Accuracy of calories burned while biking

[Glory]

I don't know anything about the Garmin Edge but those numbers seem awfully low. I use a body bugg and granted I weigh a bit more than you but I burn roughly 500 calories on an hour ride and a much slower ride at that.

[marni]

I don't know anything about the Garmin Edge but those numbers seem awfully low. I use a body bugg and granted I weigh a bit more than you but I burn roughly 500 calories on an hour ride and a much slower ride at that.

I have a body bugg which is approximately accurate as long as I wear it on my ankle so the oscilator counter thingie actually works . I also wear a heart rate monitor from time to time

I think basically that it depends more on your level of fitness and the riding conditions (headwinds, hills, rough paving, stop and starts) than on anything else. I know that if I am doing a medium intensity, at at heart rate of 112- 115 bpm, (which is about 70% max for me) 15 mph ride in an average 10 mile head wind for about 1/2 of the ride distance, I will burn about 350 calories an hour.

If I push my speed to 17, get my heart rate up to 120-125 (80% max bpm ) in the same conditions, I will burn a good 400 calories an hour and if I do intervals with an occasional sprint it will go up to 500 calories an hour.

Obviously, since I am trained and prefer to ride distance and 3-4 hours at a time with no stops, my body has become efficient enough that I rarely burn more than 400-450 calories an hour. I am working on increasing cardio capacity so that I can ride faster(and hence further although that will mean coming up with some longer training rides) and at a higher heart rate and burn more calories, but I seem to be fated to be a max speed 17-18 miles an hour rider not matter how hard I ride or train. It is a little bit depressing but on the other hand, today on the elliptical trainer I managed to maintain a heart rate of 127 (85% max heart rate) for a full 60 minutes. Yay for me. By three minutes later, my heart rate was back down to 80 and at 5 minutes after the exercise ended it was back to it's normal 60 BPM.

My heart rate recovery is good and that's always good.

I just figure I do either a 300 or a 400 calorie and hour ride and plan accordingly mealwise.

I am one of those people who can eat a 500 calorie deficit daily and not lose weight, but that is a more a metabolism issue than a fitness issue. Undoubtedly some calories are sneaking in somewhere or I would be losing weight which I am not, just fighting earnestly to hold the line, but the sad fact is also that as you become better trained, your body becomes more efficient and the calorie burn decreases unless you increase intensity and or time. I am sort of at a delicately balanced point.

Anyway, do not forget to add in the miscellaneous factors, like wind, what gear are you riding in, the condition of the road, how often you stop, how long you stop, the temperature, the stress in your body and many others that I can't thing of right now. Evaluate your ride and work out an average calorie burn for hour and go with that. Skip the exact numbers unless you want to do a random check or need a baseline to change up your training.

[DarcyInOregon]

I use a Garmin Edge 705. The strap will read a low heart rate if the strap gets too loose or if the strap gets caught up in my bra band. What I do before every bike ride is after turning on the Garmin, I make sure the heart rate is showing on the display and that it shows a normal standing around fussing with the bike heart rate range, like in the 80s or 90s. If the heart rate reads lower, for example 35, then there I am out in the public, unzipping top layers and adjusting my bra and tightening up the chest strap. When the heart rate reads normal, then I put the Garmin on the bike and I am ready to go.

Most of my cycling friends use a Garmin and they are always posting links to their rides on Facebook. Over time I've seen enough Garmin data from different cyclists to know that for cyclists in my age range, male and female, our average heart rate on a ride is 120-140, depending on the elevation gain; I am age 57. Younger cyclists and/or cyclists who are not very fit may have a higher average heart rate.

I reviewed my ride history at Garmin Connect and for a ride that is 70-80 miles, my calories burned is between 2500 and 3000 and my average heart rate is around 130.

[nscrbug]

I will try some of the suggestions made here like checking my pulse to see if it matches up with the Garmin before we start. I still think that something is screwy with it. I've been working out nearly all of my life, so yeah, I'm in decent shape cardio-wise...but I still don't get that my burn is so low on bike rides. I understand that I do have to work a bit harder at it to keep my HR up, but an average HR of 108 over the course of a 4 hour ride??? Just doesn't make sense. I'm pretty sure that it's NOT me, and definitely something wrong with the Garmin unit or HRM itself. I'll have to look into this a bit deeper to see if I can come up with anything.

Thanks everyone!

Linda

[sazza]

yes defintly low. I have a garmin edge 705 today rode for 2 hrs 37 mins, 35 miles and did 1356. However I think that is too much. I never believe the calories burned on the edge as the figure seems quite high

[Crankin]

This is why I stopped using technology on my rides. I was getting obsessed with the numbers and jealous when people were higher/lower/blah, blah, blah. And, I found I was constantly looking at my monitor, which was not good.
I didn't learn anything that I already knew. 1) My HR is always higher than others of the same weight/height/age, despite the fact I have been fit for 25 years 2) At my size, it is incredibly hard to burn calories. I have to work twice as hard or ride three times as long to burn the same number of calories as someone who is of average height and heavier. Even when I was 32, weighed 90 lbs. and was teaching 7 fitness classes a week, my average HR was high during a work out. Since I don't have any cardiac issues, I assume it's just the way my body works.
So, I figure when I am breathing heavy at the top of a 15% grade, that is my cue that I am working hard. I also use my average speed or time over routes that I do all of the time to judge how my fitness progresses over the season.

[goldfinch]

There are too many variables for the Garmin to give accurate readings. It uses your heart rate and algorithms to make estimates but does not account for all variables, like percentage of body fat.

But then again, estimates of calories eaten aren't so accurate either.

Typically, these heart rate monitor estimates are high. But as others mentioned you will get a low estimate if your heart rate is artificially measured low.