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Article Date: January 14, 2009
By: Ryan O'Brien
Looking for a way to calculate your total calories expended for any activity based on average heart rate,... me too!
Well, you are in luck. I have combed the internet looking for information on this very subject and have discovered the following formulas by Brayden McDonald:
Using VO2max:
- Men: C/min = (-59.3954 + (-36.3781 + 0.271 x age + 0.394 x weight + 0.404 x VO2max + 0.634 x HR))/4.184
- Women: C/min = (-59.3954 + (0.274 x age + 0.103 x weight + 0.380 x VO2max + 0.450 x HR)) / 4.184
Without VO2max:
- Men: C/min = (-55.0969 + 0.6309 x HR + 0.1988 x weight + 0.2017 x age) / 4.184
- Women: C/min = (-20.4022 + 0.4472 x HR - 0.1263 x weight + 0.074 x age) / 4.184
Knowing your VO2max will add a significant degree of accuracy to the numbers. This formula does NOT reflect BMI which would add another degree of accuracy. These formulas are based on a study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences in the March 1, 2005 issue (see references below). The study found that calories expended have near lineal relationship with heart rates between 90 & 150 beats per minute. Use of this form will give you a rough estimate of calories expended and is a good tool to gauge the accuracy of your heart rate monitor if it calculates calories. Generally I have found the numbers using this formula to be lower than that calculated by my HRM (Timex IronMan Triathlon Heart Rate Monitor Watch).
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