# rollers and calories



## pigpen (Sep 28, 2005)

Due to the shorter days and the wife working weekends I have been stuck in the basement for the past month and will continue for the next few. (I keep our daughters on the weekends)
I have been getting up at 5:30 and riding for an hour on average 4 days a week.

I have been looking at some new rollers as mine are 20 years old and starting to fall apart.
In my search I noticed that Kreitler has a wattage guide. 

http://www.kreitler.com/wattage.php?section=wattage

So here is my question. Am I really only putting out less than 130 watts and I am really only buring 130 calories. I am averaging 20 mph including warm up and cool down. Granted I weight 40 lbs more than the tested subject and run 10-15 less psi in my tires but it just seems low. 

My main reason for riding is to lose weight, 20 already, (done the racing thing years ago and if I find some signs of fitness again I might try again) but if their calculations are correct then I am pretty much wasting my time. I can burn many more calories doing other activies.

Heck, at 130 or so calories, I have not even burned off the beer I drank the night before.

thanks


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## shawndoggy (Feb 3, 2004)

pigpen said:


> My main reason for riding is to lose weight, 20 already, (done the racing thing years ago and if I find some signs of fitness again I might try again) but if their calculations are correct then I am pretty much wasting my time. I can burn many more calories doing other activies.


Impossible to know how hard you are really working without a power meter. That said, I can tell you with absolute certainty that on 99% of my rides I burn more calories indoors than out for the given duration. That's because you coast outdoors, you don't indoors.

YMMV, etc. and all that, but this 160 lb specimen (I'm workin' on it!) burns between 700 and 900 kilojules an hour on rollers (1500 kJ for 1:40 rollers this morning). That was with 1:20 at 260w avg.


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## pigpen (Sep 28, 2005)

*shocking*

I am guessing you are much fitter than I and you are burning on average about 200 calories an hour.

At least I am having fun but it looks like I need to at least double my time to make much of a difference.


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## shawndoggy (Feb 3, 2004)

pigpen said:


> I am guessing you are much fitter than I and you are burning on average about 200 calories an hour.
> 
> At least I am having fun but it looks like I need to at least double my time to make much of a difference.


Oh... my point was that the wattage tables need to be taken with a lb of salt. weight, tire pressure, tires, exact rollers, etc. make a big difference. My race tires at 105lbs with latex tubes and my training tires at 90 lbs with butyl tubes are about 100 watts different at a given speed. 

This is on the cheapie Nashbar 85mm rollers btw.


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## ilan (Nov 27, 2006)

pigpen said:


> Due to the shorter days and the wife working weekends I have been stuck in the basement for the past month and will continue for the next few. (I keep our daughters on the weekends)
> I have been getting up at 5:30 and riding for an hour on average 4 days a week.
> 
> I have been looking at some new rollers as mine are 20 years old and starting to fall apart.
> ...


Technically, if you get an exact measure of the temperature of the room before and after the workout, you will get your caloric expenditure. 

-ilan


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

pigpen said:


> I am guessing you are much fitter than I and you are burning on average about 200 calories an hour.
> 
> At least I am having fun but it looks like I need to at least double my time to make much of a difference.


No, that's roughly 700-900 Cal per hour. Since the body is only about 25% efficient, the Kj = Cal (about). - TF


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

ilan said:


> Technically, if you get an exact measure of the temperature of the room before and after the workout, you will get your caloric expenditure.
> 
> -ilan


LOL Only if the room is perfectly isolated and insulated. - TF


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## shawndoggy (Feb 3, 2004)

TurboTurtle said:


> No, that's roughly 700-900 Cal per hour. Since the body is only about 25% efficient, the Kj = Cal (about). - TF


 I didn't want to open that can of worms...

(says the guy whose body is regrettably on the efficient side of the equation)


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Calories burned depend on how hard you are working, not how fast you are going. What is your HR at the 20 mph. Most rollers don't have a whole lot of resistance. 
I would never trust a wattmeter that determined watts by speed. If you want to burn calories, just get your HR up to 150 and keep it there for 45 minutes to an hour. You will need lots of towels on & under the bike.


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## StillRiding (Sep 16, 2006)

pigpen said:


> So here is my question. Am I really only putting out less than 130 watts and I am really only buring 130 calories.


Chances are that if you're riding rollers at a pace that feels "brisk" to you that you're burning closer to 500 calories in an hour (depending on your size, fitness, etc).

The power curve provided for Kreitler rollers is grossly inaccurate/inconsistent and the relationship they give for watts to calories is misleading in that they apparently don't take into consideration the normal efficiency of the human body. Multiply their number by 4 and you're closer to reality.


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## tommyrhodes (Aug 19, 2009)

I'm gonna bump this thread up. 

Those of you with powermeters, how many calories are you burning an hour? I'm just looking for a general number to base my calculations off of. I don't have a powermeter at the moment and haven't even unfolded the rollers since february (ugh) but I can feel winter approaching rapidly and wanna continue losing weight soooooo.... Yea. Whatre you guys/ gals burning when your on the rollers at an moderate pace. We'll say a B-ride exertion level.


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## DMH1721 (Aug 30, 2010)

*Kjs burned*

Here is my usual break down (been using a PM for 10+ years)

I weigh about 155 with about 5-6% BF.

Leisurely pace: 450-500 (this is truly easy -- in that -- had a friend once say, "if you are sweating on a recovery ride, you are going too hard")

Tempo ride: 650-700 (say 3+ on a scale of 1-6)

Hard group ride: 750-800

Road Race: 700-800

Solo Hard-Ish ride (if riding 3+ hours) 700-800)

Crit: 800-900

Hard indoor trainer ride: 850-900

I've only seen over 950/hour in a NRC level crit.

As background: Cat 1, was injured/off bike for 5 years, looking to race again next year, probably masters as I don't have the time to train more than 10-15 hours/week (sometimes as low as 6-8 though)


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## SKIBUMM (Feb 26, 2010)

Mr Grumpy is spot on here. If you are looking for wieght loss HR in zone 2 and three for more than 30 minutes = good results (assuming proper nutrition). I also second bring towels and set up a fan.


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## wetpaint (Oct 12, 2008)

DMH1721 said:


> Here is my usual break down (been using a PM for 10+ years)
> 
> I weigh about 155 with about 5-6% BF.
> 
> ...


I'm a ~140 pound cat 3 and my numbers are pretty close (with 50cal/hr) to DMH's numbers


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## slimjw (Jul 30, 2008)

DMH1721 said:


> Here is my usual break down (been using a PM for 10+ years)
> 
> I weigh about 155 with about 5-6% BF.
> 
> ...


Just to clarify, these numbers are per hour, correct?


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## DMH1721 (Aug 30, 2010)

*Yes*

Also, my old coach used to write some of my training in terms of kjs/hour -- for example: Day x, ride 3-4 hours 700-750/hour. This gave a good gauge at how hard I was suppose to go. Never seen another coach do this, and while I no longer have a coach, I still use these as guidlines in how hard the ride "should" be.


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## wetpaint (Oct 12, 2008)

slimjw said:


> Just to clarify, these numbers are per hour, correct?


Yes, those are per hour


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## den bakker (Nov 13, 2004)

DMH1721 said:


> Also, my old coach used to write some of my training in terms of kjs/hour -- for example: Day x, ride 3-4 hours 700-750/hour. This gave a good gauge at how hard I was suppose to go. Never seen another coach do this, and while I no longer have a coach, I still use these as guidlines in how hard the ride "should" be.


That's just wattage with a typically poorly known conversion factor on top of it.....


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## DMH1721 (Aug 30, 2010)

*Agreed*

Average Kjs per hour of course can be extrapolated to average watts/hour as Kjs are a function of watts and time. But I liked the Kjs per hour better as I wasn't always looking down making sure I was at x watts.

I also found increasing Kjs per hour a good way to simulate race situations (ie needing to be able to go hard with 2000+ Kjs in your legs).


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