The number of calories* you can burn using an exercise bike depends on the intensity of the workout and how long you use the machine for. In order to give you a good comparative idea of how many calories you can burn on an exercise bike, we are going to take a look at the figures based on half-an-hour workout sessions at different intensity levels.
*The unit of measure commonly called a “calorie” is actually a “kilocalorie” – however “calorie” is so commonly used, we will use the shorter term here.
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Exercise Bike Calorie Calculator
Enter your weight, exercise type & time taken into the calculator, for an estimate of how many extra calories an exercise bike can help you burn:
Total Calories Burned:
Before using any data obtained using this calculator, please consult with your doctor!
Light-Intensity Exercise
Let’s take a look at how many calories you can burn on an exercise bike when you use the machine for a half-hour at a low-intensity pace. In all honesty, a low-intensity workout does not have a significant impact on an exercise bike. It keeps your body relaxed, which does not make your metabolism work faster in 30 minutes.
That being said, using an exercise bike can work well if you have a heart condition or an injury that limits your mobility. It improves your ability to stay active if you have a heart condition and at the same time, it doesn’t affect the severity of your condition.
It also improves your insulin sensitivity and the lipid levels in your blood. So while a low-intensity workout on the exercise bike might not burn a lot of calories, you will still stand to gain some health benefits if you have certain types of heart conditions.
Medium-Intensity Exercise
Let’s suppose you weigh 180 pounds and you exercise on an exercise bike for 30 minutes at moderate to vigorous intensity. Using the estimate given by our research-based calculator, you can estimate the energy you burn on an exercise bike at around 291 kilocalories.
A medium-intensity workout will involve more activity than a light-intensity exercise on an exercise bike at a steady pace for the 30 minutes you will be using the machine. It is not a strenuous activity, but it does help burn a significant number of calories because of the amount of time spent on the machine.
High-Intensity Exercise
And now let’s take a look at high-intensity workouts on the machine. According to the calories burned calculator, you stand to burn as much as 600 calories in a 30-minute workout. At high-intensity settings using the exercise bike, you are not supposed to go for a steady high-intensity workout. Instead, you should opt for intervals of extra strenuous exercise for bursts of 30 to 60 seconds at a time with a few moments of rest in between (interval training).
This will help you to complete a proper 30-minute session on the exercise bike without exhausting yourself.
How to Maximize Calories Burned On an Exercise Bike
A lot of people assume that they burn the same amount of calories on an exercise bike and a treadmill. The unfortunate truth is that you are not using all of the muscles that you do on a treadmill to maintain balance on the exercise bike, since your feet are in constant contact with the machine.
In order to maximize the calories you burn on the exercise bike, there are a few minor tips you can follow:
- High-intensity interval workouts are the best for burning more calories than steady and light-intensity workouts in the same amount of time.
- Do make it a point to push yourself further, especially if you start getting too comfortable on the exercise bike.
An exercise bike is a great machine for working out and burning excess calories. Make sure you keep these tips in mind if you want to burn more calories and use the machine more effectively.
Further Reading
All figures used in this article & the calculator are derived from research published at the Compendium of Physical Activities.
