The calorie is a unit of energy nutritionists use almost exclusively to measure the energy in food. A pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories, meaning that that you can expect to lose 1 lb. for every 3,500 calories you burn. You can calculate the calories you burn during exercise from your heart rate, weight, age and gender. These calorie-expenditure calculations are most accurate when your heart rate is between 90 beats per minute, or bpm, and 150 bpm.
Step 1
Wear your heart monitor according to your model's specific instructions and ensure that it's receiving your heart rate. Begin your exercise and start the recorder on your heart rate monitor when your heart rate rises above 90 bpm. Keep your heart rate between 90 and 150 bpm by adjusting the intensity of your exercise as needed.
Step 2
Stop exercising and wait until your heart rate drops to 90 bpm before turning off the recorder on your heart rate monitor. This procedure will provide your average heart rate and duration of your exercise.
Step 3
Weigh yourself in pounds with a bathroom scale. You'll also need to provide your age in years and gender.
Step 4
Compute your calorie expenditure if you're male. This computation uses the following formula from Braydenwm.com: Calorie expenditure = [(0.6309 x average heart rate) -- (0.09036 x weight) + (0.2017 x age) -- 55.0969] x time / 4.184.
Assume for this example that your average heart rate was 138 bpm, your weight is 147 lbs., your age is 32 years and your exercise lasted 34 minutes. You burned [(0.6309 x 138) -- (0.09036 x 147) + (0.2017 x 32) -- 55.0969] x 34 / 4.184 = 204 calories.
Step 5
Calculate your calorie expenditure if you're female. This calculation uses the following formula from Braydenwm.com: Calorie expenditure = [(0.4472 x average heart rate) -- (0.05741 x weight) + (0.074 x age) -- 20.4022] x time / 4.184.
Assume for this example that your average heart rate was 124 bpm, your weight is 133 lbs., your age is 36 years and your exercise lasted 31 minutes. You burned [(0.4472 x 124) -- (0.05741 x 133) + (0.074 x 36) -- 20.4022] x 31 / 4.184 = 223 calories.
Things You'll Need
- Heart monitor
- Calculator
- Bathroom scale
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