Garmin/Strava calories issue
Discussion
I've got a bit of an issue with Garmin and Strava disagreeing over calories burned.
Yesterday, my fiancee and I went for a ride. She's a newbie so nothing too full-on. 22 miles, 1h45 moving, 12.3mph average, 1138ft ascent. Nice gentle couple's Sunday spin with a cake stop, I'm more of a serious cyclist than her so I didn't really break a sweat.
I was recording on just one device, my Edge 830. She did not record at all. When my Edge synced to Strava, the calories burned was 1200 cal, exactly the same as the number in Garmin Connect. Seems high for a gentle pace. (Compare that to a 10k running race in sub 47 minutes where I was absolutely knackered afterwards...my Garmin Vivoactive running watch had that down as only 842 cal, yet for me it was a significantly harder effort!)
I then tagged her on Strava as my ride partner, however her Strava feed shows as her only burning 546 cal, under half of mine for the same ride from the same device. She was not running her own computer or phone, just simply being tagged off my data.
What are we doing wrong and which one is more likely to be right, as that's a massive discrepancy!
I have checked our weights in Strava (and on my Connect) and they are correct (we are both fit and in the healthy BMI range). Is it anything to do with the "activity class" setting in Connect? I'm fairly active, running 2-3 times a week any cycling once a week, but mine is at zero. However there does not seem to be any kind of guide as to how I should set it?
Thanks!
Yesterday, my fiancee and I went for a ride. She's a newbie so nothing too full-on. 22 miles, 1h45 moving, 12.3mph average, 1138ft ascent. Nice gentle couple's Sunday spin with a cake stop, I'm more of a serious cyclist than her so I didn't really break a sweat.
I was recording on just one device, my Edge 830. She did not record at all. When my Edge synced to Strava, the calories burned was 1200 cal, exactly the same as the number in Garmin Connect. Seems high for a gentle pace. (Compare that to a 10k running race in sub 47 minutes where I was absolutely knackered afterwards...my Garmin Vivoactive running watch had that down as only 842 cal, yet for me it was a significantly harder effort!)
I then tagged her on Strava as my ride partner, however her Strava feed shows as her only burning 546 cal, under half of mine for the same ride from the same device. She was not running her own computer or phone, just simply being tagged off my data.
What are we doing wrong and which one is more likely to be right, as that's a massive discrepancy!
I have checked our weights in Strava (and on my Connect) and they are correct (we are both fit and in the healthy BMI range). Is it anything to do with the "activity class" setting in Connect? I'm fairly active, running 2-3 times a week any cycling once a week, but mine is at zero. However there does not seem to be any kind of guide as to how I should set it?
Thanks!
You'll only get relatively accurate calorie data on both Strava and Garmin Connect if you use a Power Meter, Heart Rate monitor or even both. Then it takes a bit of time to 'learn' your particular relationship between heart rate and power/speed, then it can make a good guesstimate based on general data.
You can only really compare calorie figures with rides of your own as the variance is too much to compare to others really.
You can only really compare calorie figures with rides of your own as the variance is too much to compare to others really.
Doesn’t look particularly off to me.
Your 10k example has you burning 17.9 calories per minute whereas your ride has the figure at 11.4 calories, so approximately 50% more calories burned per minute for an activity which you say felt a harder effort and clearly was.
Based on the info you’ve provided, your fiancé will be significantly lighter than you and therefore will burn less calories, albeit if there’s no heart rate or power data for her ride, it’s largely a guess being made by Strava.
Your 10k example has you burning 17.9 calories per minute whereas your ride has the figure at 11.4 calories, so approximately 50% more calories burned per minute for an activity which you say felt a harder effort and clearly was.
Based on the info you’ve provided, your fiancé will be significantly lighter than you and therefore will burn less calories, albeit if there’s no heart rate or power data for her ride, it’s largely a guess being made by Strava.
OK thanks guys, that's interesting. I'm 79kg, she's about 63kg, so I am a bit surprised I'm burning double the calories to lug that additional weight around.
I've actually ordered an Edge 1030 plus (mainly because my eyesight is getting worse all the time and I can hardly see my 830 any more!) along with a Garmin chest strap HRM, so it will be interesting to see if the calorie burn data is significantly different after I start riding with that. My other half will then have my 830 so it may be her burn will go up for any given ride.
I will report back!
I've actually ordered an Edge 1030 plus (mainly because my eyesight is getting worse all the time and I can hardly see my 830 any more!) along with a Garmin chest strap HRM, so it will be interesting to see if the calorie burn data is significantly different after I start riding with that. My other half will then have my 830 so it may be her burn will go up for any given ride.
I will report back!
mooseracer said:
MrBarry123 said:
Doesn’t look particularly off to me.
1200 calories for a 1hr 45 easy ride is well off.1200 calories is huge for comparison I’d have to swim over 200 lengths flat out to achieve that and someone would have to help me out of the pool after! there’s no way he burned that many on a gentle bike ride.
Thought I’d share a little update now that I have bought an HRM, it’s a huge difference!
Pre HRM…
The same ride with a Garmin HRM, very similar pace…this time only half the calories!
For perspective, a big ride yesterday with the HRM. It really shows just how far out the original data (top picture of these three) was. Why is it so far out Garmin?
Pre HRM…
The same ride with a Garmin HRM, very similar pace…this time only half the calories!
For perspective, a big ride yesterday with the HRM. It really shows just how far out the original data (top picture of these three) was. Why is it so far out Garmin?
As you noted, strava rider weights could accommodate some of the difference in calorie reporting between you and your fiancees ride which originated from the same measuring device, but the size of the difference has me flummoxed.
I’m sure you’ll know this already but it’s worth saying. Unless you use a PM, calories on Strava will still be a vague estimation when using a hr monitor. Hr will vary depending on fatigue, stress etc so isn’t always truly representative of effort. Also your hr ranges will be very individual. Let’s say we both are very well trained and go for a hour ride at 200w, and experience the same level of exertion. My hr may be for example, 15bpm different from yours. Did I work harder? No. But calories burnt are simply a function of the power you expended. At 200w for an hour we both burned 200x3.6 = 720 calories.
Weight comes into it of course, and to go the same speed, you being heavier than me would likely have you pushing more watts, so you’d nearly always burn more calories than me for same speed.
Conversely, I may be very unfit and might be busting a gut to ride at 200w with my HR at my max, you could be cruising at 200w without breaking a sweat. We’d still burn the same calories for an hour. (I’m being very simplistic and ignoring aero, and terrain and physiological efficiency etc).
I mentally group my rides into a handful of categories so I know roughly what I should expect to be expending based on feel and years of monitoring using a PM. An easy ride for me would be 650 hr , VO2 max intervals about 1000 p/hr. There are some riders on here who are very talented and fit, and their numbers would be very different.
I’m sure you’ll know this already but it’s worth saying. Unless you use a PM, calories on Strava will still be a vague estimation when using a hr monitor. Hr will vary depending on fatigue, stress etc so isn’t always truly representative of effort. Also your hr ranges will be very individual. Let’s say we both are very well trained and go for a hour ride at 200w, and experience the same level of exertion. My hr may be for example, 15bpm different from yours. Did I work harder? No. But calories burnt are simply a function of the power you expended. At 200w for an hour we both burned 200x3.6 = 720 calories.
Weight comes into it of course, and to go the same speed, you being heavier than me would likely have you pushing more watts, so you’d nearly always burn more calories than me for same speed.
Conversely, I may be very unfit and might be busting a gut to ride at 200w with my HR at my max, you could be cruising at 200w without breaking a sweat. We’d still burn the same calories for an hour. (I’m being very simplistic and ignoring aero, and terrain and physiological efficiency etc).
I mentally group my rides into a handful of categories so I know roughly what I should expect to be expending based on feel and years of monitoring using a PM. An easy ride for me would be 650 hr , VO2 max intervals about 1000 p/hr. There are some riders on here who are very talented and fit, and their numbers would be very different.
Edited by thepritch on Friday 1st September 07:59
Edited by thepritch on Friday 1st September 08:00
thepritch said:
As you noted, strava rider weights could accommodate some of the difference in calorie reporting between you and your fiancees ride which originated from the same measuring device, but the size of the difference has me flummoxed.
I’m sure you’ll know this already but it’s worth saying. Unless you use a PM, calories on Strava will still be a vague estimation when using a hr monitor. Hr will vary depending on fatigue, stress etc so isn’t always truly representative of effort. Also your hr ranges will be very individual. Let’s say we both are very well trained and go for a hour ride at 200w, and experience the same level of exertion. My hr may be for example, 15bpm different from yours. Did I work harder? No. But calories burnt are simply a function of the power you expended. At 200w for an hour we both burned 200x3.6 = 720 calories.
Weight comes into it of course, and to go the same speed, you being heavier than me would likely have you pushing more watts, so you’d nearly always burn more calories than me for same speed.
Conversely, I may be very unfit and might be busting a gut to ride at 200w with my HR at my max, you could be cruising at 200w without breaking a sweat. We’d still burn the same calories for an hour. (I’m being very simplistic and ignoring aero, and terrain and physiological efficiency etc).
I mentally group my rides into a handful of categories so I know roughly what I should expect to be expending based on feel and years of monitoring using a PM. An easy ride for me would be 650 hr , VO2 max intervals about 1000 p/hr. There are some riders on here who are very talented and fit, and their numbers would be very different.
Yep, agreed. I probably should have pointed out on those two screen grabs above (near identical rides), my fiancee's...nope, hang on, now wife's data isn't in there at all. That's just me, using a Garmin, top one without HRM, bottom one with.I’m sure you’ll know this already but it’s worth saying. Unless you use a PM, calories on Strava will still be a vague estimation when using a hr monitor. Hr will vary depending on fatigue, stress etc so isn’t always truly representative of effort. Also your hr ranges will be very individual. Let’s say we both are very well trained and go for a hour ride at 200w, and experience the same level of exertion. My hr may be for example, 15bpm different from yours. Did I work harder? No. But calories burnt are simply a function of the power you expended. At 200w for an hour we both burned 200x3.6 = 720 calories.
Weight comes into it of course, and to go the same speed, you being heavier than me would likely have you pushing more watts, so you’d nearly always burn more calories than me for same speed.
Conversely, I may be very unfit and might be busting a gut to ride at 200w with my HR at my max, you could be cruising at 200w without breaking a sweat. We’d still burn the same calories for an hour. (I’m being very simplistic and ignoring aero, and terrain and physiological efficiency etc).
I mentally group my rides into a handful of categories so I know roughly what I should expect to be expending based on feel and years of monitoring using a PM. An easy ride for me would be 650 hr , VO2 max intervals about 1000 p/hr. There are some riders on here who are very talented and fit, and their numbers would be very different.
Edited by thepritch on Friday 1st September 07:59
Edited by thepritch on Friday 1st September 08:00
It does seem a shame that the data is so far out. Strava and Garmin know my weight, and have years and years of ride data to work with (including a load of smart trainer data that has PM figures), so for the estimation to be so monumentally out is a real shame. I've been on a real weight loss programme this year (it worked, 91 kg down to 80kg) but a lot of that has been simple calorie tracking, so for all that time the calorie deficit has been nowhere near what I thought it was.
Interestingly I've just run a 10k this morning with my new Apple Ultra watch for the first time, and it's got my burning about 200 calories more that I usually would with my old Garmin Vivoactive. Same course, same pace, same time, same weight...
Hard-Drive said:
nope, hang on, now wife…..
It worked, 91 kg down to 80kg
Firstly, congratulations! I’m biased, but I think marriage is flippin awesome! I married my best mate, and we celebrate our 24th anniversary on Monday. We still hate it whenever we are apart for any reason. Wish you and your wife many years of happiness together.It worked, 91 kg down to 80kg
And secondly…. We’ll done on the weight loss. (Was that tied to the wedding?
Seriously, that’s properly hard to do! Good going! Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff