Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Calories burned

I'm working on some estimates of calories burned during my typical workouts, to balance my calories in and out a little more accurately.

For a body weight of 172 pounds (let's just use that for a number for now, without further comment) the tables tell me:

  • Run 12 min/mile: 626 cal/hr or 10.4 cal/min (5.5 hours per pound body weight lost)
  • Run 11 min/mile: 704 cal/hr or 11.7 cal/min (4.9 hours per pound body weight lost)
  • Run 10 min/mile: 783 cal/hr or 13.0 cal/min (4.4 hours per pound body weight lost)
  • Swim, hard effort: 783 cal/hr or 13.0 cal/min (4.4 hours per pound body weight lost)
  • Swim, moderate effort: 626 cal/hr or 10.4 cal/min (5.5 hours per pound body weight lost)
  • Bike 15 mph: 783 cal/hr or 13.0 cal/min (4.4 hours per pound body weight lost)
  • Bike 16+ mph: 939 cal/hr or 15.6 cal/min (3.7 hours per pound body weight lost)
Personally, I think those estimates for cycling are on the HIGH side - riding my bike doesn't seem like that much exertion, especially when you compare the heart rates of running vs. cycling. I suspect the tables were made up long ago, long before the advent of efficient, aerodynamic, light-weight tri-bikes.

And jeez, it's a whole lot easier to skip one Death By Chocolate dessert than swim or bike for 2 or 3 hours.

And the real kicker? The more weight you lose, the fewer calories you burn going at the same speed. But it's easier to go faster!!!

Update: After some consultation with friends, I think these estimates are significantly high for women. Figures, doesn't it!?

3 comments:

jbmmommy said...

There's always a kicker where weight loss is concerned, huh? Maybe you should get a heavy clunker bike for "weight loss" rides. Then your race bike would seem really light on serious workouts. Skipping the Death By Chocolate does sound easier, but not nearly as much fun. As for the hypothetical weight, we all gotta start somewhere, right?

Sara Cox Landolt said...

Hi there,
I was excited to find your blog today. My metabolism speeds up when I swim more. But, then my appetite goes up too.

Have you seen this calculator? Kindof fun. www.snipurl.com/agesexweightcalc

Sara

jeanne said...

love the label. i'm in the same food obsessing boat too. am seeing tri nutritionist in 2 weeks.

the more weight you lose, the less you need to lose!

so sick of this weight thing. grr.