PDA

View Full Version : Human Watts


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums

Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!



Holobarre
Fri, Jun-27-03, 06:13
. Sometimes it is interesting to look at human exertion in
electrical terms, such as a light bulb.

I have read that the maximum "sustainable" mechanical
power output is about 146 Watts, while running at
marathon-levels. I have calculated that a power-lifter
snatching his BW overhead generates a very short-term
3,000 watts (!!!!). If the powerlifter were to do this
every minute, he could in fact approximate the overall
calorie burn of the runner. Probably not too pleasant
tho, but then marathoning ain't too pleasant, either.

Weightlifting in general is quite under-rated as a
calorie burner, and while generally falling quite short
of marathon-type expenditures, is far superior to
half-assed aerobics, and vigorous weightlifting is in
fact roughly equivalent to slow-medium jogging, with far
more benefits,
IMO.

BUT HARK:

But another of Hogg's Calculations.

What is the light-bulb equivalent, in watts, of a
typical **BMR**, ie, calorie burn while totally
sedentary? If my conversions are correct, it goes
something like this:

Assume a BMR of 1,000 cals (proly low, but a good
round figger)

1 Cal (dietary calories) is actually 1,000 thermodynamic
calories, so 1,000 cals/day is really 1,000,000
"regular" calories. 1 cal=4.184 joules, so we are
burning 4,184,000 joules per day; a day is 24*60*60 =
86400 seconds; Watt is joules/second, and

Hogg's Grand Calculation: [the light bulb equivalent
of a totally sedentary person (or a
highly-concentrating Garrison or Cardone, say during
Chess, if they could learn the moves)] is

1000 cal BMR = 48.4 watts.

<applause> Thank you, thank you... no, no, it was *my*
pleasure...

If your BMR is 1200 cals, multiply 48.4 by
1200/1000, or 48.4 x
1.2 = 58 Watts, etc. Ball park: we could "run" a 60 W light
bulb 24 hrs a day with our BMR.

Furthermore,

If the mechanical output of a marathon runner is about
150 W, that represents a 25-33% metabolic efficiency,
which translates to 450-600 total watts produced by the
body in that effort. Add to that the 60 BMR watts, and
you have a very substantial 500-650 continuous metabolic
watts produced during a marathon run, which is the
better part of a full horsepower motor (746 watts).
1/4-1/3 hp motors are used to power large library-type
fans. Which is probably what Garrison and Cardone could
best be used for--blowing lots of air at the 150 Watt
level, in a liberry, while *others* read; Garrison could
do that in his, uh, sleep (BMR-- <huyuk>).

This is why, with just a few people in a room, it really
can get quite hot--multiply all those 60 W bulbs, plus
the extra due to milling around, etc. At a rough 100 W
total metabolic output per person, 20 people in a living
room is a substantial 2,000 W, 500 W more than your
standard electric heater going full tilt. But probably a
lot less then Garrison and Cardone blabbing full tilt.
Open the windows... please....

Well, file this away in your
what-I-need-to-know-in-case-I-am-kidnapped file. Might
could save yer life.
----------------------
Kristofer Hogg, ms, rd HoloBarre Rehab/Fitness/Stretching
Systems, Yonkers, NY Yeah, all my stuff is copywrited... and
copyrighted!
----------------------------------------------------------
----------

Billx
Fri, Jun-27-03, 06:13
A semi-competitive male cyclist/runner under the age of 50 can
easily produce 250 - 300 watts sustained for more than one
hour. I'm a 47 year old male and have no problem maintaining
this power level while training.

"HoloBarre Systems" <physical@erols.com> wrote in message
news:3EFB79C9.132D@erols.com...
> . Sometimes it is interesting to look at human exertion in
> electrical terms, such as a light bulb.
>
> I have read that the maximum "sustainable" mechanical
> power output is about 146 Watts, while running at
> marathon-levels. I have calculated that a
> power-lifter snatching his BW overhead generates a
> very short-term 3,000 watts (!!!!). If the
> powerlifter were to do this every minute, he could in
> fact approximate the overall calorie burn of the
> runner. Probably not too pleasant tho, but then
> marathoning ain't too pleasant, either.
>
> Weightlifting in general is quite under-rated as a
> calorie burner, and while generally falling quite
> short of marathon-type expenditures, is far superior
> to half-assed aerobics, and vigorous weightlifting is
> in fact roughly equivalent to slow-medium jogging,
> with far more benefits,
> IMO.
>
> BUT HARK:
>
> But another of Hogg's Calculations.
>
> What is the light-bulb equivalent, in watts, of a
> typical **BMR**, ie, calorie burn while totally
> sedentary? If my conversions are correct, it goes
> something like this:
>
> Assume a BMR of 1,000 cals (proly low, but a good
> round figger)
>
> 1 Cal (dietary calories) is actually 1,000
> thermodynamic calories, so 1,000 cals/day is really
> 1,000,000 "regular" calories. 1 cal=4.184 joules, so
> we are burning 4,184,000 joules per day; a day is
> 24*60*60 = 86400 seconds; Watt is joules/second, and
>
> Hogg's Grand Calculation: [the light bulb
> equivalent of a totally sedentary person (or a
> highly-concentrating Garrison or Cardone, say
> during Chess, if they could learn the moves)] is
>
> 1000 cal BMR = 48.4 watts.
>
> <applause> Thank you, thank you... no, no, it was *my*
> pleasure...
>
> If your BMR is 1200 cals, multiply 48.4 by 1200/1000,
> or 48.4 x
> 1.2 = 58 Watts, etc. Ball park: we could "run" a 60 W light
> bulb 24 hrs a day with our BMR.
>
> Furthermore,
>
> If the mechanical output of a marathon runner is about
> 150 W, that represents a 25-33% metabolic efficiency,
> which translates to 450-600 total watts produced by
> the body in that effort. Add to that the 60 BMR watts,
> and you have a very substantial 500-650 continuous
> metabolic watts produced during a marathon run, which
> is the better part of a full horsepower motor (746
> watts). 1/4-1/3 hp motors are used to power large
> library-type fans. Which is probably what Garrison and
> Cardone could best be used for--blowing lots of air at
> the 150 Watt level, in a liberry, while *others* read;
> Garrison could do that in his, uh, sleep (BMR--
> <huyuk>).
>
> This is why, with just a few people in a room, it
> really can get quite hot--multiply all those 60 W
> bulbs, plus the extra due to milling around, etc. At a
> rough 100 W total metabolic output per person, 20
> people in a living room is a substantial 2,000 W, 500
> W more than your standard electric heater going full
> tilt. But probably a lot less then Garrison and
> Cardone blabbing full tilt. Open the windows...
> please....
>
> Well, file this away in your
> what-I-need-to-know-in-case-I-am-kidnapped file.
> Might could save yer life.
> ----------------------
> Kristofer Hogg, ms, rd HoloBarre Rehab/Fitness/Stretching
> Systems, Yonkers, NY Yeah, all my stuff is copywrited... and
> copyrighted!
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> --------

Rick++
Fri, Jun-27-03, 19:14
When you design an indoor space for many people, you assume
each body is a 75 watt light bulb for cooling purposes, or a
resting rate of a watt per kilo.

Screachy P
Sat, Jun-28-03, 06:13
BillX wrote:
>
> A semi-competitive male cyclist/runner under the age of 50
> can easily produce 250 - 300 watts sustained for more than
> one hour. I'm a 47 year old male and have no problem
> maintaining this power level while training.

Iffin you're right, then we'll have to adjust the
formula accordingly. The BMR appears to be about right,
but your numbers put the *total* metabolic output to
over 1.5 hp, or maybe over 2 hp for younger cyclists!!
Wow! The 146 watt figure that I read had to do with
running, over the course of a marathon (IIRC), which is
a dicey-er thing to measure than cycling. In fact,
cycle-ergometers are really the correct way to do this,
and your numbers may very well be accurate. Would be
interesting to obtain the numbers for absolute peak
(instantaneous) output, and compare them to various
longer averages, up to the point of exhaustion. I
suspect the latter would bring the *average power* down
to below 200 watts.
----------------------
Kristofer Hogg, ms, rd HoloBarre Rehab/Fitness/Stretching
Systems, Yonkers, NY to email: Remove the numeric value of pi
in my address
----------------------------------------------------------
----------

>
> "HoloBarre Systems" <physical@erols.com> wrote in message
> news:3EFB79C9.132D@erols.com...
> > . Sometimes it is interesting to look at human exertion in
> > electrical terms, such as a light bulb.
> >
> > I have read that the maximum "sustainable"
> > mechanical power output is about 146 Watts, while
> > running at marathon-levels. I have calculated that
> > a power-lifter snatching his BW overhead generates
> > a very short-term 3,000 watts (!!!!). If the
> > powerlifter were to do this every minute, he could
> > in fact approximate the overall calorie burn of the
> > runner. Probably not too pleasant tho, but then
> > marathoning ain't too pleasant, either.
> >
> > Weightlifting in general is quite under-rated as a
> > calorie burner, and while generally falling quite
> > short of marathon-type expenditures, is far superior
> > to half-assed aerobics, and vigorous weightlifting
> > is in fact roughly equivalent to slow-medium
> > jogging, with far more benefits,
> > IMO.
> >
> > BUT HARK:
> >
> > But another of Hogg's Calculations.
> >
> > What is the light-bulb equivalent, in watts, of a
> > typical **BMR**, ie, calorie burn while totally
> > sedentary? If my conversions are correct, it goes
> > something like this:
> >
> > Assume a BMR of 1,000 cals (proly low, but a good
> > round figger)
> >
> > 1 Cal (dietary calories) is actually 1,000
> > thermodynamic calories, so 1,000 cals/day is really
> > 1,000,000 "regular" calories. 1 cal=4.184 joules, so
> > we are burning 4,184,000 joules per day; a day is
> > 24*60*60 = 86400 seconds; Watt is joules/second, and
> >
> > Hogg's Grand Calculation: [the light bulb
> > equivalent of a totally sedentary person (or a
> > highly-concentrating Garrison or Cardone, say
> > during Chess, if they could learn the moves)] is
> >
> > 1000 cal BMR = 48.4 watts.
> >
> > <applause> Thank you, thank you... no, no, it was
> > *my* pleasure...
> >
> > If your BMR is 1200 cals, multiply 48.4 by
> > 1200/1000, or 48.4 x
> > 1.2 = 58 Watts, etc. Ball park: we could "run" a 60 W
> > light bulb 24 hrs a day with our BMR.
> >
> > Furthermore,
> >
> > If the mechanical output of a marathon runner is
> > about 150 W, that represents a 25-33% metabolic
> > efficiency, which translates to 450-600 total watts
> > produced by the body in that effort. Add to that the
> > 60 BMR watts, and you have a very substantial
> > 500-650 continuous metabolic watts produced during a
> > marathon run, which is the better part of a full
> > horsepower motor (746 watts). 1/4-1/3 hp motors are
> > used to power large library-type fans. Which is
> > probably what Garrison and Cardone could best be
> > used for--blowing lots of air at the 150 Watt level,
> > in a liberry, while *others* read; Garrison could do
> > that in his, uh, sleep (BMR-- <huyuk>).
> >
> > This is why, with just a few people in a room, it
> > really can get quite hot--multiply all those 60 W
> > bulbs, plus the extra due to milling around, etc. At
> > a rough 100 W total metabolic output per person, 20
> > people in a living room is a substantial 2,000 W,
> > 500 W more than your standard electric heater going
> > full tilt. But probably a lot less then Garrison and
> > Cardone blabbing full tilt. Open the windows...
> > please....
> >
> > Well, file this away in your
> > what-I-need-to-know-in-case-I-am-kidnapped file.
> > Might could save yer life.
> > ----------------------
> > Kristofer Hogg, ms, rd HoloBarre Rehab/Fitness/Stretching
> > Systems, Yonkers, NY Yeah, all my stuff is copywrited...
> > and copyrighted!
> > ----------------------------------------------------------
> > ----------

--