According to Columbia University's Health Q&A Internet Service, people have to burn 3,500 more calories than one eats just to lose one pound. Burning 3,500 calories is very time-consuming. In "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease," Ornish estimates that it takes three to five hours of vigorous exercise to burn 2,000 calories, depending on the type of exercise. By using such statistics it is possible to determine how many calories are burned in an hour.
Best Exercises
"The Well Adult" has a chart that estimates how many calories are burned in an hour via 22 different activities. The number-one activity for burning calories is running at a moderate speed, which the book defines as running at ten miles per hour. This activity burns 900 calories per hour. Number two is fast bicycling, which is riding at 13 miles per hour. According to "The Well Adult," this activity burns 660 calories per hour. Number three is racquetball, which burns 600 calories per hour.
Other Good Exercises
Eight of the 22 activities in "The Well Adult" chart burn between 300 and 500 calories per hour. These include swimming at the moderate speed of two miles per hour (500 calories), hill climbing (480), tennis (420), table tennis (360), horseback riding (350), volleyball (350), swimming at the slow speed of one-quarter of a mile per hour (300) and walking at the brisk speed of three and three-quarter miles per hour (300).
Activities That Burn Fewer Calories
The 11 activities in "The Well Adult" chart that burn fewer than 300 calories per hour are bowling (270), golf (250), mowing with a power mower (250), gardening (220), bicycling at the slow speed of five miles per hour (210), walking at the slow speed of two and a half miles per hour (210), light housework (180), standing (140), driving (120), sitting (100) and sleeping (80).
Expert Insight
Ornish calculated how long it takes to burn 2,000 calories if you perform six different exercises. Three of the six activities burned 667 calories per hour: cross-country skiing, running and swimming. Ornish didn't always calculate speed like "The Well Adult," so his numbers are different. His skiing and swimming numbers were based on doing the activity for 30 minutes, six days per week. His running numbers were based on running three miles in 30 minutes, six days per week.
Walking Recommended
Burning calories is so time-consuming that Ornish said, "It may be a mistake to exercise more than walking 30 minutes a day just to live longer." He said burning 2,000 calories per week results in living one to two years longer, but the calorie-burning activities take one to one and a half years.
Walking four miles in one hour, five days a week burns 400 calories per hour. So does playing singles tennis five hours a week. Aerobic dancing, the sixth activity on Ornish's list, burns 600 calories per hour.
Potential
Although burning off calories has a relatively limited impact on weight and longevity, the process of burning off calories can have significant benefits. "The Well Adult" lists the benefits as raising the level of good cholesterol, reducing triglyceride levels and decreasing total lipid or fat levels.
References
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease;" Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "The Well Adult;" Dr. Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels; 1988
- The Merck Manual of Medical Information; 1999
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