Calories Burned Spinning Calculator

Estimate the number of calories burned spinning

Matthew Magnante, ACE
By
Matthew Magnante, ACE
Matthew is an ACE (American Council On Exercise) certified fitness professional who has had a passion for fitness since elementary school and continues to research and...
11 Min Read
Spinning Calories Burned Calculator
Spinning Calories Burned Calculator

Spinning Calories Burned Calculator

Spinning is a fun and challenging workout that replicated cycling and it can help users to both lose weight and improve their cardiovascular endurance.

Activities and minutes
  • Spinning class (spin bike)

How often you do this in a week.

A snack or a drink, for example. We work out how long it takes.

Example: 175 lb, 30 min

375kcal burned

333 kcal from the activity itself, plus 42 kcal your body burns at rest in that time anyway.

Enter your own weight and minutes above to replace this example.

Above resting

333 kcal

What the activity adds

Per hour

750 kcal

12.5 kcal a minute at this pace

To burn off 250 kcal

22 min

Counting calories above resting

3 times a week

1,125 kcal

999 kcal above resting, in 1 h 30 min

ActivityTimePer hourkcal
Spinning class on a spin bike9.0 MET, Compendium 0127030 min750375

Calories = MET x 3.5 x body weight in kg / 200 x minutes, rounded for each activity. Above resting uses MET minus 1, because 1 MET is what you burn sitting still. METs from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. The Compendium counts 3.5 ml/kg/min of oxygen as the resting rate for every body. Real resting rates vary with age, sex, height, weight and body composition, so treat these figures as an estimate for a typical adult, not a measurement of your own burn.

Related calculators

Calories Burned in Group Fitness Classes (Weight: 175lbs)

Calories each activity burns in 15 to 60 minutes at a body weight of 175 lb, from the MET in the second column.

ExerciseMET15m30m45m60m
Aerobics7.3152304456608
Pilates2.858117175233
Spinning9.0188375563750
Tai Chi3.369138206275
Zumba6.5135271406542
Yoga2.34896144192
Martial Arts10.3215429644858
CrossFit5.6117233350467
Bootcamp10.1210421631842
Circuit Training7.2150300450600
Aqua Aerobics5.5115229344458

What is The Calories Burned Spinning Calculator and How Does It Work? 

This calculator approximates the number of calories that someone burns spinning. It also estimates calories burned per minute. 

How does it do that? 

Firstly, the calculator determines your metabolic rate or metabolism according to your weight.

What does that mean? Keep reading for a more detailed explanation.

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If you take two people, one weighs 150 lbs and the other weighs 210 lbs, the person who weighs less will burn fewer calories during the same exact workout compared to the heavier individual. 

Why is that?

A calorie is a unit of energy and a heavier person requires more energy to move their bodies or to perform activities.

Think of it like how a larger vehicle typically uses up more fuel than a smaller one. Weight affects fuel consumption (the amount of energy used).

But this also means that the heavier person expends more calories in a rested (non-exercising) state.

This is also known as metabolic rate or metabolism. 

The calculator uses a formula to approximate resting calories burned and then it factors in the duration and workout intensity to guesstimate calories burned. 

How To Use The Calories Burned Spinning Calculator

The calories burned spinning calculator isn’t quite as simple to use compared to a lot of our other health tools. However, it’s certainly not difficult to navigate if you keep things simple. 

To ensure an easy experience for you, we’ve included step-by-step instructions in detail below. 

Step 1: Enter your weight and choose lb or kg.

Step 2: Choose a spinning class on a spin bike, a virtual cycling class at home, or a stationary bike. For a stationary bike, pick the watt band (25 to 80, 90 to 199, or 200 and up), then the watts your bike shows, or “Stationary bike, general” if it shows none.

Step 3: Type in how many minutes you rode.

Step 4: Did a class and then some easy minutes on a stationary bike? Add each part under “Add an activity” with its own minutes.

Step 5: Press Calculate!

 

What Is Spinning?

Spinning is a form of physical activity that involves using a spin bike (a type of stationary bike).

Stationary Bicycle In Gym
Stationary Bicycle in Gym

Unlike recumbent-style or upright exercise bikes, spin bikes more resemble the appearance and function of a racing road bike but in a stationary setup. Cyclists have traditionally used the spin bike as an alternative or training tool to replicate the cycling experience.

However, anyone can use a spin exercise bike in the comfort of their own home, and many even have built-in TV screens that allow users to follow along in virtual instructor-led sessions.

But in-person group classes are very popular around the world and many prefer the atmosphere of a gym or studio.

As for how long spin sessions last, well, it can vary as with any other form of physical activity. Typically though, the duration for a spin workout ranges from 20 to 90 minutes on average. 

Spin bike design and features

Spin bikes are operated via a flywheel that is heavier than those used for standard exercise bikes. This generally requires more effort by the user and makes spin bikes more suited toward intense workout sessions such as high-intensity interval training or HIIT.

There’s also no backrest, the seat has minimal cushioning, and the bike is designed so that the user leans forward or hunches over to grip the handlebars. The pedals are reinforced to support a variety of users.

It’s also important to mention that like other cardio machines, some spin bikes offer performance displays while others do not.

How Many Calories Can I Burn Spinning?

The number of calories that you can burn during activity depends on a few different factors such as your weight, exercise intensity, and duration, or how long you perform the activity. Therefore, this can highly vary.

But that’s the point of this calculator. You punch in the necessary details and it’ll give you a close estimate of calories burned spinning. 

However, we’ve provided a few examples of how our calculator will estimate calories burned. 

According to the calories burned spinning tool, a 125 lb person who takes a 60-minute spinning class will burn 536 calories. That’s about 8.9 calories per minute. 

On a stationary bike for the same hour, the same person would burn from 208 calories at 25 to 30 watts to 970 calories at over 325 watts. 

But let’s say a 185 lb person takes the same hour-long class. They will burn 793 calories. That’s estimated at 13.2 calories burned per minute.

On a stationary bike they’d burn from 308 calories at 25 to 30 watts to 1,436 calories at over 325 watts.

As you can see, how many calories you can burn spinning or doing any activity for that matter, will depend on a few different factors. 

There’s also been some research that’s found using the calorie counter on a lot of cardio machines overestimates calories burned by a significant amount.

So this is something to keep in mind especially if you’re trying to monitor your energy expenditure for weight management purposes.

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Spinning Exercise Bike

For example, when comparing the discrepancies between various cardio equipment (treadmill, stationary bike, stair climber), the elliptical was the most disappointing and by a long shot. The numbers on the monitor were overestimated by 42 percent. The stationary bike overestimated by about 7 percent, which may not be a huge problem.

This was determined from a study conducted by researchers at UC San Francisco’s Human Performance Center.  

Things like machine settings, elevation or incline, resistance level, form, machine design, quality, and machine age/wear and tear can affect the accuracy of measurement. 

Our calculator is designed to provide a reasonable estimate of energy expenditure during spinning sessions.

Can Spinning Help Me To Lose A Lot of Weight?

Spinning is a great low-impact cardio activity that can certainly contribute to the weight loss process. 

But how much weight you lose really and truly depends on your overall habits and approach to your goals. 

As long as you create a calorie deficit, and do it the healthy and proper way, you can lose weight. But many decide to go about it the wrong way. They’ll eat almost nothing and exercise for hours in an effort to shed fat pounds. 

This is a good way to be unhealthy and do damage that will impede your body’s ability to make progress anyway (an unhealthy body won’t function to the best of its ability). So you might as well do it in a sustainable way.

You want to first determine your maintenance calories, and then reduce your calorie intake, exercise more, or do a combination of the two. 

Use our weight loss calculator to determine the number of calories you should be taking in to lose weight.  

If you also weight train and want to maximize muscle gain and muscle maintenance as you knock off the body fat, our macronutrient calculator is a very useful tool.

It’ll recommend an ideal protein, carbohydrates, and fat intake for you. 

Read also: The Top 20 Simple Weight Loss Tips

How Many Calories Does Spinning Burn Compared To Other Forms of Cardio? 

As mentioned, there are many different variables that determine the number of calories burned between the different forms of cardio activity. Weight, intensity/pace, and duration are the biggest factors. 

If you’d like to compare estimates of calories burned during various activities, we offer a free calculator that includes a database of over 250 different exercises and activities. 

Also be sure to try out our other calculators below.

Get Your Spin On!

The calories burned spinning calculator is a helpful tracking tool.

Spinning is one of the best forms of cardio exercise. Not to mention, few people will find it to be a boring activity, especially when led by an instructor. Spin classes have become really popular and it’s a good choice especially for overweight individuals or those who like to mix things up.


If you have any questions or need further clarification about this article, please leave a comment below, and Mag will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Matthew is an ACE (American Council On Exercise) certified fitness professional who has had a passion for fitness since elementary school and continues to research and learn how to build muscle effectively through training and diet. He also loves to help others to achieve their fitness goals and spread the knowledge where needed. Matthew's other passions include learning about mindfulness, strolling through nature, traveling, and always working to improve overall.
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