When you first start riding a Peloton bike, you’ll probably want to start burning calories as a priority! But how many calories does Peloton burn on average per session?
You may be able to burn between 250 to 600 calories on a Peloton bike, but this all depends on a few individual factors, such as weight, age, and exercise intensity. Below, we’ll take you through everything you need to know.
Key Takeaways
- You can burn between 250 to 600 calories on a Peloton bike, depending on your weight, age, exercise intensity, and duration.
- Peloton offers various types of workouts that can help you burn more calories, such as HIIT, Power Zone, Tabata, Bootcamp, Lanebreak, and Climb.
- Peloton also has a calorie tracker and a heart monitor that can help you measure your calorie burn and fat burner zones more accurately.
- You can increase your calorie burn by changing your posture, resistance, and speed on the bike, as well as adding strength training and other exercises to your routine.
- You should take rest days to avoid muscle fatigue and injury, and follow the advice of your trainer or Peloton guide.
What Factors Affect the Calories I Burn on Peloton?
Your calorie burn on a Peloton depends on your physical profile, how hard you exercise, and how long you pedal for. Let’s dig deeper into what this means for your next ride.
Weight
The more that you weigh, the more calories you will burn during exercise. This accounts for both muscle mass and fat. Muscle burns more calories on average!
Typically, the heavier you are, the more effort it will take to move. But you can’t use weight as the single factor in calculating your calorie burn. Your Peloton classes and rides will change this calculation significantly (see below)!
Age
The older you get, the more your muscle mass decreases. Muscles burn more calories than fat during exercise, which can lower your expected calorie burn.
As you get older, exercising for long periods or at high intensity can also get harder. Your ability to burn calories, therefore, may reduce dramatically. For example, you may burn more calories at the age of 25 than 50.
Exercise Intensity
The more intensive your exercise, the faster your heart beats. This means you’re burning more calories, faster, than at a slower pace. However, you’ll only be able to exercise at an intense pace for so long!
Exercise intensity can also lead to calorie burn long after you stop riding. That’s because your heart rate is likely still elevated for some time. You’re feeling the afterburn!
Exercise Regularity
It’s simple math – the more you exercise, the more calories you burn each day. You elevate your heart rate and encourage your body to burn more than your “basal” metabolic rate.
You’ll burn more calories over a week if you ride three times compared to a single session.
Diet
Some dietary choices may help speed up your metabolism and calorie burn. For example, various studies show that a diet rich in protein can lead to faster metabolization.
Calories and Time Elapsed – A Quick Guide
Want to know how long you should ride Peloton for to burn the most calories? The table below shows you how much an average person can expect to burn while riding Peloton at a moderate pace.
| Time Elapsed | Calories |
| 20 minutes | Between 150 and 250 calories |
| 30 minutes | Between 300 and 700 calories |
| 45 minutes | Between 600 and 1100 calories |
Please note the above data doesn’t consider your weight or the Peloton workout you choose. For example, if you’re at a healthy weight for your height and gender, a 30 minute Peloton ride will likely burn toward the lower end of the scale.
The above data comes from my personal experience! The best way to work out your average per minute Peloton ride burn? Just get on your Peloton and use the calorie tracker!
This feature will help you calculate average Peloton app calories for workouts to come. Build your own table based around your body!
Is Peloton’s Calorie Tracker Accurate?
The Peloton calorie tracker is highly accurate. I use it frequently to track my progress during all kinds of Peloton workouts! However, always make sure to use the heart monitor attachment while riding.
Measuring your heart rate will allow Peloton to provide a more accurate picture of your calorie burn. This, combined with your weight and BMI data, will ensure you know exactly how well you’re doing from session to session.
What Are Some of the Best Peloton Rides for Burning Calories?
While the calories you’ve burned will vary depending on how long you ride, the following Peloton workouts provide the most “bang for your buck.”
These exercises can help you achieve high rates of calories burned during short periods of riding. As always, know your limits! If riding is causing you pain or you struggle to keep pace, stop.
Always ask for help from a personal trainer, doctor and/or Peloton instructor if you’re struggling.
HIIT and Hills
HIIT (high intensity interval training) and Hills rides are great for burning calories in short sessions. HIIT typically focuses a lot of energy in short bursts, allowing you to keep burning after exercises finish.
This particular Peloton ride offers intervals where you’ll stand up on the bike. It also combines climbing with sprinting.
Power Pro Cyclist
Peloton’s Power Pro Cyclist ride lets you burn up to 1,000 calories per trip! These sessions last for at least 45 minutes to a maximum of an hour.
This high-endurance class lets you push hard, stop, and push further. It’s a form of HIIT cycling that can test and improve your stamina. It isn’t always the best choice for beginners!
Power Zone Endurance
Power Zone training on Peloton lets you focus energy based on different levels of heart rate. Using the heart monitor attachment, riders can push themselves across one of seven zones. These increase with effort as you push harder, and your heart rate increases.
For many people, zone four proves to be highly challenging! Peloton advises that many riders only manage to ride at this power zone for up to an hour.
Tabata Ride
Peloton offers Tabata Ride classes to riders looking for a 2:1 HIIT experience. Traditionally, Tabata lets you ride for eight periods of 20 seconds, with another 10 seconds of rest inbetween. It’s an extremely intense exercise that can run for as short as four minutes!
However, Peloton’s Tabata classes run for a little longer. You can ride Tabata-style via Peloton for up to 45 minutes if you wish!
Bootcamp
The Peloton Bike Bootcamp brings together intensive strength and cardio exercises. Peloton refers to these sessions as their “complete workouts”!
Peloton recommends checking out Bootcamp rides as complements to everyday classes. They state it’s ideal for combining different types of training into your schedule.
Lanebreak
Lanebreak is Peloton’s gamified workout system that lets you ride to music. In the style of a videogame, you ride to different resistances to collect points and beat high scores.
Lanebreak’s gamified rides help you burn more calories without focusing on them. You can also choose from various music playlists to help you focus on exercise.
Here’s Lanebreak in practice:
Climb Classes
Peloton’s climb classes mimic cycling uphill by changing resistance during your rides. This means you’ll work harder the longer you ride and burn more calories as you switch up resistance.
This Peloton workout is also great for working the hamstrings, glutes, and quads. A Peloton class built around climbing encourages you to ride rather than stand. As this is generally tougher to do, you can expect to increase the number of calories burned.
Tips for Burning More Calories on Peloton Rides
As well as following some of the above exercises, you can try the following to increase your calorie and fat burn as you go. If you want to burn off as many calories as possible, try changing your posture and using a few extra gadgets.
Track Your Heartrate
Run Peloton’s PT tests and work out your fat burner zones with the heart monitor. You’ll burn fat if you train more in these zones, and the calorie tracker will be more accurate, too.
Try Interval Training
Interval training such as HIIT (and exercises explored above) can be great for burning more calories during shorter periods. This may help with weight loss depending on your body composition.
Do Other Exercises
Try to mix up your exercises to tone other muscles and burn fat. Peloton is great for burning calories but it’s healthy to walk, weight train and run alongside. Consider CrossFit, too.
Peloton’s Bootcamp cycling class range is ideal for adding strength training to your schedule.
Increase Resistance
It’s basic math – more resistance means you’ll be working harder and therefore burning more calories in a shorter amount of time. Try to gradually increase resistance, and follow the guides and processes suggested to you by your trainer or Peloton guide.
Boost Your Pedaling Speed
Increasing your pedaling speed will help you raise your heart’s BPM as you’re working harder. For example, you may do this several times during a 20 minute Peloton ride if you’re working to a HIIT plan, or a high and low intensity workout.
The key here, however, is to gradually increase your speed. Even advanced riders know throwing themselves into high-speed exercise should be a gentle process, even if you’re used to it!
FAQs
Do Short Peloton Rides Burn Calories?
Yes, short Peloton rides can burn calories, but you may burn fewer calories if you use low intensity settings. You’ll always burn calories, no matter the ride length!
Should I Ride a Peloton Every Day To Lose Weight?
You can use Peloton everyday to lose weight, but you should take rest days to recuperate. Otherwise you may experience muscle fatigue.
Conclusion
Whether you’re focusing on general weight loss or want to burn belly fat, your Peloton bike will be your best friend! We hope you’ve found this guide to Peloton ride burn useful.
Remember, of course, that many different factors affect how many calories you burn. Consider your weight, your age, how often you ride, and your lean body mass. Do you have more muscle than fat, for example?
Be sure to use our simple table as a guide, and create your own workout plans. The average person can expect hundreds of calories burned in a 30 minute Peloton ride or longer.
Know someone who wants to up their calorie-burning game? Don’t forget to share our guide!