How many calories do you burn during a workout?

[gshoemate]

I was curious as to how many calories you burn during a workout. I don't know if i'm doing good or bad. Today I spent an hour on the treadmill....all the way up to an incline of 14 and I burned a total of 480 calories. Anyone know if there is an average amount?

 

[tlgoblue]

I don't know if there is an average amount. It depends on many factors. Intensity, duration and your weight play important parts. I always try to shoot for at least one free meal. (Burning as many calories as I ate, through exercise) Usually my workouts burn around 300 calories. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But that 300 calorie deficit, combined with my overall calorie cutting of 500, means I am burning about 800 calories a day more than I eat. That means I should be burning about 5600 calories /week, giving me a loss of about 1.5 pounds/ week. That is safe and 6 pounds/month is happy days for me.

If you are asking if you can exercise too much, of course you can. I think 480 calories is a pretty intense workout. But if it feels good to you and you aren't wiped out the next day, go for it! BTW If you are not programming your weight, age, etc into the machine, it will calculate at a default of 150 pounds. If you weigh more than you will burn more calories. Less, well, you get the picture. I don't think I've ever burned 480 pounds on the treadmill, even when I run. That's great! Keep up the good work!

Tracy

 

[newholiday]

just checked my pedometer
I try to walk 10,000 steps ea day - which burns about 430 calories - when I walk continuously up to 10,000 steps it takes about an hr

 

[AKASnowWhite]

I find that my calories burned varies greatly depending on the type of workout I do.

I wear a heart rate monitor, that is set specifically to my height, weight, age, sex etc....measures my heart rate as I work out and calculates calories burned. When I run or cycle I burn anywhere from 450 - 550 calories an hour. Weightlifting is significantly less - but then my heart isn't pumping continuously then either.

Sorry to say though, you can't always *trust* the calorie counters on treadmills/ellipticals etc. They simply don't have enough personalized info to be accurate.....

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

Snow White-that was a good point about the treadmill calorie counter. I try to hit 300 per workout, but who know how accurate it is. What type of monitor do you have and where did you get it? I think it would be a good investment for me. Thanks
Kathy

 

[AKASnowWhite]

I use a Polar heart rate monitor...it's the model A5....it runs about $110. It's the "middle of the road" model....more "bells & whistles" than the basic, but not too advanced. I bought it at the gym where I work out, but most major sporting goods stores carry them. I've been very happy with it.

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

Thanks for the info! Sounds like something I can afford and would benefit from.

Kathy

 

[tiggerlover]

Like others have said, it depends on the workout itself. The type of equipment or exercise you are using the intensity level and all that. For me personally, I usually do the elliptical for 45 minutes and on average I burn 535 calories.