METs formulas

Mets And Calorie Formulas for the Concept2 Indoor Rower

For those who want to use the actual formulas used to generate our METs and weight-adjusted calorie charts, here are the formulas:

A) cal/hr = 300 + (4 x watts/1.1639 cal/watt-hr)

(1.1639 is simply a units conversion factor, from watts to cals)

B) wt-adjusted cal/hr = cal/hr - 300 + (1.714 x weight in lbs.)

(This formula corrects for the effect of moving a heavier or lighter body back and forth on the seat during the rowing motion.)

C) mets = (weight adjusted cal/hr)/(basal rate of calorie burn)

For basal rate, we used the standard 3.5 ml/kg-min for oxygen consumption at rest, and 5 calories per liter of oxygen. Converting this into lbs and hours, we get:

         basal rate of cal burn = weight x .477 cal/lb-hr

These formulas were derived using data from a study using the Concept2 Indoor Rower*, as well as generally accepted values.  As always with generalized caloric formulas, it is important to realize that the values generated can only be approximations since every body has its own efficiency.

* Bassett et al, Ball State University,  1983