Typically, when determining the calories you burn during a given exercise or activity, such as riding a stationary bike, you would consult a chart of common activities that lists the calories burned for a certain time period and find entries such as "running for one hour burns 600 calories." The problem with this method is the chart makes gross assumptions about the person engaging in the activity. A better method to learn the calories burned using a stationary bike is with an individualized calculation process.
The Metabolic Equivalent Task
Calculating calories burned in exercise involves first calculating your resting metabolic rate (RMR) and then multiplying it by the metabolic equivalent task (MET), of the activity in question. When multiplied by your hourly RMR, MET numbers give you a personalized estimate of calories used in an activity or exercise.
METs for Stationary Bicycling
You can find a list of the MET values for hundreds of exercises and activities at the University of South Carolina School of Public Health website, where the research was completed to create the most recent "Compendium of Physical Activities" in 2000.
These are the METs for riding a stationary bike: riding at 50 watts, or very light effort has a MET of 3.0; riding at 100 watts, or light effort has a MET of 5.5; riding at 150 watts, or moderate effort has a MET of 7.0; riding at 200 watts, or vigorous effort has a MET of 10.5; riding at 250 watts, or very vigorous effort has a MET of 12.5.
Determine your RMR
You can estimate your resting metabolic rate manually or use an online RMR calculator.
One way to calculate it manually is with the John J. Cunningham equation: RMR = 370 + 21.6 x FFM in kg, where FFM is fat-free mass, also known as lean body mass (LBM). For example, assume you weigh 73 kg and have a body fat percentage of 18 percent. Your fat-free mass would be 73 kg x (1 - 0.18) = 60 kg. Your RMR would be calculated as 370 + 21.6 x 60 = 1,666. This is the number of calories you burn at rest in 24 hours, so your hourly RMR would simply be 1,666 / 24 = 69.4.
Calculate Calories Burned in Stationary Bicycling
To calculate the number of calories burned using a stationary bike, multiply your hourly RMR by the appropriate hourly MET value. For example, suppose you rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes with vigorous effort. Your hourly calorie burn would be RMR x MET = 69.4 x 10.5 = 729, so half-hour at that rate would burn 365 calories.
Caveats
In making these calculations, understand that all of these concepts, equations and tables are based on statistical averages and confidence intervals, so they don't apply to everyone. If you suffer from a chronic illness, autoimmune disorder or metabolic disease, there will be some variation from the norm. For most people, however, this calculation can be an excellent approach to determining the calories used in stationary bicycling or any other activity.
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