How Many Calories are Burned During a Sprint Triathlon?

Understand your body’s needs when you know how many calories are burned during a sprint triathlon

Triathlon is among the most physically demanding and grueling sports. The race is divided into three parts – cycling, swimming, and running. Sprint triathlon is the shortest of all triathlon distances and a great way for new triathletes to enter the sport. CapTex Triathlon’s sprint distance includes a 750m swim, 12.3-mile bike ride, and 5K run. Those are also typical of other sprint distances. While sprint distances are shorter, you still have to properly fuel your body. Proper nutrition is important no matter the distance. In order to know what your body needs, you have to understand how many calories are burned during a sprint triathlon.

Keep in mind that everyone burns calories at different rates. This is meant to be a general guide to understanding your needs. Here’s some more helpful information on what to expect at your first triathlon.

Pro tip: this information can be useful if you’re participating in The Rookie Triathlon’s super sprint distance. It consists of a 300m swim 11-mile ride, and 2-mile run.

Calories burned

For triathletes, several factors play a role in how many calories are burned during a race. The three biggest contributors are bodyweight, distance covered, and pace during the event. The majority of charts will have a ‘calories burned’ per time segment/per round, keeping in mind your body weight. The calorie values typically include the individual’s basal metabolic rate (BMR).

For a 750m swim, a person weighing 150 pounds would burn approximately 682 calories each hour. The sprint typically takes up to 20 minutes, so the total would be around 85 to 227.

It takes about 38 minutes to complete the 12.3-mile bike ride. For a person that weighs 150 pounds, the calories burned covering this distance would be around 682. A person weighing 120 pounds would burn around 545. Pro tip: safely practice eating and drinking on the bike and avoid traffic at these 3 cyclist-friendly Austin locations.

A 5K run usually takes 45 minutes for an average triathlete to complete. When you run at this particular pace, you burn up to 15 calories a minute. This equates to approximately 675 calories. That amount could increase for triathletes that run faster.

Things to keep in mind

If this is your first time training for a triathlon, you might notice a rise in your regular appetite. This will typically happen in the first few weeks of training and workouts. Why does this happen? An increase in appetite results from the body burning a greater number of calories than normal. However, when you’re training for your sprint triathlon make sure you don’t overeat. This will undo the benefits of your daily workouts. There are workout calculators that you can use to track the number of calories burned and monitor your calorie consumption. These aspects are critical for maintaining your weight goals. Additionally, practice these habits of successful triathletes to crush your training and hit your goals!