Modelling energy expenditure during cycling

Abstract

Nowadays, there is a strong trend to use cycling as a means of weight control or weight reduction by many weight-conscious people. These people are interested in knowing their caloric consumption while pedalling at some speed. Accurate measurements are possible through a laborious process of measuring oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide volume exhaled by using expensive equipment which requires skilled operators. However, accurate values are not crucial to the knowledge or health of weight-concerned people and estimated values should suffice this purpose. The estimation methods available in the literature contain some shortcomings. This paper presents a systematic methodology to estimate the caloric consumption while riding at submaximal levels, since near maximal levels are practiced by competitive cyclists only. The paper starts by enumerating and discussing the possible factors influencing the caloric uptake through a literature review. The most influential factors are used to develop a mathmatical model, based on experimental data, by using two approaches, i.e. multiple linear regression and linear programming. It is believed that the latter model fits the data better. Finally, an example is provided to show the utilization of the models.