This page will be expanded as trials get underway and our studies are refined and improved. This page is meant to be a general source of information on how we gather information. See each trial for the specific methods employed.
Calories Burned
It is often difficult to quantify how much work is being done in a physical task. In addition to measuring time and a qualitative exertion score, we can estimate calories burned during a trial by tracking the participant’s heart rate. This can be converted, roughly, into calories burned. We do not have a VO2 meter and must use a simplified formula:
Male: ((-55.0969 + (0.6309 x HR) + (0.1988 x W) + (0.2017 x A))/4.184) x 60 x T
Female: ((-20.4022 + (0.4472 x HR) – (0.1263 x W) + (0.074 x A))/4.184) x 60 x TWhere:
HR = Heart Rate (beats/minute)
W = Weight (kg)
A = Age (years)
T = Time (hours)
In most cases, the participant is Scott, a 37-year-old male weighing 70 kg (155 lb; 5 ft 9 in, 22.9 BMI). As this information is linear, we can take an average of the heartbeats over time instead of computing calories at intervals of higher or lower intensity. This all means that the following chart can give an idea of calories burned per hour at what average heart rate:
| Beats/Min. | Calories/Hr. |
| 60 | 59 |
| 65 | 105 |
| 70 | 150 |
| 75 | 195 |
| 80 | 240 |
| 85 | 285 |
| 90 | 331 |
| 95 | 376 |
| 100 | 421 |
| 105 | 466 |
| 110 | 512 |
| 115 | 557 |
| 120 | 602 |
| 125 | 647 |
| 130 | 693 |
| 135 | 738 |
| 140 | 783 |
| 145 | 828 |
| 150 | 874 |
Heart rate is measured by a chest-strap monitor linked by bluetooth to a smart phone using the Strava app to record hearbeats and duration of labor.