Context for Calories

When biking/skiing/rowing you may sometimes see calories on your board instead of meters.

To be clear, this number has literally nothing to do with how many calories you're burning, rather it is a measurement of power output - how much work you're doing. The faster and harder you're working, the calories click away faster, not because you're burning more (maybe you are, but that's not the point here). But because your power output, or wattage, has increased.

So why use calories instead of meters?

Honestly, it's just a different measurement available to us. Sometimes the numbers are more digestible and it can be easier to figure out a proper pace.

Just this morning, someone was doing a circuit and the final exercise was 16 calories on the AirBike. I gave them a goal of 2 minutes, and we were easily able to breakdown their pace.

16 calories in 2 minutes is 8 calories per minute, which is 4 calories every 30 seconds, or 2 calories every 15 seconds.

While we can breakdown meters like that, it's easier with calories.

What matters more than meters vs calories is the context of the workout. You can do a 10 calorie bike sprint in 10 seconds, or you can easily cruise for 10 calories per minute. Just like you can do 500m in 40 seconds all out, or do a repeatable pace taking 1 minute.

If you're unsure of how you should be pacing, be sure to ask what the context of the workout is. Should you be cranking hard, pacing or flirting with your limit?

Justin Miner

@justinminergain