Spinning Calorie Calculator

Enter your weight, time spent spinning, and power or intensity to discover your calorie burn.

Your weight:

Intensity/Power:

watts

Calorie Burn & Spinning

Introduction

Our spinning calorie calculator predicts calorie burn for a variety of intensities based on a combination of your weight, spin duration, and either power output or perceived effort. It can be used for any spin session, whether carried out individually or as part of a group.

Spinning versus Cycling

At its heart, spinning is cycling. However, the differences in environment and specific mechanics mean that calorie burn calculations also differ. This calculator takes into account the specific intensities and mechanics of spinning.

Environmental and Physical Factors

The outdoor cyclist must contend with hills, wind, varying terrain, changing gears, and balancing. This is in marked contrast to the stability encountered during a spin session.

Method of Measurement

Effort while spinning is typically measured in terms of power output (i.e. watts), as opposed to cycling outdoors, where time, distance, and speed are the main focus.

Outdoor Cycling Calorie Calculator

Spinning Calorie Burn Calculation

METs

This calculator uses METs. MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task. METs are used to calculate how much energy is expended for a particular task, while taking into consideration a person's weight and activity duration. One MET is roughly the energy needed to sit still and perform no activity. METs for other activities are then calculated with respect to this single MET baseline. For example, spinning at 150 watts requires roughly eight times as much effort than being at rest. Thus, this spinning activity is equal to 8 METs.

METs and Calories (kcal)

METs are converted to Calories (kcal) with the following formula:

Calories (kcal) = activity (METs) × weight (kilograms) × duration (hours)

If we assume an 8 MET activity carried out for 1 hour 30 by a person weighing 75 kilograms, we get the following Calorie burn:

8 × 75 × 1.5 = 900 Calories

Spinning Power & METs

We calculate the METs for spinning by taking values from the 2024 Compendium of Physical Activities Reference List for Cycling.

In cases where a MET value shows a range of power outputs, we simply assign the midpoint of that power range to the MET value.

If METs are not available or suitable for a specific intensity then we use linear interpolation to derive an appropriate value.

Spinning Intensity

For those using more basic spinning equipment we provide the option to specify a spinning "intensity". These commonly-used spinning terms are mapped to power outputs, using entries in the compendium as a guideline.

Most spin classes will average the middle value, "Tempo / Moderate Climb", which is set at 160 watts.

Intensity Power
Warm-up / Flat Road 75
Endurance / Steady Pace 115
Tempo / Moderate Climb 160
Heavy Climb / Out of Saddle 215
Max Effort / Sprint Interval 300

It's important to consider that perceived effort will change depending on the length of the session. For instance, spinning for one minute at 100 watts will not feel very demanding for most, but spinning for two hours at the same intensity would be very challenging.

As a guideline, choose an intensity that matches roughly what you'd feel comfortable maintaining for 20 to 30 minutes.