Knowing how many calories you burn during exercise can help you plan your food intake for the day to prevent weight gain or even lose weight. All activity burns calories, but more intense movements burn more. Many factors affect your ultimate calorie burn during exercise, including your size, the intensity at which you work and your skill level. Use hourly caloric burn estimates as a guide to understanding your own metabolism. All estimates are for a 160-lb. person.
The Cardio Floor
The cardio floor at the gym has an array of equipment from stair climbers and elliptical machines to stationary bicycles and treadmills. Many exercise machines inaccurately estimate your calories burned during exercise by as much as 25 to 30 percent, according to a January 4, 2010, article in the "Los Angeles Times."In 2000, "Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise" published an extensive report listing scientifically derived estimations for the calories burned during physical exertion that are widely accepted as accurate. MayoClinic.com reports, based on this compendium, that exercising on a stair climber burns about 657 calories per hour, while pedaling a stationary bicycle at a moderate pace burns about 500 calories. Using a stationary rowing machine burns 511 calories per hour. Other machines at the gym, including wave riders, cross trainers and ellipitcals, burn approximately 400 calories per hour.
Running
Jogging on a treadmill or outdoors at about 5 mph burns 584 calories, while running at an 8-mph pace burns 986 calorie per hour. Run up hills and burn a greater number of calories. Run stairs for an hour and burn about 1,090 calories.
In the Pool
Participating in water aerobics burns about 282 calories per hour. Swimming laps at a vigorous pace, however, burns 511 calories.
Outdoors
Downhill skiing will fry 365 calories in an hour. Take up cross country skiing to increase your burn to 511 calories per hour. Walking the golf course without a caddy burns 329 calories per hour. A leisurely 2-mph walk burns 193 calories in 60 minutes, but a more brisk pace, at 3.5 mph, will burn 277 calories. Hiking burns approximately 438 calories per hour, depending on the terrain. Rollerblade and burn 911 calories per hour.
The Weight Room
A traditional weight-lifting routine consisting of performing one to three sets with rest between them burns about 219 calories per hour. Circuit train by moving from one exercise to the next with no rest and burn about 30 percent more calories during your workout.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Exercise for Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour
- "Los Angeles Times;" Counting Calories Burned is Not as Easy as 1,2,3;" Karen Ravn; January 04, 2010
- "Fitness Magazine;" Circuit Training Workout: Burn 30 Percent More Calories; Liz Neporent
- Nutristrategy: Calories Burned During Exercise
- "Compendium of Physical Activities: An Update of Activity Codes and MET Intensities;" Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise; Barbara E. Ainsworth, et al.; 2000
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