Knowing how many calories are burned during a workout results in an increase in motivation, a desire to continue workouts and a feeling of accomplishment. To get an accurate number of calories burned would require the oxygen an individual takes in and the carbon dioxide he exhales during exercise to be measured, then converted to calories burned. A more realistic day to day approach is using METs to estimate calories burned. This number can then be added to your resting metabolic rate to figure total calories expended in a 24-hour period.
Step 1
Calculate your resting metabolic rate. The resting metabolic rate is the amount of calories your body burns during a 24-hour period at rest. According to Liz Applegate, the easiest way to do this is to assume 10 calories per pound for women and 11 calories per pound for men. For example, a 140-pound woman has a resting metabolic rate of 1,400 calories.
Step 2
Figure out the metabolic equivalent task (MET) of the activity you are participating in. Lower-intensity exercises such as walking slow or playing instruments have a MET value of 2, whereas a higher intensity exercise like running has a MET value of 10 to 16 depending on the speed you run. Find the exact MET value on a MET chart.
Step 3
Figure your body weight in kilograms. Do this by dividing your actual weight by 2.2. For example, a woman weighing 140 lbs. would divide her weight by 2.2 equaling 63.64.
Step 4
Calculate the number of calories burned each minute by using the following equation: calories/minute = (METs x 3.5 x body weight in kg)/200. For example, a 64 kg woman exercising at a MET level of 5 would burn (5 x 3.5 x 64)/200 = 5.6 calories per minute.
Step 5
Figure the number of calories burned during the exercise session. Total calories burned are calculated by taking the calories burned per minute and multiplying that number by the total number of minutes exercised. This will give you the number of calories burned for that exercise session. For example, (5.6 x 30 minutes) = 168 calories burned.
Step 6
Add the calories burned for the exercise session to the resting metabolic rate (168 + 1,400) resulting in 1,568 calories burned that day.
References
- Los Angeles Times: Counting Calories Burned is not as easy as 1-2-3
- Indiana Public Media: How to Count Calories: Net vs. Total
- ACSM: Metabolism is Modifiable with the Right Lifestyle Changes
- ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription," Seventh Edition; Lawrence Armstrong, PhD, FACSM, Gary J. Balady, MD, Michael J. Berry, PhD, FACSM, Shala E. Davis, PhD, FACSM, Brenda M. Davy, PhD, RD, LC, Kevin P. Davy, PhD, FACSM, et al; 2006
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