how many calories do you burn on a exercise bike

How Many Calories Do You Burn on an Exercise Bike?

I hear you! Perhaps some people (Hello J.Lo) have hours to spend exercising and using a personal trainer to get at those problem areas. For most of us, however, we want to burn the maximum number of calories whenever we manage to find the time to exercise.

The number of calories you burn on an exercise bike depends on several factors, but mainly on your weight and intensity. A 130-pound person will burn more than 400 calories by pedaling at moderate intensity for 1 hour. In comparison, a 205-pound person working out with the same intensity on an exercise bike will torch around 650 calories.

If you’ve read my blogs before, then you know that old Kathleen here isn’t going to sugarcoat anything. Today, I’m going to lay it on the line, and explain not only how many calories you can burn, but also how you can burn more calories and boost your metabolism for hours after you have left the gym.

If you’re at the gym, then chances are that they use spin bikes, or assault bikes as they are sometimes called. If not, you might have an exercise bike at home. Some are better than others, but I know that when things get tough, you can always count on your good old stationary bike to get your heart rate up when you can’t (or don’t want to) hit the gym.

Are you ready? Let’s talk about stationary bikes, calorie burn, and how to get the most out of your exercise time.

How Many Calories Does the Average Person Burn on an Exercise Bike?

I’m going to get right down to business and the heart of the matter.

how many calories can you burn on a stationary bike?

The problem is that how many calories an “average” person can burn on a stationary bike is a lot more complicated than it sounds. Your actual calorie burn will depend on several factors, including:

  • Your weight
  • Your age and sex
  • What kind of bike you are riding (Old-fashioned stationary bike? Mountain bike? Assault bike?)
  • What pace or intensity is your workout?

This is what makes an “average” person’s calorie burn so difficult to determine.

However, it’s fair to say that you (and nearly everyone) can burn at least 300 calories on a stationary bike in 30 minutes if you work hard enough to break a sweat and huff and puff a bit, which would be about 16-19MPH.

Of course, if you are very overweight, you will burn even more calories.

One of the great things about a stationary bike is that you don’t need any special instructions, no special know-how, no special equipment, and the chances of you hurting something is next to nothing.

Perhaps that’s why exercise bikes are always a popular choice. You just sit down and GO! In a few minutes, you’ll be sweating and breathing hard and watching those calorie burn numbers grow on the meter (if your bike has one).

how many calories does an exercise bike burn?

By the way, those displays that read your calorie burn are not particularly accurate. As you can see, the number of calories a stationary bike burns can vary tremendously. You will probably find this calculator to be a bit closer to the actual number of calories you are burning.

This calculator, for example, shows that a 150-pound person riding at even a moderatpae ce will burn 253 calories in about 30 minutes. Ride just a bit harder and you will hit that 300 calorie mark. Hit up that bike for a full hour and you can knock back 600 calories! That is like burning off a Snicker’s candy bar and a half! (Not that you should indulge, but just to give you an idea of how many calories that is)

You can burn even more calories if you’re riding your mountain bike outdoors or using an assault bike.

Regardless of which type of bike you plan on using, the fact remains that, besides a nice butt, stationary bikes and all types of bicycles can burn a major number of calories.

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Will I Lose Weight Cycling on a Stationary Bike 30 Minutes a Day?

I definitely feel your pain when it comes to losing weight. Why is it SO easy to put on 10 pounds, but it’s a lot of hard work to get rid of it?

how many calories do you burn riding a stationary bike

Like the question above, the answer here will vary depending on how overweight you are and how intense your stationary cycling is.

Let’s be honest with each other- if you are going to watch a soap opera and drink a Coke while you slowly pedal away on that bike, you are really just wasting your time.

It’s OK to watch TV while you ride (I do it lla the time), but you need to be sure that you’re breaking a sweat. If you want to burn a major number of calories, you need to really sweat for the entire 30 minutes. Don’t forget to warm up and cool down, friend.

Believe it or not, spending 30 minutes on a stationary bike, even if it’s a recumbent bike, will burn about twice the number of calories than a brisk walk does.

There are plenty of good reasons to get your butt on that bike and put in some serious pedal time, including weight loss and firming your lower body.

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Besides Burn Calories, Does Indoor Cycling Tone Your Legs?

Oh my, does it ever! Yes, that is one of the benefits of exercise bikes, they tone your lower body like crazy!

Everyone wants a nice butt, and riding that bike will help you achieve not only a huge caloric expenditure, but it will tone your calves, thighs, and behind like nobody’s business!

how many calories does 30 minutes of biking burn

Who doesn’t want those beautiful legs and butt to show off at the beach or in a tight pair of jeans? Come on, even guys are using booty bands to improve their rear view!

Work those legs and go crazy burning calories by using that exercise bike every day!

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Besides Weight Loss, Are There Other Benefits to Riding Exercise Bikes?

You bet your cycling behind there is!

There are many good reasons why so many people love riding their bikes besides burning calories.

 

Some of the many benefits that you will get from time spent biking include:

  • Riding your bike for 30 minutes most days of the week can improve your cardio-respiratory performance by more than 30 percent!
  • Riding for 150 minutes per week can burn more than 1,000 calories on average, which is a great way to lose weight.
  • Getting regular exercise, such as riding your stationary bike, can lower your risk of early death.
  • You also lower your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
  • You lower your risk of colon cancer morbidity by around 20% with 1 hour of daily cycling.
  • Regular bike riding also lowers your risk of developing a variety of other cancers.

You can go bike riding with your kids, your SO, take regular spin classes, or just get on your old stationary bike at home.

Where and who you ride with isn’t as important as DOING IT!

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Weight and Intensity Matter!

As I’ve mentioned before, the average number of calories you burn will depend tremendously on two factors- how much you weigh now and how hard you work out on that exercise bike.

The more body fat you have, the more calories you will burn, period. Check out this chart to see the differences at a glance:

User Weight Calories Burned Using a Stationary Exercise Bike for Different User Weights & Intensity* 
(calories per hour)
Very Light/Almost No Resistance Light Intensity Moderate Intensity Vigorous Intensity Extremely Vigorous Intensity
130 pounds  177  325  413 620 738
155 pounds  211 387 493 739 880
180 pounds 245 449 572 858 1022
205 pounds  279 512 651 977 1163

*Data Sourced From NutriStrategy

You might also want to consider the difference between a stationary bike and other types of exercise or activities. You want to get the most calorie burn for your buck, right?

I mentioned before that calories burnt biking far exceed a brisk walk, but how about other types of exercise?

Check out this table:

Calories Burned By a 155-lb Person Doing Different Exercises / Activities at Moderate Pace or Intensity**(calories per hour)
Swimming, treading water 281
Carpentry, general 246
Tennis, doubles 422
Brisk Walking, 3.5 mph 267
Jumping rope 704
Running, general 563
Stationary Cycling  493

**Data Sourced From NutriStrategy

Pretty amazing, huh? Of course, playing sports, such as basketball, will burn a huge number of calories, even more than you can burn biking, but unless you can play basketball for an hour, riding an exercise bike is a quick and effective workout.

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Are Exercise Bikes Good for Pregnant Women?

Believe it or not, exercise bikes are some of the best ways for pregnant women to get in some exercise whenever they can. Stationary bikes are low impact, so they are completely safe for pregnant women.

If you have hemorrhoids, you might want to try walking, rather than biking, or buy a new seat for your exercise bike that will be more gentle on your behind.

how many calories do you burn riding a bike for 30 minutes

This is where having a great exercise bike at home really pays off! You don’t have to spend time at the gym or wait for a bike or try to schedule a class, you can simply hop on and start pedaling. Even if you are tired after 15 minutes, that’s fine. You can do another 15 minutes later in the day and you’ve gotten in your recommended exercise dose for the day!

You can find more info about some really terrific, high-tech exercise bikes here.

The Final Takeaway

There are plenty of good reasons to get your butt back on your stationary bike! Even if you haven’t ridden in quite some time, even if you’ve never really been much of a biker before, you can improve your health and lose weight simply by spending about 30 minutes 6 days per week (or 1 hour 3-4 days per week) pedaling away on your stationary bike (or mountain bike or whatever type of bike!)

how many calories does a 20 minute bike ride burn?

I love biking outside when the weather is nice, but when it’s cold and yucky outside, I put on a show that I love and pedal away at home.

You can’t beat an exercise bike for fun and physical fitness. Don’t have space for a bike? Check out these models that fold and can fit in a closet or even under your bed!

If you can’t manage 30 minutes to start with, try breaking it up into 10-minute sessions three times per day. ANY time you spend exercising is better than sitting on your tush! There are lots of online videos that allow you to watch beautiful scenery go by as you bike, so in a way, you can ride your stationary bike all over the world!

Some newer stationary bikes come with screens and programs to help you get started and make your exercise journey so much more exciting! Let’s face it, some of us would love to go mountain biking, but we don’t live anywhere near the mountains!

Work yourself up slowly, and over time, you’ll start seeing major improvements in your body, and it will be SO worth the effort!

Live happy and healthy, friends, because life is too short for anything else!