. My mileage usually varies between 3-8 miles. I hike in the Colorado Rockies and the grade can really vary. Elevation is anywhere between 8,000 - 13,000 ft usually, although I believe additional burn due to elevation is pretty negligible. My pack also varies between under 5 pounds up to about 15.
Between the MFP calorie estimator and several others, the calorie estimates vary widely. For example, my Sunday hike was 5.7 miles with a 10% grade. I'm getting calorie burn estimates from about 1,000 - 4,000 calories.
When I go on short runs, use the treadmill or elliptical, or lift I don't usually care as much about the estimate because it's usually a couple hundred calories at the most. However since most likely I am burning at least a couple thousand calories each week, I'd like to find a way to get the very best estimate I can. Not only am I concerned about overeating estimated exercise calories, I also want to make sure I'm eating enough calories to continue fueling myself well as some of the hikes are very strenuous. It may be important to state that I am working on weight loss and carefully track my calories.
I'd appreciate any guidance as to finding the closest estimates possible. Ty.
Between the MFP calorie estimator and several others, the calorie estimates vary widely. For example, my Sunday hike was 5.7 miles with a 10% grade. I'm getting calorie burn estimates from about 1,000 - 4,000 calories.
When I go on short runs, use the treadmill or elliptical, or lift I don't usually care as much about the estimate because it's usually a couple hundred calories at the most. However since most likely I am burning at least a couple thousand calories each week, I'd like to find a way to get the very best estimate I can. Not only am I concerned about overeating estimated exercise calories, I also want to make sure I'm eating enough calories to continue fueling myself well as some of the hikes are very strenuous. It may be important to state that I am working on weight loss and carefully track my calories.
I'd appreciate any guidance as to finding the closest estimates possible. Ty.
1
Replies
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Do you use a heart rate monitor? That’s always the most accurate. Use that instead of MFP’s calculator. Polar makes an excellent HRM.
Oh how jealous I am that you get to hike in the Rockies a few times per week!2 -
lalalacroix wrote: »I hike 2-3 times per week. My mileage usually varies between 3-8 miles. I hike in the Colorado Rockies and the grade can really vary. Elevation is anywhere between 8,000 - 13,000 ft usually, although I believe additional burn due to elevation is pretty negligible. My pack also varies between under 5 pounds up to about 15.
Between the MFP calorie estimator and several others, the calorie estimates vary widely. For example, my Sunday hike was 5.7 miles with a 10% grade. I'm getting calorie burn estimates from about 1,000 - 4,000 calories.
When I go on short runs, use the treadmill or elliptical, or lift I don't usually care as much about the estimate because it's usually a couple hundred calories at the most. However since most likely I am burning at least a couple thousand calories each week, I'd like to find a way to get the very best estimate I can. Not only am I concerned about overeating estimated exercise calories, I also want to make sure I'm eating enough calories to continue fueling myself well as some of the hikes are very strenuous. It may be important to state that I am working on weight loss and carefully track my calories.
I'd appreciate any guidance as to finding the closest estimates possible. Ty.
not sure if considered super accurate (MFP is notoriously not), but AllTrails also calculates calories. There is a hiking group - would be nice to see your pics0 -
Do you use a heart rate monitor? That’s always the most accurate. Use that instead of MFP’s calculator. Polar makes an excellent HRM.
Oh how jealous I am that you get to hike in the Rockies a few times per week!
Thanks for responding. I do have a heart rate monitor, no clue where I've put it though. I guess I didn't realize that this could give me an accurate-ish calorie count.
Yeah I'm really grateful all the time. It's actually well planned because life has taken me out of Colorado 4 times and I just keep moving back.0 -
orangegato wrote: »lalalacroix wrote: »I hike 2-3 times per week. My mileage usually varies between 3-8 miles. I hike in the Colorado Rockies and the grade can really vary. Elevation is anywhere between 8,000 - 13,000 ft usually, although I believe additional burn due to elevation is pretty negligible. My pack also varies between under 5 pounds up to about 15.
Between the MFP calorie estimator and several others, the calorie estimates vary widely. For example, my Sunday hike was 5.7 miles with a 10% grade. I'm getting calorie burn estimates from about 1,000 - 4,000 calories.
When I go on short runs, use the treadmill or elliptical, or lift I don't usually care as much about the estimate because it's usually a couple hundred calories at the most. However since most likely I am burning at least a couple thousand calories each week, I'd like to find a way to get the very best estimate I can. Not only am I concerned about overeating estimated exercise calories, I also want to make sure I'm eating enough calories to continue fueling myself well as some of the hikes are very strenuous. It may be important to state that I am working on weight loss and carefully track my calories.
I'd appreciate any guidance as to finding the closest estimates possible. Ty.
not sure if considered super accurate (MFP is notoriously not), but AllTrails also calculates calories. There is a hiking group - would be nice to see your pics
Yeah I actually use this app. I should upload photos there. The calorie count from AllTrails is less than MFP, so a bit more believable.0 -
This one was recommended to me by a few avid Cascades hikers.
http://hikingscience.blogspot.com/p/calculate-calories-burned_22.html?m=11 -
I've been wondering for a while if the extra calorie usage of hiking uphill would be cancelled out by hiking downhill again. On the other hand, downhill can be hard on the knees and requires quite a lot of leg action as well. But more than walking on a level surface?0
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Do you use a heart rate monitor? That’s always the most accurate. Use that instead of MFP’s calculator. Polar makes an excellent HRM.
Oh how jealous I am that you get to hike in the Rockies a few times per week!
The bold isn't remotely true unfortunately. HR can be a dreadful way to estimate calories for many activities and a poor second choice for others.
It can also be a poor choice for all exercises for some people who are outliers in terms of exercise HR.2 -
NorthCascades wrote: »This one was recommended to me by a few avid Cascades hikers.
http://hikingscience.blogspot.com/p/calculate-calories-burned_22.html?m=1
Checked it out. Plugged in my numbers from a couple of hikes and this calculator does come in lower than most others, but that doesn't mean it isn't most accurate. I really like that it gives me uphill and downhill numbers.0 -
Do you use a heart rate monitor? That’s always the most accurate. Use that instead of MFP’s calculator. Polar makes an excellent HRM.
Oh how jealous I am that you get to hike in the Rockies a few times per week!
The bold isn't remotely true unfortunately. HR can be a dreadful way to estimate calories for many activities and a poor second choice for others.
It can also be a poor choice for all exercises for some people who are outliers in terms of exercise HR.
I appreciate you reminding me of this. I think this may be why I stopped wearing it. Would be interesting to compare the burn from the watch to the online calculators.1 -
I've been wondering for a while if the extra calorie usage of hiking uphill would be cancelled out by hiking downhill again. On the other hand, downhill can be hard on the knees and requires quite a lot of leg action as well. But more than walking on a level surface?
Downhill hiking can be very strenuous, at least many of the places that I hike can be. Depending on the grade I may be constantly trying not to fall, be blown over by very strong winds, sliding due to mud or ice, or stepping down from tall rocks. At 50 my knees are often sore. It's a nice break when I get a soft downhill with a low grade.1 -
I think endurance athletes fuel about 200 calories per hour beyond 2 hours. That could be a reasonable proxy to a hard hike.0
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It's a crapshoot.
The generally accepted formula for basic walking is, I think, .35 * BW * miles walked.
The generally accepted formula for running is, I think, .65 * BW * miles run.
For hiking, I just take the average of the 2. I figure light hiking with no significant pack or elevation is closer to the walking number... with a full pack and significant elevation, it's probably closer to the running number.
I guess if you know your pack weight, you could do something like (.35 * (BW + pack weight) * miles hiked)) * 1.25
The 1.25 at the end is a simple way to factor in difficulty of the hike over walking. Increase it if it's a very strenuous hike/grade, decrease it if it's more leisurely. Unfortunately, it's also very subjective... and subjective measures rarely improve accuracy.1 -
Thanks for all the responses. I'm believing that it is a crapshoot. My best answer is to probably pick one calculator, stick with it for several weeks, watch my loss and then adjust.0
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lalalacroix wrote: »Thanks for all the responses. I'm believing that it is a crapshoot. My best answer is to probably pick one calculator, stick with it for several weeks, watch my loss and then adjust.
That's almost always the best way to improve accuracy over time. Given that all of this is just a series of estimates, only our own data and results can really guide us towards what is "right".0 -
lalalacroix wrote: »Thanks for all the responses. I'm believing that it is a crapshoot. My best answer is to probably pick one calculator, stick with it for several weeks, watch my loss and then adjust.
That's almost always the best way to improve accuracy over time. Given that all of this is just a series of estimates, only our own data and results can really guide us towards what is "right".
Yeah very true. I was just really really hoping to narrow it down a bit more since some of my hikes are around 6 hours long. Oh well.0 -
I've been wondering for a while if the extra calorie usage of hiking uphill would be cancelled out by hiking downhill again. On the other hand, downhill can be hard on the knees and requires quite a lot of leg action as well. But more than walking on a level surface?
It definitely takes a lot longer to go up and then down than it takes to cover the same distance on flat ground.1
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