> ... the balance was ~1800-2000 when exercising 5 times a week including 3x1 hour long weightlifting sessions.
I see you added a couple more details to your post. Weight lifting sessions really aren't that productive as far as calorie burn is concerned. I pulled a random 30m weight workout and my avg HR was just over 50% resulting in approximately 130kCal/hr burned (estimated based on HR, actual could be a bit higher but unlikely to be higher than 200/hr), which does not come even close to cycling. My average calorie burn for a recovery ride is about 500kCal/hr, 575kCal/hr for endurance, 750kCal/hr for tempo and 975kCal/hr for threshold. Recovery/endurance are sustainable basically for an entire day (barring discomfort and boredom), tempo for 3-5hrs and threshold for <1hr (the 975kCal/hr effort was a 40 minutes). Cycling values are calculated from measured power output and and assume approximately 25% metabolic efficiency. My numbers are also on the lower side because I'm smaller (smaller typically means less power and so fewer calories).
> 2500kcal was on the high end of my bulking intake when I wanted to add weight for my lifting.
I would be surprised if I averaged less than 2500, though I haven't tracked in a long time. I can always feel when my intake isn't enough. My workout related output is 5000-7500+/week which is probably higher than average, though the low end is fairly well in-line with someone who runs/rides 5+ times per week. To your point, 2500 for an 'average' male is more than likely on the very high side.
> Weight lifting sessions really aren't that productive as far as calorie burn is concerned.
That's kinda the point. Very few people do high intensity workout very often or very long. Most people who think they're "active" are actually not burning all that much. Weight lifting can be quite intensive. Mine usually are at substantially higher HR than 50% unless I'm going for a 1RM. E.g. I'd do power cleans into press for reps quite regularly, and that gets brutal. But for most people they're not because most people take their time and don't push themselves to progress very fast towards the limits of what they could lift. But even for someone who takes the lifts seriously, sure, it's not going to compete with someone who takes cycling seriously for calorie burn. But then again, most people don't push themselves with cardio either. The proportion who pushes the limits in pretty much any given exercise regime is tiny.
> I would be surprised if I averaged less than 2500, though I haven't tracked in a long time.
You're quite likely right you're above that if you do a lot of cycling.
I see you added a couple more details to your post. Weight lifting sessions really aren't that productive as far as calorie burn is concerned. I pulled a random 30m weight workout and my avg HR was just over 50% resulting in approximately 130kCal/hr burned (estimated based on HR, actual could be a bit higher but unlikely to be higher than 200/hr), which does not come even close to cycling. My average calorie burn for a recovery ride is about 500kCal/hr, 575kCal/hr for endurance, 750kCal/hr for tempo and 975kCal/hr for threshold. Recovery/endurance are sustainable basically for an entire day (barring discomfort and boredom), tempo for 3-5hrs and threshold for <1hr (the 975kCal/hr effort was a 40 minutes). Cycling values are calculated from measured power output and and assume approximately 25% metabolic efficiency. My numbers are also on the lower side because I'm smaller (smaller typically means less power and so fewer calories).
> 2500kcal was on the high end of my bulking intake when I wanted to add weight for my lifting.
I would be surprised if I averaged less than 2500, though I haven't tracked in a long time. I can always feel when my intake isn't enough. My workout related output is 5000-7500+/week which is probably higher than average, though the low end is fairly well in-line with someone who runs/rides 5+ times per week. To your point, 2500 for an 'average' male is more than likely on the very high side.