Accuracy of the SenseWear Armband™ during Ergocycling

The present study aims to show the accuracy of a portable motion sensor, the SenseWear Arm-band, for the estimation of energy expenditure vs. energy expenditure measured by indirect calorimetry during ergocycling. 31 healthy adults (52% women; age: 26.7 +/- 6.3 years; Body Mass Index: 23.9 +/- 3.3 kg/m(2)) completed a 45-min ergocycling session at 50% of their VO2peak. Despite a significant underestimation of 18.7 +/- 13.2 kcal during the first 10 min of the activity (T = 5.06; p < 0.001), we observed an overall good agreement between energy expenditure estimated by the SenseWear Armband during ergocycling and indirect calorimetry (260.3 +/- 80.1 vs. 287.8 +/- 97.1 kcal, respectively) (T = -2.148; p = 0.04) and a significant intra-class correlation (r = 0.81; p < 0.001). The results of the present study indicate that the SenseWear Armband underestimated energy expenditure during a 45-min ergocycling session at a 50 % VO2peak intensity, mainly during the first 10 min. Underestimation at the onset of the activity warrants further research.