The human body needs a certain number of calories every day to survive. Your body burns calories no matter what you're doing — even if you're sleeping, your body still needs the energy that calories provide to do things like regulate your body temperature. When it comes to burning calories, the elliptical trainer is a piece of cardiovascular endurance equipment that has the potential to burn a significant number of calories in a short period of time. Exactly how long it takes to burn calories depends on your weight and the intensity of your workout.
Step 1
Calculate how many calories your body needs every day. For example, according to the Energy Expenditure calculator from HealthStatus, a 29-year-old woman who weighs 145 pounds and measures 5 feet 8 inches tall requires just over 2,031 calories a day just to function. Burning an additional 500 calories a day would require this individual to consume 2,531 calories to maintain weight.
Step 2
Weigh yourself. To calculate the number of calories you burn on an elliptical trainer, you need to know your weight.
Step 3
Use a calculator like the one on the HealthStatus website to figure out how many calories you burn on an elliptical trainer. That 145-pound woman takes just over 40 minutes to burn 500 calories. The heavier you are, the quicker you'll burn the calories because your body requires more energy to complete the task. For example, a 170-pound person burns 500 calories in just over 34 minutes on the elliptical trainer.
Step 4
Increase the resistance level on your elliptical trainer to decrease the amount of time it takes to burn 500 calories. Because companies use different increments to measure the amount of resistance on their elliptical trainers, the exact number of calories burned differs from level to level and from brand to brand. Pedaling faster also increases your rate of burning calories, but according to Smooth Fitness and EllipticalTrainers.com, increasing your resistance is more effective than increasing your speed.
Step 5
Add interval training to your workout. This means moving at a faster speed or higher resistance level for a minute, then decreasing your speed or resistance level temporarily before increasing them once again. MayoClinic.com touts interval training as a key way to burn more calories in a shorter period of time.
Tips and Warnings
- The number of calories burned on an elliptical trainer cannot be calculated with 100 percent accuracy. Those who work out regularly on an elliptical trainer are more efficient on it; hence, they burn calories at a slower rate than it would for an individual who rarely works out.
- Always check with your doctor before beginning an exercise regimen.
References
- HealthStatus: Daily Energy Expenditure — Basal Energy
- HealthStatus: Calorie Burn Calculator
- EllipticalTrainers.com: Burn Calories with an Elliptical Trainer
- Smooth Fitness: Maximize Elliptical Trainer Workouts
- MayoClinic.com; Interval Training: Can it Boost your Calorie-burning Power?; February 6, 2010
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