Struggling to 'believe in' calories burned on stationary bike

[LaurieFairyCake]

According to my Fitbit I've just burned off 258 calories cycling for 15 minutes (24 miles an hour, 6 miles).

I also googled and returned the same number on different websites.

Feels like a lot of calories burned ? Do others mistrust it?

I am pretty overweight though so I suppose I have to work quite hard to exercise

No reason that a beginner can’t concentrate on watts rather than calories from the start and work on their fitness improving

Whilst being overweight should theoretically increase your calorie burn, that is because your heart would typically need to work harder to allow you to do the exercise. But your average heart rate was pretty low.

By way of comparison I did 40 minutes last night and according to my Fitbit I had an average HR of 122 and burned 252 calories.

Are you choosing spin as your exercise mode on the fitbit? It is odd that it is giving you the distance as my Charge 3 doesn't really work for distance on a stationary bike.

Two things would make me question the results....

24mph avg speed - wow! That's really pegging it. Esp on a static bike where there's no steep downhill to gain speed. I'm not a fast cyclist, but I am fit, and when I push myself, I can average 15mph.

Heart rate of 113 is not that high. If you were cycling at that speed, I'd expect it to be much higher.

Something doesn't add up.

Having said that, the calories may not be so far out. I'm the right weight for my height, and a runner. I can burn about 100 calories per mile if I push it. So that would be 300 cal in under half an hour. The heavier you are, the more you burn. It always used to amuse me running loooong training runs with my friend (also the reight weight for her height, but 10 inches taller) - she burns 00s more than me for the exact same activity (run together, same distance, same time, measured using the same device).

24 mph is just under 40 kph. I help out on cycling road races which are at least 80 km long. The best riders (both men and women) will come in on the 2 hour mark, and probably burn about 2000 calories, and will be riding at 95% on average, with a HR well into the 150s.
I really don't think that compares at all with using a stationary bike, not least because there is no wind resistance, I think your fitbit is way over on it's estimate.

I go to the gym regularly and try to do HIT most of the time. I don't feel that I've done any work until my heart rate is over 145 most of the time.
I'm 50 years old and 69KG.

Exercise is meaningless if it doesn't get your heart rate right up.
A guy in the gym yesterday was on the crossfit for 2 HOURS!
Waste of time and not getting anything out of it.

Burpees are your friend

Exercise definitely isn't meaningless if you don't get your heartrate 'right' up. Clearly it has to be raised, but fast walking over a reasonable time period is one of the best ways to burn fat.

It does sound high. For comparison, I did a 60-minute spin class the other day with average HR of 162, and burned 681kcal according to my Garmin. The only time I'd have a HR of 113 would be on a very gentle recovery-type spin.

"Speed" on a stationary bike is best ignored altogether, IMHO: best to measure effort by duration and intensity (whether HR or power).

24mph is very fast.

I cycle a 13 mile commute every day and do spin classes twice a week. I rarely hit 24mph in spin.

My 6.5mile commute takes between 37 and 43 mins depending on wind speed and how many books are in my pannier. No way could I do 6 miles in 15 mins.

Although there is a big difference in spin bike and cycling outside - I agree that cycling 6 miles on a spin bike for a beginner would be relatively hard going, unless they had the bike on very easy settings and no tension so literally just spine the pedals - which is pretty pointless

We have intervals during spin when we cover 2km in 2 minutes, and I usually average 31kph during a whole class of 45 minutes, but I am working on between 35%-50% tension on the spin bike and aim for 1:8 watts per kilo, which I’m getting

I did a 30 min hit class and got 189 this morning. I'm 13 stone.

189 Heart rate average? Average watts?

Thinks she means calories ivykaty