How Many Calories Does Your Workout Burn?

Find out how many calories you can burn during different types of workouts.

Introduction

Exercise has many benefits, including improved heart health and better muscle strength. But one of its major draws is that it can help you lose weight and stay in shape by burning calories. Knowing how many you’re burning can be a great motivator. So just how many calories does your workout burn?

Calories burned from exercise depend on several factors, such as intensity, body weight and the type of activity performed. Activities with more physical effort – such as running, swimming and aerobics – burn more calories than recreational activities like walking or leisurely gardening. Generally speaking, a 30-minute period of moderate physical activity burns about 150 calories for a 150-pound person. A fast-paced one-hour workout may boast closer to 500 burned calories.

To figure out exactly how much energy is drained from your body during each workout session, there are two steps involved: First calculate the basal metabolic rate (BMR) and then determine the total number of calories burned during exercise (calories expended). Your BMR is determined through calculations based on age and gender; this represents the estimated amount of energy used by your body when at rest. To find out exactly what you need to do to burn the most amount of calories during your workout routine, it helps to look at an example:

For someone who’s 40 years old, weighs 155 pounds and is exercising at an average intensity level for 30 minutes on a stationary bike would likely have expended 187 total calories (BMR plus caloric expenditure). This means that 87 additional calories were used up beyond resting energy needs for that particular period of exercise. To calculate this information for yourself use the simple equation below:

Calories Expended = [(0.074 x age) + (3.2 x weight in lbs)] x duration in hours + 478

Types of Exercise

Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle, as it helps to keep your body fit, increases your energy level, and helps to reduce stress. Different types of exercise can vary in intensity and in the amount of calories they burn. Let’s explore the types of exercise and how many calories they burn.

Cardio

Cardio exercises elevate your heart rate and work most major muscle groups, meaning you burn more calories than with strength training or other forms of exercise. Common cardio exercises include walking, running, jogging, swimming, biking and aerobics/dance classes. Low-impact aerobic activities such as yoga, Pilates and tai chi can also provide good workouts.

For the best results, choose an activity you enjoy so you’re more likely to stick with it regularly. Exercise at least three times a week for 30 minutes (or five times a week for 20 minutes) — or adjust the time to meet your specific fitness goals — to get in shape and increase your overall health.

Cardio-specific exercises:
-Running/jogging
-Swimming
-Biking/cycling
-Stair machines
-Elliptical machines
-Jumping rope
-Climbing stairs
Low impact aerobic activities:
-Yoga
-Pilates -Tai chi -Dancing (aerobic) -Hiking

Strength Training

Strength training or resistance training is an important component of any physical fitness program. This type of exercise involves using weights or other resistance to build muscle and improve the strength of your connective tissues. By doing regular strength training exercises, you can increase the amount of calories you burn during your workout, as well as boosting your metabolism for more efficient calorie burning between workouts.

Strength training workouts typically involve a combination of free weights (dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells), weight machines, and bodyweight exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups. The right combination of exercises depends on your individual goals, preference, and available equipment. Beginners should select lighter weight loads with higher repetitions while more experienced lifters may use heavier weights with lower reps to get stronger and leaner muscles.

Depending on the type and intensity of the exercise involved in strength training workouts, they have the potential to burn between 400-500 calories per hour – making them a great option for those looking to lose weight or build muscle mass. In addition to burning calories during the session itself, don’t forget that building muscle can help boost your metabolism long after you’ve left the gym!

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) combines short bursts of intense exercise with periods of recovery or rest. The benefit of HIIT is that it can help you burn more calories in less time than traditional aerobic activities, such as jogging and running. Research backs this up: a study published in the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health & Fitness Journal found that shifting between different intensities burned up to 25% more calories compared to those who continuously exercised at a moderate intensity.

For example, you could do 20 seconds of sprinting followed by 40 seconds of walking or low-intensity jogging on a track, treadmill or other safe surface. Then take an overall rest period for 2-3 minutes before repeating the cycle another 4-7 times as needed. You can use this method for any type of exercise, from weights and resistance band exercises to step-ups and bodyweight cardio drills like burpees, jump squats and mountain climbers. When trying HIIT for the first time, take it slow — start with exercises with no equipment and low intensity to prevent overtraining or injury.

Calculating Calories Burned

Knowing how many calories you burn during a workout can be an important factor in helping you reach your health and fitness goals. By calculating the number of calories burned during a workout session, you can better understand how different exercises and intensities affect your overall caloric output. This can help you plan your workouts to maximize calorie burn as well as adjust your nutrition plan to ensure you are consuming enough calories for your body’s needs. Let’s take a look at some of the different ways that you can calculate calories burned during a workout.

Estimating Calories Burned

Calculating the number of calories burned through exercise can be a useful way to track your progress and stay motivated. However, it is important to understand that calorie estimations vary greatly depending on the factors involved in each person’s individual workout.

In general, the amount of energy expended during a given physical activity is estimated by multiplying one’s metabolic equivalent (MET) value by his or her body weight. A MET is an estimation of the amount of oxygen used during a period of physical activity, and is expressed as an intensity relative to sitting quietly (1 MET). Thus, for someone who weighs 160 pounds (~ 73 kg), an activity with a MET value of 8 would equate to 1,280 calories burned per hour. In comparison, individuals who weigh more or less will find that their calorie expenditure varies accordingly with each increase or decrease in weight:

-Someone weighing 120 pounds (~54 kg)burning 1,040 calories per hour
-Someone weighing 180 pounds (~82 kg)burning 1,520 calories per hour

Although these equations are widely accepted among fitness experts as a rough estimate for each individual’s caloric expenditure during physical activities such as walking or running at different paces; other factors such as age, gender, body composition and fitness level must be taken into account in order to accurately calculate calorie expenditures for any given activity. Exercise heart rate monitoring equipment like Fitbits can help provide accurate estimations for an individual’s calorie expenditure during exercise; but computers algorithms still do not take into consideration an individual’s personal characteristics when calculating caloric output. For this reason it is important to understand that any calculations made should be considered estimates rather than guarantees regarding exact amounts of energy utilized during physical activities – regardless of what device is used in order to calculate them.

Calculating Calories Burned Based on Weight

The number of calories burned during any activity will depend on the type of exercise, time spent, intensity and your weight. To give a more accurate estimate to the Calorie burn rate, use the following table or formula:

Calories Burned per Minute based on Weight:
-100 lbs: 4 Cal/min
-110 lbs: 5 Cal/min
-120 lbs: 6 Cal/min
-130 lbs: 7 Cal/min
-140 lbs: 8 Cal/min
-150 lbs: 9 Cal/min

For example, if you’re a 150 lb individual doing light jogging for 30 minutes at a moderate pace (60% of your maximum heart rate),you would burn approximately 135 calories. That’s calculated by multiplying 9 x 30 = 270, then rounded to 135. That is the amount of Calories burned in that workout.

Common Workouts and Calories Burned

Calorie-burning workouts come in all shapes and sizes. Many people have a general idea of how many calories they can burn by doing certain exercises. However, it is important to understand how many calories are burned by different types of workouts in order to determine which exercises are the most effective. In this article, we will take a look at the most common workouts and the amount of calories they burn.

Running

Running is one of the most effective aerobic activities and can provide a great calorie-burning workout. The number of calories burned while running depends on several factors including the runner’s weight, speed and terrain. In general, running at a moderate pace (12-minute miles) can burn around 8.3 to 12 Calories a minute, according to Harvard Health Publishing. Running at a fast pace (6-minute miles) can burn 10.8 to 16 Calories per minute.

The American Council on Exercise also states that jogging burns significantly more calories than walking—approximately 15% more when jogging at the same speed as walking. Additionally, uphill runs burn more calories than downhill runs because it takes more energy for your muscles to propel your body up an incline versus down a decline. The number of additional calories varies depending on how steep the grade is and how fast you’re running. However, Harvard Health states that on average, running hills increases calorie burning by 7 to 10%.

To maximize your calorie-burning efforts while running, focus on inclines and varying your speeds throughout your workout session. This type of interval training will challenge your body and boost metabolism over time to help you reach your fitness goals

Cycling

Cycling is a great way to stay fit, while enjoying the sunshine and fresh air! Out on the road or on an indoor bike, cycling works your aerobic system efficiently and burns calories quickly. Depending on your weight and intensity level, you can burn between 500-900 calories per hour.

Riding an outdoor bike can vary greatly in difficulty depending on your speed, terrain, wind resistance and other variables. Uphill riding will be more difficult than downhill riding, for example. Different types of bikes also offer varying levels of resistance — an indoor exercise bike might give you more consistent results from workout to workout than an outdoor road bike, which can vary widely due to changes in terrain or traffic patterns.

The type of cycling you choose will dictate how many calories you burn during each session:
-Stationary biking at a moderate pace will burn between 200-400 calories per hour
-High intensity spin classes can burn up to 900 calories per hour
-Riding a heavy mountain bike uphill at a steady pace can also burn around 500 calories per hour
-A leisurely ride around town or along a trail might only net 200-300 calories burned per hour

It’s important to consider what type of exercise best suits you before starting – it makes all the difference when it comes to safely maximizing calorie loss and achieving fitness goals!

Swimming

Swimming can be an effective and invigorating way to get your heart rate up, lose weight, and stay fit. But how many calories can you burn when swimming? There are many factors that influence how much a person can burn when doing this exercise, including swim stroke technique, body mass index (BMI), distance swum, and pool temperature. However, research has shown that swimming for just 30 minutes at a moderate intensity can burn up to 200 calories! In comparison to other aerobic activities such as running or cycling, swimming uses a person’s entire body in various ways which require larger amounts of energy expenditure.

Swimming stroke affects calorie burning as each one works different muscle groups differently. To get the most out of your swim session in terms of calories burned try the following strokes: breaststroke, butterfly stroke (butterfly stroke burns more calories than most other swim strokes have due to its high intensity), backstroke and freestyle. Swimming laps with these strokes will help you get into your target heart rate zone more quickly and maximize calorie burning efficiency while working various muscle groups effectively at the same time. It is important also to bear in mind that longer sessions in slow motion might also be beneficial for burning calorie since a slow workout is likely to continue longer but result in similar calories burned values as intense workouts over shorter duration periods.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting is a form of resistance training that can help people become stronger and build muscle. This type of exercise usually involves lifting weights and performing other strength-based exercises with the aim of increasing overall body strength. Weightlifting has been linked to a range of potential health benefits, such as increased metabolic rate and calorie consumption, improved physical function, strength and muscle tone, as well as better body composition.

Weightlifting generally burns fewer calories than aerobic exercises like running or cycling. However, it can still be an effective way to burn calories and reach your fitness goals. Generally speaking, weightlifting burns around 60-100 calories per hour depending on the type of weight used and the speed at which it is lifted. Calculating your exact calorie expenditure can be difficult, but some research indicates that a person weighing 70kg (154lbs) will burn around 90-122 calories per 30 minutes during weightlifting activities.

If you are looking to maximize your calorie burning during a weight session then it is recommended that you focus on compound movements such as squats and deadlifts rather than isolation exercises like arm curls or tricep extensions which involve less muscle recruitment. Additionally, adding in short bursts of intensity via Supersets or High Intensity Interval Training will help increase calorie burning even further by sending your heart rate up during workout sessions.

Conclusion

Calories play an important role in any person’s health and fitness. Knowing how many calories you are burning from different activities can help guide your nutrition and workout decisions. While there is no one-size-fits-all calorie burn goal for each workout, most people aim for at least 200-400 calories per 30 minutes of exercise. However, this number may vary depending on the individual’s age, sex, weight and activity level.

When it comes to finding out how many calories you are burning while exercising, it is important to track your workouts. Use a fitness tracking device or app to measure your activity level and determine how much energy you are using while being active. Make sure to adjust your goals as needed in order to maximize the results of every workout. Lastly, make sure to eat a balanced diet full of nutrients in order to ensure that you are getting the energy that you need on a daily basis.

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