Calories Burned Biking | Cycling Calories Burned Calculator

Calories Burned Biking / Cycling Calculator

In this article:

• Factors influencing calories burned in cycling
• How many calories does cycling burn in 30 minutes or 10 miles?
• Calories burned in stationary biking
• Calories burned in mountain biking
• How many miles to cycle to lose a pound?
• How to burn more calories while cycling?
• Calories burned cycling vs running
• Recent research:wearable devices is inaccurate
• Recent research: cycling can reduce Stomach fat

Calories burned cycling: what you should know

how many calories are burnt while cycling? This is a million-dollar question that has been making rounds on the internet among cyclists and people looking to burn their body fat through cycling. It is quite easy to make an estimate of the number of calories burnt, however, it’s difficult to arrive at a precise figure. Not even gps devices and software applications can guarantee you such an outcome.

Factors influencing calories burned in cycling

just like other forms of exercise, the number of calories burnt during cycling is dependent on certain factors. While some of these factors are common to virtually all forms of exercise, there are some attributable to cycling. Some of them are illustrated below.

• Wind resistance

In this situation, the body is mandated to work harder so as to maintain a particular speed, improve balance, and stabilization. The work done by the body in trying to overcome the resistance of the wind while cycling results in burning more calories.

• Tire rolling resistance

The resistance experienced by a cyclist as a result of the tire varies, and is dependent on certain factors like the material of the inner tube, type of tire (e.g. Tubeless and tubular tire), tire width and pressure and many more.

• Incline

Basically, this is a slope either downhill or up. Uphill simply suggests a positive incline but harder, whereas downhill depicts ease. A fairly high incline burns more calories compared to a flat incline.

How many calories does cycling burn in 30 minutes or 10km?

According to the research carried out by Harvard university, a 155-pounds person cycling at a modest speed of about 12 mph – 13.9 mph burns about 297 calories within or in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, if cycling at a greater speed of 14 mph – 15.9 mph, he will burn 371 calories.
The amount of calories burned from a 150-pound person riding bike at different speed:

Speed	10 mins	15 mins	20 mins	30 mins	40 mins	60 mins
5.5 mph	41	62	83	125	166	250
9.4 mph	69	103	138	207	276	414
10-11.9 mph	80	121	161	242	323	485
12-13.9 mph	95	142	190	285	381	571
14-15.9 mph	119	178	238	357	476	714
16-19 mph	141	212	283	425	567	850
> 20 mph	188	282	376	564	752	1128

The amount of calories burned cycling at speed of 14 mph:

Distance	130 lbs	150 lbs	170 lbs	190 lbs
5 miles	216	250	283	316
6 miles	268	309	350	392
8 miles	350	404	458	512
10 miles	443	511	580	648
15 miles	660	762	863	965
20 miles	887	1023	1160	1297
25 miles	1104	1274	1443	1613

A 190-pounds person riding a bike 10 miles burns 648 calories from this chart above. A 130-pounds person burns 443 calories on a 10-mile bike ride. What do you see? Alright, weight can quite obviously affect calories burned while riding a bike.

Calories burned in mountain biking

The rougher the surface of the track, the more the energy dissipated in the process. This is a result of the tire rolling resistance which requires that the cyclist put in more effort in order to scale through.

Typically, a steady mountain biking will burn about 600 calories per hour on a landscape of moderate difficulty. This amount however decreases for lower weight and increases for higher weights.

Tip: Make sure to use the correct bike according to your height, here’s the complete guide to bike sizing and how to select the correct bicycle size for women, men, and kids, according to the experts.

Mountain Bike Calories Burned

Calories burned in stationary biking

In a general sense, an average individual is estimated to burn about 450 to 750 calories per hour in stationary cycling. And of course, the number of calories burnt in this case is also dependent on the aforementioned factors such as speed, time spent biking, and the weight of the individual among others.

Stationary Bike Calories Burned Chart

How many miles to cycle to lose a pound?

The number of miles to cycle to lose a pound cannot be obtained directly. However, according to findings, it is observed that the average person can burn about 500 to 800 calories per hour cycling. Just like I’ve mentioned earlier, the number of calories burnt bicycling depends to a large extent on the incline of topography, body weight, the speed and distance you cover, wind resistance, and others.
Let say it took you an hour to travel a distance of 15 miles, of which about 750 calories were burned. And we know that a pound is equivalent to 3500 calories. Therefore, to lose a pound, it is estimated that you must travel a distance of 70 miles which can be covered in about 4 and a half hours.
A further cut of about 600 – 1000 calories per day from your regular diet will help you burn about 1 – 2 pounds per week.

How to burn more calories while cycling?

If your goal is to lose some weights, then cycling is just a very good way to get started. It is like you actually killing two birds with one stone – you get to lose some pounds while doing something fun. Yes, cycling is fun.
However, that cycling is fun doesn’t mean it’s easy. In order for you to be more efficient as much as possible while cycling, there are certain things you should do.

• Do not eat before a ride.

This is recommended because when you wake up in the morning, your body is still in a semi fasting state. So, jumping on your cycle shortly after without food will encourage your body to burn more fat.

• Riding different routes

• Having moderate intensity rides that last two hours on a weekly basis

• Joining a group ride sometimes, to boost your morale.

• Lastly, be consistent.

Calories burned cycling vs running

• The number of calories burned by cycling and running

It can be depicted from the image above that a 150 lbs person who runs and covers a mile in 6 minutes was able to burn about 1000 calories per hour. That same person also cycling at 16-19 miles per hour will at the same time burn about 850 calories.
This suggests that if you pedal at the same heart rate that you run, you are burning an equivalent number of calories. However, according to findings, running tends to burn more calories compared to cycling.

• People with a poor physical condition

In the case of people who have suffered injuries, such as foot and knee problems, cycling is often recommended. Cycling is considered a low impact exercise suitable for people of all ages.

• Obese people

For obese people looking to lose weight, experts suggest burning about 500 calories per day more than consumed. This is equivalent to a 45-minutes session of cycling for a cyclist weighing about 180 lb.

• People with chronic illness

If you have a chronic health condition, a doctor’s recommendation is very important before increasing any exercise. Meanwhile, pedaling is gentler on the body but capable of aggravating back pain issues.

• Healthy person

For people in this category, a mix between the two forms of exercise is recommended. By taking a closer look at both exercises, you will realize that the two sports in actuality make use of similar muscle groups and are capable of helping you burn a reasonable number of calories when done right.

• Which one is easier to lose a pound?

The number of calories you burn while running or cycling is dependent on the length of time and intensity. However, running uses more muscles and as such, tends to burn more calories.

• Which one requires fewer limiting conditions?

In general, cycling is obviously more expensive compared to running. This is due to the bicycle acquisition cost incurred and the subsequent maintenance costs, whereas running costs relatively nothing. With your pair of sneakers, you are good to go.

Recent research findings: wearable devices were inaccurate

Recently, wearable devices have been extensively in use for various exercise related needs. However, the accuracy of these monitors is still subject to questioning due to the absence of genuine data regarding their validity.
Hence, this study (validity of wearable activity monitors during cycling and resistance exercise by benjamin d boudreaux et al, 2018) was carried out to evaluate the validity of 8 different monitors for heart rate (hr) compared with an electrocardiography (ecg) and another 7 monitors for energy expenditure (ee) compared with a metabolic analyzer during resistance exercise and graded cycling.
To start with, 50 participants were made to complete separate trials of graded cycling and 3 sets of 4 resistance training at a 10-repetition-maximum load using 8 different brands of wearable monitors.
It was obtained from the results that none of the devices were valid for ee during resistance exercise and cycling.
Conclusively, the effect of wearable devices on the hr differed greatly at different exercise intensity and the ee estimates from the devices were deemed inaccurate.(From this link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29189666/)
another search shows that wrist-worn wearables are all not accurate for monitoring calories during exercise activity.(From the link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32374274/).

Reasech: cycling can reduce Stomach fat

In another research (exercise-induced changes in visceral adipose tissue mass are regulated by il-6 signaling: a randomized controlled trial by wedell-neergaard et al, 2019)
the visceral adipose tissue is detrimental to one’s metabolic health and exercise has been identified to reduce its concentration in the body. However, the underlying physiological mechanisms remain a mystery till date.
It was hypothesized that reductions in belly fats as a result of constant exercising like cycling are mediated by interleukin-6 (il-6). Hence, to carry out this research, a single-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial was employed.
The subjects were randomized 1:1:1:1:1 in a modified 2×2 factorial design to undergo exercise (cycling) or no exercise and with or without tocilizumab (il-6 blockade) for a period of 12 weeks.
As expected from the study, a similarity was observed between the design baseline factors amongst the groups. Although this research is not for directly proving the benefits of cycling exercise, it still clearly shows that losing stomach fat with riding a bike is feasible.
However, this from a side, it was obtained from the trial that there was a reduction in belly fats following the cycling exercise.

Sources and External Resources
Wrist-Worn Wearables for Monitoring Heart Rate and Energy Expenditure While Sitting or Performing Light-to-Vigorous Physical Activity: Validation Study
Validity of Wearable Activity Monitors During Cycling and Resistance Exercise
Exercise-Induced Changes in Visceral Adipose Tissue Mass Are Regulated by IL-6 Signaling: A Randomized Controlled Trial