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I have a certain watch that can be linked to a heart rate monitor. It then will give me the amount of calories based on the premise that I am running. However, obviously the watch can be used also for monitoring my heart rate during other activities, such as biking.

Given this setup:

  • does the calorie consumption only depend on the heart rate or also on the mode of movement?
  • assuming it depends on the mode of movement, can I "convert" my calories that were calculated based on the assumption that I was running into those for biking? A rough estimate is sufficient as we're talking hundreds of kcal, so I can subtract a bit more to make a conservative estimate.
  • can you please give the sources for your answers?!


There is or isn't a difference between running at 160 bpm for 10 minutes and biking at 160 bpm for 10 minutes? If there is, how to estimate from one mode of movement for another?

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1 Answer 1

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Heartrate, along with other factors (size, gender, age), will give you a close approximation of calories burned.


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Alright, so vigorous movement, no matter what mode will lead to an estimate. There is no difference between running at 160 bpm for 10 minutes and biking at 160 bpm for 10 minutes? Thanks already for the answer and +1 :) –  0xC0000022L May 18 '12 at 16:30
Correct, at least from the information I've seen. –  Wayne In Yak May 18 '12 at 22:20
thank you, will accept :) –  0xC0000022L May 18 '12 at 22:21

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