Calories Burned Cycling
Energy burned cycling at 12 to 14 mph, from the 8.0 MET value for that speed band against your weight and the duration of the ride, where air resistance rules.
Cycling at 12 to 14 mph is 8.0 MET. Unlike running, cycling energy is dominated by air resistance rather than body weight, which is why the speed band matters more here than the rider does.
With weight 75 kg, duration 45 minutes, calories burned comes to 473 kcal — calories burned. It is reached in 3 steps, the last of which is 10.5 * 45, and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by Compendium of Physical Activities, not an approximation fitted to it.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
- Calories per minute
8 * 3.5 * 75 / 20010.5 kcal/min- Calories burned
10.5 * 45472.5 kcal- Net of what you would have burned at rest
472.5 - (1 * 3.5 * 75 / 200) * 45413.438 kcal
Why is the value given as a speed band?
Air resistance rises with the square of speed and dominates above about 12 mph, so a single figure would be wrong at both ends. That is why published cycling values come in bands — 12 to 14, 14 to 16 — rather than as one number. Below 10 mph the value falls off fast: a casual ride is nearer 4 MET than 8.
Does riding in a group change it?
Sitting in a bunch cuts the air you push through by up to thirty per cent, and the energy figure falls with it. The number above is for riding alone. On a club ride, count your turns on the front at this rate and the wheel-sitting at appreciably less.
The formula
- Calories per minute
met * 3.5 * weight / 200 - Calories burned
per_minute * minutes - Net of what you would have burned at rest
calories - (1 * 3.5 * weight / 200) * minutes
Formula from Compendium of Physical Activities — MET reference values, CDC — physical activity for adults.
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