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How Many Calories can you Burn on an Electric Bike?
Some people seem to think that riding an e-bike is much like surfing a couch. The implication is that riding an electric bike requires expending no energy and burning no calories. Anyone who has tackled tough commutes on an electric bike knows how wrong that is! This post shows the surprising number of calories you can burn on an electric bike.
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I am exhausted after my 36 mile round trip commute, which includes huge hills and traverses three cities. My regular electric bike rides have definitely help me get healthier, and have caused me to lose 30 pounds so far. After all, most electric bikes (including mine) work on the Pedelec system – that is, they don’t work unless you do too!
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Riding an E-bike is Real Exercise
I bristle with fury when anyone compares my exhausting commute to sitting on a couch. My body tells me that it is major exercise. Now, I have the proof!
I have a friend, Ron Wensel, who is a brilliant engineer. Ron started designing Pedal Easy electric bikes after suffering four heart attacks. (You can read a review of his Pedal Easy bikes here.) Then he started asking the same question that has bothered many other people:
How Many Calories Can You Burn on an Electric Bike?
Ron used his engineering smarts to find out. He came up with proof that he could burn almost as many calories on an electric bike as on a regular bike.
Because of his heart constraints, Ron always uses a heart rate monitor while cycling. Here is a post about how to get fit with a heart rate monitor. He can still do group bike rides and even go on long-distance biking vacations with his wife. He just wears his heart rate monitor
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Heart Rate Monitor Records Prove that you Burn almost as Many Calories on an Electric Bike as on a Regular Bike
Being a scientist, Ron did some testing to see how many calories you can burn with an electric bike. He did the same ride two times, once with assistance and once without, and measured all the stats.
Ron’s heart rate monitor not only measured his heart rate – it also supplied some very interesting information about the calories he burned on the two bike rides. This graph shows both bike rides, with the number of calories burned on both rides.
Notice that when Ron used electric assistance, he burned up 444 calories. When he did the bike ride without electric assistance, he burned up 552 calories. So riding with electrical assistance resulted in burning only 20% less calories. Burning 440 calories in an hour is a big deal – done regularly, this kind of calorie burn could result in significant weight loss.