Burning Calories When Hiking

[1ADAM12]

How many calories do you think one burns/hour in the winter hiking a 4k peak?

This conversation came up this past weekend when we were in the Santa Range in the ADK.

Thanks,
Adam

 

[grouseking]

Pretty sure it depends on how much you weigh, how fast you are going, the grade, etc etc. For a 290 + pound guy like me, I bet you I burn close to 1000 calories an hour.


edit: Here is a calorie counter: Not sure how accurate it is...I put in my weight and said hiking for 8 hours, and it came up with 6327 calories. That sounds like a good average.

http://www.besthealth.com/besthealth/wellness/cal_burn.htm

 

[bikehikeskifish]

At 320 watts, and 90 steps per minute on the stairmaster, I burn about 1000 calories in 60 minutes. I'm 6'3" and 205 pounds. I am no way doing 320 watts steady for hours at a time while hiking.

Tim

 

[Little Rickie]

Get on a tredmill, set it on the max incline, start slow and when you hit what you feel un your climbing effort look at the cal burn readout. It's surprising.

 

[Little Rickie]

Pretty sure it depends on how much you weigh, how fast you are going, the grade, etc etc. For a 290 + pound guy like me, I bet you I burn close to 1000 calories an hour.


edit: Here is a calorie counter: Not sure how accurate it is...I put in my weight and said hiking for 8 hours, and it came up with 6327 calories. That sounds like a good average.

http://www.besthealth.com/besthealth/wellness/cal_burn.htm

How tall are you?

 

[Chip]

based on experience, I doubt those calculations. if they were true I'd lose about a pound everytime I do a decent hike, which doesn't occur. I know you'll say "But you're eating or drinking more hiking and afterwards" etc, but I really don't think that's happening either. In fact I'm pretty sure I eat and drink more on any given Couch Quarterback Sunday than on a day that I'm hiking.

I'd cut those calculations in half if you're trying to figure something out.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

At 320 watts, and 90 steps per minute on the stairmaster, I burn about 1000 calories in 60 minutes. I'm 6'3" and 205 pounds. I am no way doing 320 watts steady for hours at a time while hiking.

Tim

For those who are curious, I once computed, using some formula somewhere, that my ITT (individual time trial) HR of about 165 and power output (watts) of about 270 worked out to 970 calories per hour. My HR for the stair master is more in the 135-145 range for 320 watts, or so says the machine. The ITT was much harder, both perceived, and per my heart rate monitor.

So, the takeaway from this is any number based on a formula is really just a guess. Much like Max HR = 220 - age. I happen to be close but many I know are much more like 240-250 - age. The only real way to measure power is with a powertap hub - to get true wattage. It can be inferred via cadence, speed, gearing, etc., but it is only a guess.

Tim

 

[una_dogger]

I have worn a polar heart rate monitor on hikes.
On a winter conditions (packed snowshoe trail) hike of Monroe, Ike, Pierce, up Ammo down Crawford, my monitor said I burned 3900 calories, for the same conditions it came up with 4500 calories for Madison and Adams via Valley Way.

That said, I have a hard time believing those numbers. I figure I am burning about 10-12 calories per minute on steady climbs and probably in the range of 300 calories an hour on ridgewalks and descents, based on intensity and my weight (135#). That's about 600-720 calories per hour on the way up. I think that's about right given my heart rate is generally in the 165-185 bpm range on climbs and I tend to not take breaks other than quick ones to catch my breath, sip water or eat a bar. I estimate I burn more like 2800 on a hike.

On days of back to back long day hikes I have lost about a pound to a pound and a half every other day. The way I look at hiking, is a good, long day hike where caloric intake is kept to a minimum (face it, most of us have enough stores to make it through a hike on 600 calories or one Gu pack every hour, approx, without risking starvation)..one good long day hike a week is like the equivalent of working out every day at the gym for a week. Hike four days in row like that (28-40 hours of hiking in four days) and you are getting the amount of exercise most of us get in a month at the gym. I try to limit my caloric intake to 600 calories on hikes, and try to avoid the after hike pig out. (try to..)

My point, hiking one strong day per week and not overeating that day, combined with 4 60 minute work outs during the week, is a great recipe for weight loss. Just my 0.02 and totally anectdotal info.

 

[grouseking]

How tall are you?

About 6 foot 2 1/2 inches. I'm pretty big these days..meaning obtuse.

 

[adktyler]

I usually burn an average of 1,200 per hour at my average rate of hiking. I'm 150-155 pounds, and hike between 2 and 3 miles per hour on average. But it totally depends on who I'm hiking with, the total distance, the level of incline, weight of pack, and terrain. There are lots of factors to consider, as Sabrina and Tim demonstrated.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

I've gotten pretty skeptical of those calorie calculations over the years, in part because the more years I hike the fewer calories I consume on a hike. I've read a few articles by researchers that confirm that. Coupled with the fact that our metabolism isn't constant over time, and for most of us it slows down as we get older - all the more reason I can't expect to eat with abandon after a full day of hiking and still maintain my svelte figure.

Did I burn more calories yesterday when I did 10 miles and 3,500' elevation than today when I'm more sedentary? Of course, but my slightly protruding paunch warms me to watch the calories today.

 

[una_dogger]

Of course, but my slightly protruding paunch warms me to watch the calories today.

Aha! So this is why we only see pictures of you with Brutus in front of you!

 

[Paradox]

Aha! So this is why we only see pictures of you with Brutus in front of you!

I don't know about that, but it is why I only post pictures of Zippy. They say the camera adds 10 pounds, I guess I must carry about 6 cameras.

 

[una_dogger]

I don't know about that, but it is why I only post pictures of Zippy. They say the camera adds 10 pounds, I guess I must carry about 6 cameras.

6 cameras, are you sure you don't make Zippy carry them? Her backpack looks awfully full of something!!!!

 

[Neil]

I usually burn an average of 1,200 per hour

I'm pretty sure that 20 cals/minute is impossible to maintain for more than a few minutes.

My estimate, (after looking at it a bit), is that most of us burn about 10-12 cals/minute averaged over the day on a typical NE peakbagging / dayhike.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Aha! So this is why we only see pictures of you with Brutus in front of you!

Yup. The side views may give a different perspective ...

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I usually burn an average of 1,200 per hour at my average rate of hiking. I'm 150-155 pounds, and hike between 2 and 3 miles per hour on average. But it totally depends on who I'm hiking with, the total distance, the level of incline, weight of pack, and terrain. There are lots of factors to consider, as Sabrina and Tim demonstrated.

How do you calculate this? This number does not sound believable to me -- see my earlier two posts about the stairmaster and cycling.

1,200 calories per hour is inline with Tour de France riders. The average rider is in the 7000-10000 calorie range (http://www.scienceline.org/2008/07/25/blog-mahan-cheeseburgers/). An average stage is 200 km or 4-6 hours. For a mountain stage, it may be 6-8 hours, and close to 10K calories expended. Unless you are an elite athlete engaged in a very high level of activity, 1200 calories per hour is very hard to maintain for any length of time. Not impossible, but difficult. I'd probably need to up the stairmaster from 320 watts to 360-400 watts, to get to 1200 calories/hour.

Me, as a cat 4 amateur, in full ITT mode, was (by some now unknown formula) supposed to be about 970/hour.

Tim

 

[adktyler]

How do you calculate this? This number does not sound believable to me -- see my earlier two posts about the stairmaster and cycling.

1,200 calories per hour is inline with Tour de France riders. The average rider is in the 7000-10000 calorie range (http://www.scienceline.org/2008/07/25/blog-mahan-cheeseburgers/). An average stage is 200 km or 4-6 hours. For a mountain stage, it may be 6-8 hours, and close to 10K calories expended. Unless you are an elite athlete engaged in a very high level of activity, 1200 calories per hour is very hard to maintain for any length of time. Not impossible, but difficult. I'd probably need to up the stairmaster from 320 watts to 360-400 watts, to get to 1200 calories/hour.

Me, as a cat 4 amateur, in full ITT mode, was (by some now unknown formula) supposed to be about 970/hour.

Tim

I could be wrong, I suppose. I've never actually calculated it for a full day of hiking, but using my schools heart rate monitor for a class project it put me at 1,151 calories an hour for my three on-trail tests and full-incline treadmill work. I had an average hiking speed of 3.5 mph, and an average trail-running speed of 5.5 mph. My heart rate averaged 184, and maxed at 202. I did this test for 2 hour periods, and then just carried over those stats to a day of hiking. I'm thinking solo hiking, here, since when I hike with other people I'm usually going at a more moderate speed. Thinking about an "average" day of hiking, then, it is probably a fair amount lower than 1,200. But how much so, I'm not sure.

Oh, and I take a lot of breaks.

Does that sound more accurate? Am I missing something? I'm certainly just an armature at calculating these things. It would be nice to have a somewhat accurate number.

Ok, thinking about it more, the calorie calculation would only be accurate if I took no breaks. My rest breaks for actual calculation time would probably fill at least 10 minutes of the hour, therefore the numbers would be off.

I'm still thinking that close to a 1,000 is not too far off. I usually loose between 3-6 pounds on a long day of hiking.

-------

Final edit: I talked to a cross country friend and hiking friend who's trail run with me, and he agrees with you Tim and Neil, 1,200 is impossible. He said that with my average hiking speed and distance, he'd say 800 calories per hour is more accurate. I guess it's nice to have friends who know what they're talking about.

P.S. Seeker, he said that gym machines are dumb, lol.

 

[Seeker]

FYI, the weight most of us lose when hiking is pure fluid. Most women can tell you how much fluid weight can be a factor when estimating one's true weight over a month.

And don't believe the gym machines--they are notoriously inaccurate for measuring much of anything.

I'd bet an RD could give us an accurate estimate, and I happen to be friends with at least two, but neither post here.

I think Sabrina has it right. I never benefit from a full weekend of activity in terms of weight loss if I pig out after and I also am not paying attention to what I eat all week long.

 

[John H Swanson]

400-600 calories depending heartrate and total weight being moved (body, clothes, and pack) This assumes were are talking about a average hourly total across a full day of hiking - not an instantaneous peak value or the best hour in a day