Calories burned in a Century (or why ou can ride 100 miles and not loose weight)
11-27-15, 06:35 PM
#126
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Just finished my solo unicycle century on thanksgiving day, 2015. It's my 8th 100-or-more mile rides in a day since 2010. Total ride time for this one, including breaks was 10:25. 36" wheel, fixed, 110mm cranks, 56,400 revolutions, mostly flat, with variable head winds during last half. Conservative estimate of calories burned: 5,000.
Last edited by UniGeezer; 11-28-15 at 01:15 PM.
11-28-15, 05:44 AM
#127
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Every formula I've ever seen seems to indicate that someone my weight (185 lbs) will burn between 10-15 cal/min. depending on terrain and speed. I think if you do the math it's pretty close to your numbers.
11-29-15, 08:47 AM
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11-29-15, 08:53 AM
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11-29-15, 08:56 AM
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11-29-15, 09:08 AM
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Last edited by BillyD; 11-29-15 at 09:12 AM.
11-29-15, 10:03 AM
#133
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It's still optimistic for many casual riders.
The reasonably well-fed human body has approx. 2000 calories in storage waiting for moments like these.
At 4086 Calories per pound (it's stored with water, so you don't need to burn that much to loose a pound of weight) fat is effectively unlimited.
While the human body has about 500 grams (2000 Calories) of glycogen stored - 100 in the liver, and 400 in the muscles totaling there's no mechanism to move it between different muscle fibers. The 40-45% in the upper body is completely inaccessible, and at an endurance pace you can't recruit your type iix (formerly iib) muscle fibers. Maybe 300g is usable for 1200 Calories total.
With good training at an endurance pace you can get 60-80% of your energy from fat stores.
Rob Gray's wattage list post shows 81% to 64% fat utilization moving from the bottom of Z2 to top:
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: #3C78D8"]
%FTP
[/TD][TD="bgcolor: #3C78D8"]
Watts
[/TD][TD="bgcolor: #3C78D8"]
HR
[/TD][TD="bgcolor: #3C78D8"]
Total kcal/hr
[/TD][TD="bgcolor: #3C78D8"]
Fat kcal / hr
[/TD][TD="bgcolor: #3C78D8"]
Carb kcal / hr
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
45%
[/TD][TD]
131
[/TD][TD]
99
[/TD][TD]
607
[/TD][TD]
473
[/TD][TD]
133
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
50%
[/TD][TD]
146
[/TD][TD]
101
[/TD][TD]
616
[/TD][TD]
466
[/TD][TD]
150
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
55%
[/TD][TD]
161
[/TD][TD]
105
[/TD][TD]
673
[/TD][TD]
548
[/TD][TD]
125
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
65%
[/TD][TD]
190
[/TD][TD]
114
[/TD][TD]
759
[/TD][TD]
563
[/TD][TD]
196
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
70%
[/TD][TD]
204
[/TD][TD]
119
[/TD][TD]
823
[/TD][TD]
539
[/TD][TD]
284
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
75%
[/TD][TD]
219
[/TD][TD]
127
[/TD][TD]
877
[/TD][TD]
561
[/TD][TD]
316
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
80%
[/TD][TD]
234
[/TD][TD]
129
[/TD][TD]
906
[/TD][TD]
554
[/TD][TD]
351
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
85%
[/TD][TD]
248
[/TD][TD]
133
[/TD][TD]
950
[/TD][TD]
535
[/TD][TD]
415
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
90%
[/TD][TD]
263
[/TD][TD]
136
[/TD][TD]
963
[/TD][TD]
483
[/TD][TD]
480
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
100%
[/TD][TD]
292
[/TD][TD]
141
[/TD][TD]
1,080
[/TD][TD]
480
[/TD][TD]
600
[/TD][/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
105%
[/TD][TD]
307
[/TD][TD]
147
[/TD][TD]
1,152
[/TD][TD]
328
[/TD][TD]
824
[/TD][/TR]
[/TABLE]
so at a 30 Calories/mile endurance pace only 6-12 are coming from carbs allowing 100-200 miles.
I usually eat something every four hours regardless of what I'm doing (working at my desk, lying in bed watching movies with my wife...) and haven't tried that, although normally I don't need food on rides under four hours.
Carlos Sastre reportedly takes one energy bar with him on five hour training rides, but only plans to eat half.
Last edited by Drew Eckhardt; 11-29-15 at 11:13 AM.
11-29-15, 11:03 AM
#134
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Eh, for all of the riding I do, I've found what and how much I eat has everything to do w/ my weight. When I first started riding I was consistently in the low 170's, if I did a lot of riding in the summer I would get into the 160's. Then I did one of those biggest loser contests at work and got myself into the 150's. Stayed between 150 and 160 for the past several years, occasionally dipping below 150 over the summer. The past few years it was a struggle to get below 155. My eating habits sucked-- too many chips, too many m&m's when snacking between meals.
This year, I cut that stuff out. We only keep "healthier" chips in the house, but if I do eat any, I'll have 1 or 2 and that's it. The rest of the time I eat whole grain foods, fruits and veggies in between meals. I've been between 146-148 for months now and over Thanksgiving weekend, when I thought I'd gain a few pounds I actually dropped below 145.
I don't miss all of the crappy food either, feel much better and going up hills has never been easier. It's also a lot less wear and tear on my 12 lb bike!
STOP EATING CRAP and control your portions, the rest of it takes care of itself.
This year, I cut that stuff out. We only keep "healthier" chips in the house, but if I do eat any, I'll have 1 or 2 and that's it. The rest of the time I eat whole grain foods, fruits and veggies in between meals. I've been between 146-148 for months now and over Thanksgiving weekend, when I thought I'd gain a few pounds I actually dropped below 145.
I don't miss all of the crappy food either, feel much better and going up hills has never been easier. It's also a lot less wear and tear on my 12 lb bike!
STOP EATING CRAP and control your portions, the rest of it takes care of itself.
11-29-15, 04:02 PM
#135
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I'd say it's fair play when the guy that resurrects a zombie thread just did a century on a unicycle.
My take on all this is that I've ridden 175 miles in the last 4 days with 6,000 feet of climbing, and I still gained weight because it's Thanksgiving break. I've eaten non-stop and had too many beers, but who cares. Riding a lot just helps me gain a lot less weight than I would being sedentary, so when my weight starts to matter again like during race season I'll start to care about limiting portions and removing the beer/chips.
My take on all this is that I've ridden 175 miles in the last 4 days with 6,000 feet of climbing, and I still gained weight because it's Thanksgiving break. I've eaten non-stop and had too many beers, but who cares. Riding a lot just helps me gain a lot less weight than I would being sedentary, so when my weight starts to matter again like during race season I'll start to care about limiting portions and removing the beer/chips.
