Fitness Science: Exercise And Calorie Burning To Know What You'Re Really Burning

From the most calorie-dense exercises to how to increase your energy expenditure, today we'll have a comprehensive chat about calorie "Burning".

Firstly, burning calories should not be the only thing on your mind when you exercise or do any exercise you enjoy. Find reasons to get yourself moving, rather than just focusing on calories in and calories out, and we guarantee you'll end up happier and more satisfied with your own 'workout'.

Now, whatever your health or fitness goals are, if you're still interested in exercise and burning calories, it certainly pays to know what's involved. After all, if you don't know how many calories you're burning, you won't know what foods to eat to replenish all that energy.

Not only will the now popular hiit make your shirt sweat and make you feel good, it's not the only way you can burn calories. As you sit here reading this article, you are burning about 1 calorie per minute. Because your body needs more energy to do its job, that number increases every time you stand, walk or run to get your phone.

The problem then is that it's easy to overestimate how many calories you've burned, especially if you're not using an exercise 'tracker' 24/7. In a small study of moderately active, average weight individuals, researchers found that participants were overestimating their energy expenditure.

Accurate energy expenditure is very important if you want to lose weight, and to help you achieve your health goals it makes sense to know all the details about calories and the exercises that burn the most calories.

The main factors that determine how much energy you use

People need a lot of energy every day to stay alive. Your basal metabolic rate, breathing, blinking and thinking - the body's basic movements - consume between 60% and 70% of your total daily calories every day. To work out your basal metabolic rate, follow this simple formula.

Men: Bmr = 10 * body weight (kg) + 6.25 * height (cm) - 5 * age + 5

Women: Bmr = 10 * weight in kg + 6.25 * height in cm - 5 * age - 161

Although your basal metabolic rate is genetic, it is not set in stone, which means there are changes you can make to burn more calories. Try these simple ways to burn more calories

Exercise your muscles: At rest, muscles burn more calories than fatty tissue. Regular strength training can increase your metabolism by 7 - 10% - about 100 calories a day.

Ensure a normal intake: Consuming too few calories is counterproductive as you risk losing your normal metabolism and will burn muscle faster than fat. Experts recommend cutting no more than 1,000 calories a day from the calorie intake needed to maintain your body weight. For most people, this means a daily calorie intake of no less than 1100 calories.

Enjoy: Caffeinated coffee can boost metabolism, as can green tea. Although the results are not significant and only a few extra calories are consumed each day, it is always good to consume a little more.

Calories are not the only measure of energy expenditure

Scientists measure the intensity of exercise in terms of metabolic equivalents, which are defined as the amount of energy required to sit still. Moderate intensity exercise makes you work hard enough to burn three to six times as much energy per minute as you would if you were sitting. The more intense your workout is, the more energy you burn per minute and the higher your met value will be. (this is another reason why you may not want to count calories anymore.)

For weight loss and health, you should exercise at least three times your metabolic equivalent per hour for most of the week, which is enough for you to burn 200 calories per hour. In general, the intensity of your met depends on you.

Exercise your muscles: Your muscle tissue is your engine and the more you use it, the more you burn.

Use more full self-weight: Standing exercises like running burn more calories than those that use equipment (like cycling). The cost of this is that you usually have to do longer exercises to make up for this difference.

Exercise harder: A strong swimmer burns more calories than a lazy swimmer, walking up a hill burns more energy than walking on a flat pavement, and walking faster definitely burns more.

Various rumours about exercise and calories

Rumour 1, that running and walking burn the same number of calories per kilometre.

Walking is a more energetic exercise because you are jumping with each step and you burn twice as many calories per kilometre running as you do walking.

Rumour 2, lower intensity workouts burn more calories.

Slow and steady is not the best choice when it comes to these exercises that burn the most calories. Many women think that low-intensity exercise will burn hip fat. But this is not the case. If you exercise easily for 15 minutes and burn 100 calories, 75% may come from fat. If you exercise at high intensity for 15 minutes and burn 200 calories, only 50% may come from fat, but you've burned more fat and twice as many calories.

Rumour 3, you can't trust the numbers on the treadmill.

The calorie burn indicators on some common fitness equipment are notoriously inaccurate? The truth is that, these days, many fitness devices do a good job and, while they can't be said to be 100% accurate, they are sufficient to have been used as a reference for your workout and you can trust them.

Rumour 4, you will burn more in the cold.

You do burn calories when you're shivering. But once you've warmed up in your workout, you won't burn more energy because it's cold and chilly outside.

Rumour 5, long workouts are best.

For many women, the most exciting thing about exercise is that they can keep going for a long time with activities such as walking, hiking or cycling. This, however, does not necessarily allow you to sustain a higher calorie burn.

Exercises that burn the most calories

Generally speaking, the harder you work out (at high intensity), the longer your body burns calories, even after you've left the gym. If you want to add 100 calories to your afterburn effect, then incorporate these high-intensity exercises into your routine, whether it's one of the exercises that burn the most calories or you need to mix several exercises.

Variable speed sprint run: Sprint at 80% or 90% of your maximum speed for 1 minute, then return to walking for 1 minute. Repeat 4 times.

Low-rep strength training: Add one day of strength training per week. Choose a weight that you can only lift 5 times. Do 4 sets of 5 reps each.

Quick interval cardio: Do two or three 15-minute bursts of high intensity cardio, with 5 minutes of relaxation in between.

Although you should keep in mind all the factors mentioned earlier, genetics, body composition, intensity of exercise. These factors will affect how many calories a person burns in a given activity, but these averages presented below will give you a general idea of what kind of exercise burns the most calories, which can also be a reference for your exercise choices.

Exercises with 400 to 500+ calories per hour

Elliptical training: 575 calories

Mountain biking: 545 calories

Circuit training (cycling between high-intensity aerobic exercises): 510 calories

Cross-country skiing (moderate intensity): 510 calories

Rowing machine (moderate intensity, stationary equipment): 450 calories

Swimming (freestyle): 450 calories

Exercise of 300 to 400 calories per hour

Strength training (dumbbells or apparatus): 385 calories

Hiking (without a backpack): 385 calories

Walking-jogging intervals: 385 calories

Body sculpting sessions: 350 calories

Kayaking: 320 calories

Jazz: 305 calories

High-intensity walking (very fast, 6 km/hour): 320 calories

Exercise of 150 to 300 calories per hour

Flamenco, belly dance or swing: 290 calories

Shooting exercises: 290 calories

Playing golf: 290 calories

High frequency in-situ stepping: 290 calories

Water aerobics: 255 calories

Tai chi: 255 calories

Brisk walking: (5.6 km/hour) 245 calories

Pilates (regular mat exercise): 160 calories

Yoga (hatha yoga): 160 calories