Calories burned during a ride (strava issue)

[Texas_don]

I went on a ride yesterday with my wife and went on the same ride today by myself. Both rides almost identical of each other except for the intensity. How did I not burn a lot more calories?

20 mile 1 hour 37 minute with average speed 12.3 mph. Calories Burned 563

20 mile 1 hour 14 minutes with average speed 16.1 mph. Calories Burned 586



Thank you!

 

[dabac]

Lower intensity x longer time = higher intensity x shorter time

In plain language, the shorter time cancels out any extra burn caused by the higher intensity.

 

[Texas_don]

Makes sense, thank you for the reply!

 

[Abbas Rizvi]

When it comes to burning calories, you can do a few things.
1- Either increase the duration
2- Or Increase the intensity
But if you increase the duration then let it be known that any kind of exercise ( cardio related ) performed more than 25 mins would cause muscle catabolism so make sure whatever you do keep it below 25 mins.
And 25 mins is not the daily limit, it's the one time limit. So you can plan your sessions of 20 mins for 3-4 times a day

 

[Yojimbo_]

Strava calorie estimates are not very accurate - that's the reason.

I have a power meter so I measure KJ during my rides...and KJ are almost the same as calories. On a recent 111 km ride with about 800 m climbing I used 1957 KJ. Strava says I used 3460 calories....a huge overestimate.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

STRAVA and Garmin calorie 'estimates' are usually way off. As is their power 'estimates'. And their climbing 'estimates' whether barometer or waypoint based.