I've always read that running burns about 100 calories per mile. That is a very arbitrary number. There are so many factors involved and each individual is different. I've had three different watches that read my heart rate from a heart rate monitor and calculated calories burned. My first one in 2005 was a Polar and it seems like it showed 50-70 calories/mile. Then I got a Garmin in 2010 and it usually was around 90-100 calories/mile. I got my Suunto in 2013 and it is 50-80 calories/mile.
I ran three times last week and uploaded my file to Suunto Movescount, TrainingPeaks, Strava, and SportTracks. Yes, I am a total data geek, what can I say!
Tuesday 7.12 miles:Suunto 411
TrainingPeaks 1,137
Strava 891
SportTracks 623
Thursday 4.2 miles:
Suunto 302
TrainingPeaks 585
Strava 511
SportTracks 400
Saturday 22 miles:
Suunto 1,117
TrainingPeaks 3,467
Strava 2,676
SportTracks 1,944
On the low end, Suunto gave me 51-72 calories a mile, while TrainingPeaks gave me 139-160 calories a mile! That's more than double, with Saturday's number being more than triple! That's very scary to think about if you rely on "calories burned" to determine your calorie intake for the day. Since I haven't seen much movement on the scale this year, I'm pretty sure my Suunto is the most accurate. I can only imagine what my scale would be screaming at me if I had allowed myself all those extra calories!
Do you pay attention to "calories burned" after a workout to determine what you consume for the day?
I am guilty of eating whatever I want when I run, it's not doing my waistline any favors!
ReplyDeleteI think it's okay to replenish what you've burned, but determining what that number truly is is the key!
DeleteI used to be very interested in how many calories I burned during a workout, just for tracking purposes. I used a Polar heart rate monitor for a while for that reason, but I don't anymore. It's so hard to figure out what count is accurate, even when using a device like that!
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way, Lisa. I was a member of Weight Watchers for years and tried to figure out how many extra points I was earning, but was never really sure. There are so many different formulas out there and I think sometimes it just adds confusion! Anyone who says, "I run, so I can eat whatever I want" has a much higher metabolism than I do!
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