Jonahhobbes

Not able to ride to work at the moment as I've changed jobs, so I'm using a treadmill for running at home.

I'm just wondering why I can burn 250 calories on my bike for 20mins but running on a treadmill for the same amount of time only registers about 50 calories? My HR is considerably higher on the treadmill as I've adjusted the speed and incline to get a workout.

I'm using a Wahoo HR monitor with Runkeeper. I'm obviously not recording distance on the treradmill.

How do HR monitors calculate calorie burn? I assumed it was weight, hight and HR but obviously something else is going on.

redlude97

How are you calculating calories burned on the bike? The only semi accurate way on a bike is to use a powermeter and converting work done to calories burned using a small range of efficiencies from human physiology. HR is a poor way to calculate calories burned for both cycling and running

Iride01 

There is no easy way to calculate your actual Calorie burn. It's all guesstimation based on things that give clues to how much effort you are expending. In the worst case scenario, but touted as highly accurate by bean counters that want numbers to add up some devices just use simple formulas that produce consistent numbers for time and distance traveled.

However from the numbers you are spouting, your bike Calories burned seem high. Also, if your HR monitor is made for only one type activity such as cycling, then any attempt to determine Calorie burn for other activities is definitely questionable.

OBoile

I don't think it's possible to only burn 50 calories while running for 20 minutes. That calorie count is definitely off.

250 calories on a bike in 20 minutes is a bit more than 200 watts. Definitely within the realm or possibility but higher than what most non-competitive cyclists would be doing unless they were going fairly hard.

Generally speaking, most people will burn more calories per minute running than cycling.

Carbonfiberboy 

It's because your apps are using the GPS in your phone. Use an ordinary HR monitor instead, if you want some caloric approximation. Usually HRMs guess on the high side so you like them more, some 50% high. Customer enjoyment = sales. Of course a bike power meter does you no good on your treadmill, though some aerobic gym equipment has built in PMs where you enter your weight. My experience with those is that they are more accurate than an HRM. As above, kJ is about = to calories.

Seattle Forrest

Calories burned running ~= 2/3 your weight in pounds * miles ran.

rubiksoval

Because those numbers are totally made up?

Unless you're pushing decent power, you're not burning 250 calories in 20 minutes on your bike.

Running at the same exertion level would burn more calories. Full body movement and all.

Seattle Forrest

Running = jumping from leg to leg. Running is a gait, not a speed, you're running if both feet keep coming off the ground together.

Cycling = sitting down.

You can work very hard on a bike, but you work harder running.

jpescatore

A moderate speeds, say a 12 minute mile running and biking around 12 miles per hour, you will burn pretty close to the same calories per hour - roughly 500 calories for the 5 miles you ran and the 12 miles you biked.

If you run 50% faster, you will still burn about the same amount per mile but you will run more miles in that hour and burn more calories.

If you bike 50% faster outside, you will have to burn more calories per mile because the wind resistance goes up. On an exercise bike, there is no wind resistance - you will burn the same number of calories per mile but just like running you will burn more per hour - and still about the same per mile as running.

The short answer was earlier in the thread: ignore any calories burned numbers on any exercise equipment.