Teens frequently wish to calculate their calorie expenditures as part of weight-control programs. The calories burned during exercise depend on heart rate and other factors. This calculation is most accurate when the heart rate is between 90 and 150 beats per minute, or bpm. You can calculate calorie expenditure for any type of exercise; the calculation is not activity-specific. Each gender uses a specific formula, since gender also plays a part in calorie expenditure.
Step 1
Put your heart monitor on according to its instructions. Warm up to get your heart rate above the minimum rate of 90 bpm. Start recording your heart rate with the heart monitor and begin exercising. Adjust the pace of your exercise to keep your heart rate above 90 bpm and below 150 bpm. Stop recording your heart rate when you finish your exercise session. Your heart monitor will store information on your average heart rate and the duration of your exercise session.
Step 2
Weigh yourself in pounds with a bathroom scale.
Step 3
Compute your calorie expenditure if you are a male teen. The "Journal of Sports Sciences" provides this formula: Calories Burned = [(0.6309 x heart rate) + (0.2017 x age) + (0.09036 x weight) -- 55.0969] x time / 4.184. Your weight must be in pounds, and the time of the exercise session must be in minutes.
For this example, assume you weigh 144 lbs. and are 18 years old. Your heart rate during a 37-minute exercise session averaged 135 bpm. Your calorie expenditure for the exercise session was [(0.6309 x 135) + (0.2017 x 18) + (0.09036 x 144) -- 55.0969] x 37 / 4.184 = 413 calories.
Step 4
Compute your calorie expenditure if you are a female teen. The formula is as follows: Calories Burned = [(0.4472 x heart rate) + (0.074 x age) + (0.0574 x weight) -- 20.4022] x time / 4.184. Your weight must be in pounds, and the time of the exercise session must be in minutes.
Assume you weigh 131 lbs. and are 17 years old. Your heart rate during a 33-minute exercise session averaged 127 bpm. Your calorie expenditure for the exercise session was [(0.4472 x 127) + (0.074 x 17) + (0.0574 x 131) -- 20.4022] x 33 / 4.184 = 356 calories.
Things You'll Need
- Heart monitor
- Bathroom scale
- Calculator
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