Calories burned?

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Calories burned?

Postby bsignorelli » Nov 12, 2005 9:47 pm

Does anyone know what the "average" amount of calories burned during a cave trip is?

I know there are many things that contribute to this number (temperature of the cave, crawling, wet or dry, surveying or not, etc) but I was curious if anyone had done a study in the past?

If it's been published in the Journal (probably isn't cause it would be useful and easy to understand :)) could you provide a volume and issue number?

Thanks!

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Postby Wayne Harrison » Nov 13, 2005 8:54 am

Dont' forget to add the calories you take in during a cave trip, with the various high-calorie snacks and cave food you eat.
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Postby Grandpa Caver » Nov 13, 2005 10:28 am

Out of couriosity I looked at two online calculators giving calories burned in thirty minutes of activities that might compare to caving such as walking, backpaking, stair climbing, ECT. After averaging the results for a 150lb person I came up with a rough estimate of 468 calories burned per hour.

Ok, all that figuring wore me out. Going back to my lazy sunday armchair caving now.
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Postby Doug McCarty » Nov 13, 2005 5:43 pm

I can't imagine that any average number would be very useful because there are so many variables involved. It's like saying the average head has a million hairs on it. Maybe so, but not my head.

I measure my energy expended by how sore I am the next day--and right now I feel like I burned about 10,000 calories yesterday. I can't figure out how I keep this gut.
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Postby bsignorelli » Nov 13, 2005 6:26 pm

Yeah...I too looked at the calories for backpacking and hiking and stuff and came to the conclusion that caving is probably in the 500 calorie/hour range.

Amazing to think we expended around 7,000 calories on a 14 hour trip into Chinn yesterday!

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Postby Caver1402 » Nov 13, 2005 7:44 pm

I imagine we burn more caving than just the combo of walking, back-packing, and hiking put together. There is no landscape quite like that of a cave. Between scrambling over rocks, lugging through deep mud, and twisting the body in unusual ways I know I use different muscles than normal and in more strenuous ways than other simple recreational activities ... of course, I'm no scientist though. 7,000 calories does seem like a lot when you put together a 14 hr trip at the calculated 500 calories an hour!! Ha ha, if that's a true number, over a caving weekend we can eat whatever we want and be rest-assured to have burned it off! Butterfingers make an excellent cave food I've recently discovered ... although there is an uncanny similiarity between getting cave grit in your mouth and the consistency of a Butterfinger. :grin: The Butterfinger just tastes a lot better!!
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Postby Ralph E. Powers » Nov 13, 2005 8:54 pm

I would think that if it's a horizontal cave and a long trip within (i.e. Wind, Jewel, Mammoth, etc.) that calories are burnt to a good rate. But when you consider the effort of a deep vertical cave or one with multiple drops (i.e. Lechuguilla, Main Drain, etc.) I would imagine more calories are burned there. Probably more so in a cold alpine cave due to the layers of clothing just to keep warm and the resultant over-heating caused by exertion of frogging up a 400' deep pit.
All I know is I've managed to keep a trim 145 lbs by (vertical) caving here in Utah. This is also attributed to the hikes getting to and from the caves themselves.
Without the possibility of death, adventure is not possible. ~ Reinhold Messner


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Postby bigalpha » Nov 14, 2005 9:10 am

hey ralph, how often do you cave? man, i play ultimate frisbee ~5 hrs a week and can't manage to keep that slim. maybe i should do more caving. heh.
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Postby Lava » Nov 14, 2005 9:35 pm

I've been enjoying a fairly rigorous exercise routine for the last year or so, consisting of biking to work and school, sit-ups, chin-ups, pull-ups, and push-ups. I can tell that my muscles are very toned and strong, however, they are all under a very thin layer (like 2mm) of fat. I'm under the typical body mass index for someone of my height, so it's not like I'm fat at all, but what I'm getting at is that unless you exercise to the point of ridiculous fatigue and starvation, you'll never get that ripped look or entirely lose the fat until you eat a certain way.

Eating is key. If you're a typical human, you can exercise all you want, but you'll never be able to see the creases between each ab muscle until you get your daily caloric intake below a certain level. One thing that I have been doing that does help is to have a healthy snack that I can eat all day long. You burn more calories by continuously digesting a bite or two (of something HEALTHY) every now and again than you do by stuffing your face three times a day. When we were cave people we didn't eat three meals a day, we foraged and ate all day long. This keeps your metabolism going hot and keeps you thinner. So, suprise, it's okay to snack, as long as its healthy. It also supresses your appetite during meals so you eat smaller portions.

So like, that's my experience.
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Postby bigalpha » Nov 15, 2005 9:12 am

Eh, I don't know about excersizing to the point of ridiculous fatigue and starvation. In high school, I ran cross country for a year, and two years of track. During that time, I weighed a slim 150, with barely any body fat. I was toned, and like you say, my muscles felt toned and strong. I wouldn't say that I excersized to the point of ridiculous fatigue and starvation.

And I can't say that I ate all that great (lots of pizza and mac and cheese and the like). I think it's merely targeting those muscles you want to see, working them properly, and burning more calories than you eat.

What kind of routine do you have? Do you run, or only bike? How many reps and sets do you do?
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Postby Caver1402 » Nov 15, 2005 4:01 pm

My mom told me -- gee thanks, mom -- that it runs in our family not to look toned even when we are because when our muscles are in a relaxed state, they are super-relaxed, more than normal folks. My uncle who is a black belt in karate and a hardcore scuba diver is extremely fit, but he'll never achieve that "cut" look. I look much better than I did 1 1/2 yrs ago, but I'll never look like Linda Hamilton did in Terminator 2. :shock:
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Postby Lava » Nov 15, 2005 4:30 pm

bigalpha wrote:In high school, I ran cross country for a year, and two years of track. During that time, I weighed a slim 150, with barely any body fat. I was toned, and like you say, my muscles felt toned and strong. I wouldn't say that I excersized to the point of ridiculous fatigue and starvation.


Right, but you were in high school. I could eat anything I wanted in high school and wouldn't gain any body fat. The methods I mentioned are for 25+ people whose metabolisms have slowed down.
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Postby Wayne Harrison » Nov 15, 2005 6:22 pm

For my weight, I should be 6 feet 5 :roll:
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Postby Bruce Rogers » Nov 15, 2005 7:38 pm

Not sure just how many calories one burns while caving, however, I once read that someone figured out that extreme Big Wall climbing (5.13, A6) - such as that in Yosemite Valley - would burn nearly 5,000 calories an hour . . .

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Postby Cheryl Jones » Nov 16, 2005 12:11 am

http://www.nmclites.edu/wellness/caloriesburned2.htm
But then I can't believe that rappelling would use 563 calories/hr for a 155lb person! Seems a lot less work than, say, running 5 miles. Maybe walking back up to the top of the rappel is included...

An interesting calculator that adjusts calories based on your weight: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm Caving is not on the list, however!

Looking at these charts, it is hard to imagine that a rock climber could use 5,000 calories an hour. Even bike racing won't get you close to that.

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