Calories Burned Calculator: Biking / Cycling
Benefits of biking
Biking is a great way to go outside, get some fresh air, and get your heart pumping. Not only that, but cycling is a great form of exercise and physical activity. Biking promotes good health and fitness in a variety of ways, including:
- Improving muscle strength and flexibility
- Increasing joint mobility
- Bettering posture and coordination
- Maintaining and losing weight
- Bettering your balance
- Building stronger bones
- Lowering your risk for certain chronic conditions
In addition to the physical benefits of biking, there are also many mental health advantages. These include, but are not limited to:
- Reducing stress and calming anxiety
- Lowering the risk of depression
- Improving sensory perception
Outside of these benefits, cycling can also:
- Provide social interaction if biking with a buddy
- Improve self esteem
- Unplug from technology1
Why should you use a biking calculator?
Now that you are ready to go for a bike ride, it is a good idea to determine how to meet your fitness goals while doing so. Biking is a great form of exercise and an excellent way to burn calories. In order to sustain the physical capacity and control energy expenditure, it is important that you track your calories burned. These calculations will help you to track progress and provide your body with enough fuel.
Knowing your caloric expenditure can aid in optimizing your ride as there are a number of different variables at play when biking and burning calories. Using our calculator can help you adjust certain aspects of your bike ride to achieve your desired fitness goals.
Calculating your calories burned can be tricky, as there are various factors to consider. This calculator aims to simplify the variables and the math. After entering just a few numbers and checking a few boxes, you can have a strong estimate of your calorie expenditure during a bike ride.
How to use our calculator
Using our calculator to determine your calories burned while biking is relatively easy. Just input some personal information and ride-specific factors to generate a calories burned estimate. The list below includes step-by-step instructions on how to plug in your information.
Step 1: Select your desired unit of measurement. Imperial refers to measurements described as pounds, hours, and minutes. Metric refers to measurements described as kilograms, hours, and minutes.
Step 2: Enter your weight in the unit of measurement selected above.
Step 3: Enter in the number of hours that you biked or plan to bike. If you are biking for less than one hour enter the number “0”.
Step 4: Enter in the number of minutes that you biked or plan to bike after the final hour mark. For example, if you are biking for two hours and 46 minutes, enter in the number “46”.
Step 5: Enter the distance that you biked.
Step 6: Enter the speed at which you biked
Step 7: Click “Calculate”.
Understanding the results
After inputting your information, our calculator will provide you with the number of calories that you burned or will burn doing the bike ride you described. Happy with your results? That’s great! If you would like to burn more calories than what was outputted from the calculator, try adjusting certain aspects. For example, you could increase the distance or time spent biking to increase the number of calories that you would burn. Playing around with the calculator can help you to tailor your bike ride to match your fitness goals.
Explaining related information
Now that you know how many calories you may burn during a bike ride, it is important to understand how certain parts of your bike ride can increase or decrease your caloric expenditure. Knowing these details can help you to adjust your ride to reach your fitness goals or sustain your energy. We outline below how certain cycling factors can influence your burn rate.
Weight is a critical factor to consider when estimating how many calories you burn during a bike ride. The general rule of thumb for body weight indicates that the heavier you are, the more calories that you burn. For example, if 190 pound male and a 150 pound male bike the same distance,
Your weight is an important factor in calculating your caloric burn rate. The general rule is that the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn per hour. For example, take two men that ride the same 5 mile bike trail. One is 190 pounds and one is 150 pounds. The individual who weighs 190 pounds will burn more calories than the individual who weighs 150 pounds.
Why does this happen? Well a calories is a measurement of how much energy we use. Someone who weighs 190 pounds is going to require more energy to make the same bodily movement as someone who weighs 150 pounds. Think of it like a car; a larger car typically guzzles up more gas than a smaller car. This is because heavier and larger cars require more fuel to move the same distance as a smaller car2.
Perhaps the most obvious factor in determining your energy expenditure is how far you bike. When cycling the same trail at the same pace, biking the trail for longer will burn more calories.
Your pace is another important factor in determining how many calories you burn while on a bike ride. Not only does it affect how fast you finish the ride, but it also influences the number of calories you will burn. The quicker you bike, the more calories you will expend. For example, take an individual who weighs 150 pounds who bikes eight miles at a speed of eight to ten miles per hour. This person will burn about 414 calories during their ride. Say that the same person bikes at an increased speed of 10 to 12 miles per hour. They will burn 486 calories.
Biking for a longer distance will cause you to burn more calories. For example, take an individual who weighs 175 pounds and bikes eight miles at a speed of eight to ten miles per hour. If they bike for 60 minutes, they will burn 483 calories. If they bike for 90 minutes, they will burn 725 calories1.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How does the projected calories burned differ between different types of biking, including mountain, trail, road, and stationary biking?
Out of all the different types of cycling, mountain biking is likely to burn the most calories because of the amount of energy required. Mountain biking often requires different types of terrain and incline, making it a more difficult ride. Road biking does not burn as many calories because the trails are smoother and the bike is light. How many calories you burn on a stationary bike will depend on the specific settings of your bike and how they change throughout your ride. For example, if you have a zero percent incline, this would not require as much physical capacity, and you would burn less calories than an increased incline1.
How does biking compare to other forms of exercise, such as running?
Biking and running are both forms of cardio, meaning that they elevate your heart rate and get your blood pumping. The two exercises differ in some of the muscle groups that they target. For example, biking exercises the quads and hamstrings primarily.
Running also works these muscles in addition to the glutes and plantar flexors. In terms of bone health, running may be better as the body sustains more of an impact from constantly hitting into the ground. However, biking can also help to decrease arthritis symptoms, lubricate the joints, and decrease stiffness and pain
In terms of injury risk, running most commonly causes knee injury, in addition to foot, leg, back, and pelvic pain. Cycling can cause similar injuries but also is more diffuse throughout the body and runs the risk of injury to the wrists, neck, head, genitalia, and rectum3.
What else should I consider to optimize my workout?
There are a few important things to keep in mind when biking outside of how many calories you expend. These include:
- Intaking enough food and maintaining a nutritious diet to support your energy needs
- Pushing your physical abilities but not so hard that you injure yourself
- Being consistent with your biking routine but also mixing up your ride 1
Other calorie calculators
- Hiking Calorie Calculator
- Calories Calculator: How Many Calories Should I Eat Each Day?
- Calorie Deficit Calculator
- Jumping Rope Calories Burned Calculator
- Calories Burned Running Calculator
- Calories Absorbed By Fiber Calculator
- Recommended Calorie Breakdown Calculator
- Calories Burned Today Calculator
- Calories per Day Calculator
- Calorie Composition Calculator
It is no secret that biking is a great way to get physically active and promote your wellbeing. Whether your goals are to get outside, get in shape, or spend time with loved ones, cycling is sure to meet your physical and mental needs. Particularly, if your hope is to burn calories and start losing weight, you may want to start by utilizing a calorie calculator specifically for biking. Our calculator takes into account the numerous factors that can affect your energy expenditure including weight, pace, distance, and time spent biking. Using a calculator will help you to meet your exercise and weight loss goals quickly and efficiently.
- Cycling—Health benefits—Better health channel. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/cycling-health-benefits
- Calories burned in 30 minutes of leisure and routine activities. (2004, July 1). Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-for-people-of-three-different-weights
- Biking vs. running: Comparison for fitness, weight loss, and more. (2020, November 25). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/biking-vs-running