The rate at which you burn fat correlates fairly closely with your heart rate if your heart rate is in the range of 90 and 150 beats per minute, or bpm. This allows you to calculate your calorie expenditure rate from your heart rate and other factors such as your VO2 max. Your VO2 max is the maximum rate at which you can use oxygen, knowing VO2 max will help you estimate your calorie expenditure rate more accurately.
Step 1
Weigh yourself in pounds with a bathroom scale.
Step 2
Run as far as you can in 12 minutes and record the distance in yards. Use this value to calculate your VO2 max with the formula (D - 505) / 49.2 where D is the distance you ran in 12 minutes. This example assumes you can run 1,950 yards in 12 minutes. Your VO2 max is (1,950 - 505) / 49.2 = 26.4.
Step 3
Wear your heart monitor and begin exercising. Record your heart rate once it rises above 90 bpm. Speed up or slow down as needed during your exercise to keep your heart rate between 90 and 150 bpm.
Step 4
Stop exercising. Turn the heart rate recorder off before your heart rate decreases below 90 bpm. This will provide your average heart rate during the exercise session.
Step 5
Compute the calorie expenditure rate for females with the equation C = (0.0468 x W + 0.274 x A + 0.380 x V + 0.450 x H - 59.3954) x T / 4.184. The C in this equation is the calories you burned, W is your weight in pounds, A is your age in years, V is your VO2 max, H is your average heart rate and T is the duration of the exercise in minutes.
This example assumes you weigh 148 lbs., are 43 years of age, have a VO2 max of 26.4, an average heart rate 128 bpm and an exercise session lasting 35 minutes. You burned (0.0468 x 148 + 0.274 x 43 + 0.380 x 26.4 + 0.450 x 128 - 59.3954) x 35 / 4.184 = 225 calories.
Step 6
Calculate the calorie expenditure rate for males with the formula C = (0.179 x W + 0.271 x A + 0.404 x V + 0.634 x H - 95.7735) x T / 4.184.
This example assumes you weigh 162 lbs., are 49 years of age, have a VO2 max of 26.4, an average heart rate 133 bpm and an exercise session lasting 38 minutes. You burned (0.179 x 162 + 0.271 x 49 + 0.404 x 26.4 + 0.634 x 133 - 95.7735) x 38 / 4.184 = 377 calories.
Things You'll Need
- Bathroom scale
- Stopwatch
- Heart monitor
- Calculator
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