How to calculate the calories you burn on your bike

It is just as important to eat the right calories and the right foods as it is to know how much we are consuming. In this balance, in this formula, we will find our best performance.

Why it's important to monitor the calories you burn on your bike

When we talk about food, it's essential to keep one thing in mind: it's essential to understand that you need to eat enough to fuel your body. But what to eat, when, how and how often is part of what your fitness plan will be. 

A few days ago we told you how to calculate your calorie intake based on macronutrients, now it's time to take a look at the other side of the balance sheet: the calories you burn, the calories you expend, the calories you consume while pedalling.

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There are many questions you may ask yourself: how many calories should I eat, but how many calories am I able to burn? How can I calculate this balance so that I neither gain nor lose weight, but eat what I really need? Today we are going to try to solve them.

First of all, the question of how many calories you need is a difficult one to answer. The truth is that we all have what is known as a basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the lowest number of calories you need to take in on a daily basis for your body to function in a natural and healthy way. We start from around 1600 calories on average, although there can be a variation of about 200 calories up or down depending on your anatomy and even your gender.

But this is only a base. If you cycle daily, or 3 or 4 times a day, on road days you need more. A lot more. It is estimated that it can be as high as twice daily. But to be sure it's important to use a simple calorie calculator, so you know how much you're consuming and eat accordingly.

How to make your own calorie calculator

Don't forget that it is not the same to ingest a calorie from one food as from another. But in short, to get an approximate value all you need is a calculator or some calculating skills. That, or use an online calculator like this one.

The formula is not very complicated. Following the indications of the World Health Organisation (WHO), we must know our Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) and Activity Factor (AF), and add Physical Exercise to these.

For this purpose, it establishes two tables of approximate values, in which you can consult these values in your particular case:

If all this is too complicated, the Yazio website offers an intuitive (but also approximate) system to make it simpler for you. It is less accurate than the formula we have just proposed, but it can give you some guidance. You can also do a biomechanical study that includes calorie burn per hour. Bear in mind that you will have to spend an hour pedalling and that the results will not vary much from your calculations and your progressive knowledge.

You know, take numbers of what you spend and eat accordingly. That is, if you want to be at your ideal weight and in shape.