A stationary bicycle provides a convenient method of burning calories. You're not dependent upon the weather, and it allows you to burn calories at a predictable rate. The most accurate method of calculating your calorie expenditure requires you to know your VO2 max and average heart rate during the cycling session.
VO2 Max
Your VO2 max is your maximum oxygen consumption rate. You can estimate your VO2 max by running as far as you can in 12 minutes. This result will provide your VO2 max from the following equation: VO2 max = (D - 505) / 49.2]. "D" is the distance in yards you're able to run in 12 minutes.
Average Heart Rate
A heart monitor one can record your average heart rate during your cycling session. You achieve the greatest accuracy for your calorie expenditure calculation when you maintain a heart rate in the range of 90 to 150 beats per minute. Use a combination of pedaling speed and resistance that keeps your rate within this target range.
Formulas
This formula from the Journal of Sports Science provides the calorie expenditure calculation for women: Calories = [(0.380 x VO2 max) + (0.450 x heart fate) + (0.274 x age) + (0.0468 x weight) - 59.3954] x time / 4.184. The equivalent formula for men is: Calories = [(0.404 x VO2 max) + (0.634 x heart rate) + (0.271 x age) + (0.179 x weight) - 95.7735] x time / 4.184. These formulas require your age in years, your weight in pounds and the time of the bicycling session in minutes.
Calculations
Assume you're a 47-year-old female weighing 138 lbs. with a VO2 max of 22.4. Let your average heart rate for a 33-minute bicycling session be 123 beats per minute. You burned [(0.380 x 22.4) + (0.450 x 123) + (0.274 x 47) + (0.0468 x 138) - 59.3954] x 33 / 4.184 = 188 calories during your bicycling session.
Estimate
You can also obtain a calories expenditure estimate for stationary cycling based solely on weight. BuddySlim provides an estimate of 803 calories for an hour of stationary cycling, assuming a body weight of 154 lbs.
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