30 min
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Max cal on the bike
Pretty simple one, but I’m mentioning it for a couple reasons:
- I want to keep track of my calories on this – I’ll add to this post if I do this again
- I’m pretty shocked at how well I did. I was on the bike for 30 minutes about a month ago, and I got either 325 or 365 calories (I can’t remember, but it was one of those numbers). Today I got 459 calories.
All throughout the ride, was mentally calculating where I would end up. I was two minutes in, and had 30 calories. I did the math and it was … 450 calories. I thought, “No, there’s no way I can hold that for 30 minutes…”
But I did. Really impressed with myself, honestly. I hate long stretches on the bike.
Update
Added on
Got 477 cals, which is 95.4% of 500, which is the goal.
Update
Added on
Got 483, which is 96.6% of 500.
I was actually going for meters. I friend posted 15,111m in 30:00. I pushed really hard, but only got 14,780. I just happened to switch over and check the cals too.
Update
Added on
Got 492 cals and 14,945m.
Update
Added on
Finally! I shattered my PR with 517 calories and 15,271m. I’m done with this one for a while.
I hit all the marks. At the 3:00 mark I was at exactly 50 calories, and kept pulling away – I was about 102 at 6:00, then 155 at 9:00, etc. I kept the pace above 1,000 cal/hour for most all of the ride.
I think I hit 500 with more than a full minute to go.
Update
Added on
Did it again, 20 months later, and got 507 calories, which I’m really, really happy with. I was only 10 calories short of the number I put up almost two years ago, on my fifth attempt.
I got to thinking that this is probably the purest form of cardio test we have at the gym:
- There is no technique involved whatsoever. There is literally nothing you can do to “trick” the bike into racking up more calories. I’ve learned that on the Assault Bike, you can lean forward to bring your pecs and triceps into it more, but the BikeErg has no such option.
- It uses very large muscle groups, which means it’s not about muscle fatigue but more about pure cardiac capacity.
- Body weight doesn’t matter. The effort is the same no matter what you weigh.
- At 30 minutes long, it’s an extended period of time. It’s not like it’s just measuring your ability to sprint or something.
Really thrilled with the number I put up today.