Calorie Counter/calculator

[Lizban]

Does anyone know of a good calorie calculator that is reasonably accurate for working how much you've burnt on your bike?

 

[Dan B]

Ballpark: 40 calories per mile

Accurate-ish: measure your heart rate over the course of exercise and calculate an average, then energy expenditure is given by


EE = -59.3954 + gender x (-36.3781 + 0.271 x age + 0.394 x weight + 0.404
V[O.sub.2max] + 0.634x heart rate) + (1 - gender) x (0.274 x age + 0.103x weight
+ 0.380x V[O.sub.2max] + 0.450 x heart rate)

(where gender = 1 for males and 0 for females) or if you don't know your VO2max,


EE = gender x (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x heart rate + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age)
+ (1 - gender) x (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x heartrate - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age)


The formulae are taken from

Prediction of energy expenditure from heart rate monitoring during submaximal
exercise.
Publication: Journal of Sports Sciences
Publication Date: 01-MAR-05
Author: Keytel, L.R. ; Goedecke, J.H. ; Noakes, T.D. ; Hiiloskorpi, H. ; Laukkanen, R. ;
van der Merwe, L. ; Lambert, E.V.

which AIUI is the basis for most of the calorie calculators in heart rate monitors, web sites, etc. It's available on the net somewhere, but I forgot to bookmark it after downloading. Note that

During moderate physical activity, there is a linear relationship between heart
rate and oxygen consumption. This heart rate--oxygen consumption relationship
is subject to both intra- and inter-individual variability. Heart rate may be partially
dissociated from energy expenditure by factors such as emotion, posture and
environmental conditions (Hebestreit & Bar-Or, 1998). The relationship between
heart rate and energy expenditure is linear only within a relatively narrow range
of approximately 90-150 beats x [min.sup.-1] (the so-called "flex heart rate")

so you won't get a good figure out of it if you're supine nor yet if you're redlining it

 

[Lizban]

Thanks, I think I will stick with the 40 amile!

Cheers

 

[surfdude]

a good set of scales every week

 

[Over The Hill]

a good set of scales every week

Nooooooo

Fat off and muscle on = a gain in weight sometimes.




I had heard 500 calories an hour. A fattie on a bad bike will burn a lot more per mile than a light person on a good bike so a per hour figure is probably more reliable.

I am not keen on counting calories. Better to know what foods have more in them and avoid those foods.

 

[surfdude]

alright how about a tall mirror

 

[Dan B]

I am not keen on counting calories. Better to know what foods have more in them and avoid those foods.

That's fine if it works for you but I'd rather not give up eating flapjack

 

[ColinJ]

I've done enough centuries and 200 km audax rides now to know that I burn about a pound of fat per 100 miles. I weigh myself before the ride, then every day for several days afterwards. I might lose 6 or 7 pounds on the day of the ride but that is mainly fluid losses. Once I'm fully rehydrated and my glycogen stores are stocked up, I typically see that 1 pound per 100 miles.

I'm quite a big man, say 15 stone (it varies!). Obviously a bigger person would use more energy to ride a certain distance, and a smaller person would use less.

1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories, so I reckon on roughly 35 calories a mile which means that for me, Dan B's ballpark figure is pretty close!

 

[Bayerd]

Where's jimbo when you need him?

Just what I was thinking. I guess he got sick of the MumboJimbo tag.....

 

[Bodhbh]

I don't know the answer, but obviously hills, road vs off-road, and bike (MTB with knobblies vs road) all have an effect. I've always assumed 50kcals per mile on the road - and it's been not far out from predicting weight loss over long periods of time - but none of my bikes are remotely fast/light.

I used to do a run everyday after work and switched from a 20 mile road route on a hybrid to a 20mile off-road route on the MTB. My appetite went thru the roof, I think the difference in conditions is not so trival.

 

[Broadside]

I had been wondering what happened to Jimbo and the chart! Has anyone heard from him?

 

[Dan B]

EE = -59.3954 + gender x (-36.3781 + 0.271 x age + 0.394 x weight + 0.404
V[O.sub.2max] + 0.634x heart rate) + (1 - gender) x (0.274 x age + 0.103x weight
+ 0.380x V[O.sub.2max] + 0.450 x heart rate)

(where gender = 1 for males and 0 for females) or if you don't know your VO2max,


EE = gender x (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x heart rate + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age)
+ (1 - gender) x (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x heartrate - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age)

I should have tried this before I posted it, then I would have noticed that there is no 'time' input. Anyway, the results seem to be in in joules/minute, so multiply by 60/4.184 to get calories per hour

 

[thomas]

Get endonmondo for smart phone.it tracks everything, including cals burnt.

 

[Dan B]

Get endonmondo for smart phone.it tracks everything, including cals burnt.

How does it know?

 

[BinBag]

Does anyone know of a good calorie calculator that is reasonably accurate for working how much you've burnt on your bike?

Not sure about the first reply - but I calculate mine by this formula (just paste into Excel)

=(A+B)*0.0138*(X*24*60)*10^(0.0405*Z)

A = your weight in lbs
B = your bike weight
X = time in minutes on the saddle
Z = average speed

Looks pretty accurate to me each time!