Calories

andrew@snowrace

My Polar heart monitor is saying I used 4500 calories to do 60 miles in 4 &1/2 hours with a 600 assent dose that sound right?

ledburyloafer

depends on wether the peremtres are set right, age, weight, max hr and rest hr I can do fat burn on the turbo and do 1000 calories an hour.
But i've also had the benefit of a lab test so I know my data VO2 max etc so that helps as well, but all data is subjective.

ugo.santalucia

Data are very subjective, but your numbers seem excessive.

400-800 KCal per hour, depending on intensity/fitness and individual factors are the more likely

SBezza

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Data are very subjective, but your numbers seem excessive.

400-800 KCal per hour, depending on intensity/fitness and individual factors are the more likely

+1

My polar tells me I use about 1000KCal during a 1 hr cyclocross race, at 90%+ MHR, this will include base metabolism as well however.

ledburyloafer

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Data are very subjective, but your numbers seem excessive.

400-800 KCal per hour, depending on intensity/fitness and individual factors are the more likely

would agree with those figures, when I'm light,12 half stone, and my resting heart rate lower, I burn less than 800 cals doing exactly the same intensity exercise I first quoted, I've put on 2 stone recently, reset my perameters on the hr on my monitor and my calorie count is up to over a 1000 per hour, Its working on the basis that the heavier I am the harder I have to work to move the weight I guess? so would be good to know what the op's stats are?

nasahapley

SBezza wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Data are very subjective, but your numbers seem excessive.

400-800 KCal per hour, depending on intensity/fitness and individual factors are the more likely

+1

My polar tells me I use about 1000KCal during a 1 hr cyclocross race, at 90%+ MHR, this will include base metabolism as well however.

+2

I used to be a half-decent rower and in a hard hour long session on the ergo (totally spent afterwards), would knock out around 1200 calories. So 4500 calories in 4.5 hours is by no means impossible, but doing just over 13mph over a fairly flat route? Sounds like way too much to me.

andrew@snowrace

Hi just done 95 miles with 1200 metres climb (most in the last 5 miles) only used 2500 acording to the monitor I have been training quite hard since the first post and updating the fitness test on the monitor dose this sound plausible or am I reading thing wrongly.
Andy

ugo.santalucia

andrew@snowrace wrote:

Hi just done 95 miles with 1200 metres climb (most in the last 5 miles) only used 2500 acording to the monitor I have been training quite hard since the first post and updating the fitness test on the monitor dose this sound plausible or am I reading thing wrongly.
Andy

1200 mt of climbing in 95 miles is a fairly flat course, which you should be able to do in 6 hours or even less... so yes, all in all it does not sound too unrealistic...
Especially if you did it in a group, often well protected and dragged along by others... your heart rate responding accordingly

andrew@snowrace

no group but yes 6 hours riding time

bompington

Do any of these gadgets actually have a clue? I had a computer once that claimed to tell you how many calories you were using - that was obviously useless as it was only based on distance & time, so my commute used to use twice as many calories with the wind as against it: GPS & HRM based gadgets ought to be a lot more accurate, but how much more?
Has anyone done lab tests and compared them with what the gadgets say?

sagalout

2500 cals sounds a bit low to me - I'd reckon on 6-700 an hour, even on a flattish course if riding by yourslef, so at least 3500

Pokerface

I hate to be pedantic about all this - but you can't measure calories used with a HR monitor. You need a power meter to get an accurate reading.

But you can ESTIMATE calories used - and as others have said, in the range of 400-800 an hour is realistic.

I did a pretty hard ride over the weekend with lots of climbing and using a power meter - found out I only burned about 700 cals an hour, where my HR monitor would have told me 1000 an hour.

Normally I can knock out 60 miles in 3.5 hours which uses about 2500 calories. And that is riding quite hard.

You wouldn't burn more calories than that, even over a longer period of time because you'd be cycling at a lower intensity.