ThrottleJock

So I just got this new HRM that estimates calories burned, my rickety ass old one didn't do that. It seems like the numbers are high.

I'm 31, 192lbs, mostly muscle (ex-dual-slalom sprint junkie who's spent some time in the gym) on a fixed gear on dead flat South Florida terrain. I did a ride the other day, 2:06 on the bike and I burned 2918 calories. That was probably a 45mile ride, nice and easy with only one hard pull to see if I could peg my max HR (not quite, got to 198) but I was extremely hungover and dragging ass so that must count for something. Maybe the monitor can sense that.

Rode again yesterday, 52min on the bike doing intervals in the pouring rain and 15mph headwind in one direction around a 1 mile loop, 175rpm sprint for about 15 seconds at 192bpm, then the rest of the loop (probably 2-3 min) against the wind, sitting up and cruising to recover and I STILL burned 1106 calories. In 52 minutes! Is that even possible? My average heart rate on both of those rides was 161bpm, I guess that's my comfort zone.

The thing is, I'm not even riding hard. I'd rate the effort at a 6 for the first ride and a 7 for yesterday's ride on a scale of 10, 10 being hardest. Definitely not race pace, barely entering a pain or real lactic threshold for more than a few seconds, I was even half-assing the intervals. I think it's great and I'm guessing that because of my size I burn the calories as fast as I honk them down. Or something. The 40 calories/hr thing is way low for me on average. I don't know, maybe I'll just be happy about it.

Are any of you guys burning 1000+ calories/hr at training pace or is this thing broken?

BCgoFHS

Yeah definitely too much. From my experience you burn between 30-40 Calories per mile. To burn 40 you need to really push it.

SSP

1000+ calories per hour??? No damned way...your HRM is giving you bogus numbers. Divide by 2, or use the 35-40 cal/mile rule of thumb.

NomadVW 

So, 22 mph for two hours... 1000 calories per hour might not be unrealistic, but nearly 1500 calories per hour is obscene.

Yes, when I am doing low end threshold training I regularly burn 1000-1100 calories per hour - measured on a power meter. I might average on the flats 40-41 kph on a typical day. 1000 calories per hour is around 290-295 watts of output. My 20 minute intervals burn at a rate of 1260 calories per hour, but I'm only doing those 20 minutes at a time, and those are @ 350 watts.

@ 192 lbs that might not be unrealistic for you, but 1500 calories per hour would be quite a bit higher and is completely unrealistic if you're not a world class cyclist @ your weight (especially for 2 hours of riding) It would be closer to 410-420 watts for two hours.

Leisesturm

This is the danger of such enhanced functions on HRM's and bike computers, you want to believe they are as accurate as the standard functions. IMO the computers should stick to measuring things that can be measured objectively (speed, distance, time, HR). No doubt a pamphlet accompanied the device with detailed instructions for programming in your stats for calorie calculations. Assuming said programming was done as per instructions results that don't match the larger body of experience have to be attributed to the difficulty of measuring a parameter like calorie consumption with any degree of accuracy.

H

ThrottleJock

Yeah I programmed it according to the pamphlet, went out and determined my max HR, monitor my resting HR, all that crap.

The only thing I can figure is that I'm on a fixed gear with bullhorns, and I'm broad. I.E. aerodynamically I'm a sail, and I never stop pedalling (fixie). Still seems high.

Last night I did a ride again in a 5mph wind, 42 minutes on the bike, 166bpm average with one 3min pull where I kept it above 192bpm, and another pull behind a bus for 5min at mega-leg speed. Calories burned was 987.

Oh well, it doesn't matter much. I'm getting leaner and feeling MUCH stronger on the bike, and those are my goals. Calorie counting has never been my bag, I just thought it was a neat little feature.

Garfield Cat

Try this site:

https://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

Leisesturm

The computer doesn't (cannot) know that, and if it appears to you that somehow because of these additional sources of energy output the computer is giving you credit for extra calories expended then you are mislead. You say you went out and 'calculated' your max HR. I thought max HR was simply 220BPM minus your age. You might also review how you obtained the rest of the crap (data) and help the computer by providing better variables for its computations. Then you will know that while not exact, bankable figures, at least you are in some kind of ballpark for record keeping.

H

ThrottleJock

Max HR calculation at 220 minus my age has it at 189, but I regularly ride for minutes at a time above 190 and the max I've seen recently is 198, achieved at a 9/10ths effort sprint. I'm pretty sure I can hit 200 if I really rip it, but 198 is a good working number for now. The fixed gear/bullhorn thing would cause me to expend greater energy than if I were on a geared bike with drops and riding in an aerodynamic fashion, that's the only reason I bring it up. The HRM wouldn't know, but my body sure would.

I'm not overly concerned with the HRM anyway. I've always been relatively traditional in my "training" methods and was able to compete at the pro/elite level for years without ever using one. I'm old and decrepit now from various amateur motorcycle racing injuries and racing at an elite level on bicyles or motorcycles is no longer my goal, keeping the beer gut to a reasonable size and girth is. This thing's a fun little toy to occupy me while I spin away the miles.

I was just checking to see if these numbers are an anomoly, which obviously they are. Thanks guys!

ericgu

People like big numbers on their HR monitors.

Oh, and 220-age is meaningless. Being 10% above or below that isn't uncommon and all, and I've known people whose max was 20% above that.

Chaco

I weight 223, and the very most I've ever been able to burn was 1,200 calories an hour, with an average HR at around 85% of max for 45 minutes straight. At 192 lbs., you would probably have to be sprinting for the entire hour, a physical impossibility, in order to burn 1500 calories.