Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Can’t edit, but this was unnecessarily combative. What I should have said is that I do not understand this claim or the numbers presented.

An adult individual able to burn only 100 Calories/hours is not merely “unconditioned”, but quite ill.

Someone capable of burning 600 Calories/hour would be considered quite fit by most people (especially if they do this 2-3 times/week), but is also nowhere near maximum caloric burn per hour.



No worries and I should have been more descriptive. But since the context was within aerobic threshold and endurance, I was referring to the amount of calories burned from fat grams, per hour. Elite athletes can recruit energy from over 1g of fat per minute. At 9cal/g, we are looking at around 600 cal/hour. Poorly conditioned individuals (i.e. low thresholds) are less efficient and therefore their bodies resort anaerobic glycolysis much sooner.


That’s an interesting bit of info. I was not aware that the elite athletes were that much more efficient in releasing energy from fat. Makes sense, though. Thanks.




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2026 batch! Applications are open till May 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: