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Very large variance in "calories burned" on near identical workouts, any explanation?

I did a TrainerRoad/Sufferfest video Tuesday evening and was a little caught off guard when I uploaded it to GarminConnect. It stated I burned 1,346 Calories and June 26th I did an almost identical ride that states I burned 1,758 Calories. And I really do mean almost identical, here are the numbers:

[table="width: 500"]
[tr]
[td][/td]
[td]June 26th[/td]
[td]July 7th[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Duration[/td]
[td]1:25:33[/td]
[td]1:25:23[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Avg Speed[/td]
[td]16.3 mph[/td]
[td]16.1 mph[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Avg Power[/td]
[td]171 W[/td]
[td]172 W[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Avg HR[/td]
[td]151 bpm[/td]
[td]148 bpm[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Max HR[/td]
[td]180[/td]
[td]180[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Avg Cadence[/td]
[td]86 rpm[/td]
[td]87 rpm[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Distance[/td]
[td]23.25 miles[/td]
[td]22.86 miles[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

My weight has changed from 195 lbs to 191 lbs in that time, but I really don't see that causing a 23% drop in Calories burned. I mean the two workouts are really close in all numbers except Calories so I was wondering if anyone had an explanation for such a big variance.

Here's a direct link to the comparison page of the two activities: Link.

0 Dugiflopper over 10 years ago

Don't get too caught up in the Calorie burn for any one particular activity being "off" when compared to another. There is no way with these devices to precisely determine Calorie burn. When you total up the Calories for a few hundred activities, the highs and lows will likely average out to just about right.

If you want consistent numbers then just use a simple formula.