How to Calculate Calories Needed for Cycling
Serious cyclists need to adjust their diet to be sure they are getting enough calories to sustain their intense activity. The number of calories needed for cycling will depend on how fit you are. Health professionals call your level of fitness your resting metabolic rate. This is the number of calories you burn while just sitting at rest. Once you calculate your resting metabolic rate, you can use a cycling calories-per-pound number to find out exactly how many calories you need to cycle.
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Things You'll Need
- If you are pregnant or heavily muscled, the resting metabolic rate calculator will be less accurate.
- Calculator
- Scale
Instructions
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Determine Your Resting Metabolic Rate
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1
Weigh yourself on a reliable scale. For the most accurate results, weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Write down your weight in pounds.
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2
Write down your age and gender next to your weight.
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3
Track your daily activities for at least one week. Note how many hours per day you spend sleeping, sitting, walking around, doing household chores and doing strenuous yard work.
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4
Include any exercise you do during the week on your chart. Note down the type of exercise, the duration each day, the intensity and the distance.
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5
Visit an online metabolic rate calculator such as the one at Stevens Creek to input your data (see Resources below). Input your data, then click on the "calculate calories" button to find your resting metabolic rate.
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6
Write down your resting metabolic rate. This tells you how many calories you burn each day. You will need more than this amount to have the amount of energy needed for cycling.
Determine Calories Required
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Make a note of how fast you are going when you are cycling. The faster you are going, the more calories will be needed.
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Multiply your weight by .28. This will give you an idea of how many calories you are burning when you cycle at speeds between 4 and 5 mph.
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Multiply the number of calories you burn while cycling by the number of miles that you plan to cycle. This will tell you how many more calories of energy you need for your ride.
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10
Add the number of calories needed to cycle to the number of calories you calculated that you needed for your resting metabolic rate. This number will tell you how many calories you need to be able to go through your day and to finish your bike ride.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Calculate your resting metabolic rate every few months. As you become more fit, your basic metabolic rate will rise and the amount of calories needed for cycling will also go up.
