You’ve heard it before: burn more calories of what you eat So often we hear that the key to weight loss comes down to just calories eaten versus calories lost, but it’s really not that easy. How many calories are we talking about? How many calories should you burn in a day? During a single workout? If you’re exercising to lose weight, it’s important to pay attention to how many calories you’re exhausting yourself during every workout. It is even more important if you are not changing your diet.
There is no single magic number that applies to everyone. This is because everyone burns a different number of calories at rest, which you need to take into account before calculating how many calories you burn during a workout and then how many calories you eat. Consulting with a dietitian or nutritionist can be helpful, as they are trained to help address your body’s specific calorie needs. But without one, you can still estimate how many calories you need each day and how much to burn by exercising.
It is important to maintain a healthy mindset during this process. Exercising for the sole purpose of “punishing yourself” for what you ate or just to burn off a ton of calories can temporarily motivate you, but the most sustainable motivation to exercise comes from something positive, like exercising for stress relief or having fun. Remember that exercise offers many more benefits to your health and wellness than just losing weight or burning calories.
With this in mind, keep reading below for guidance from a certified trainer, Brooke Tayloron the best strategy for exercising and reaching your weight loss goals.
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How many calories should you burn to lose weight?
If your goal is to lose weight and you’re tracking calories, then you have to burn more calories than you consume, creating a deficit. To do this, you must take into account your basal metabolic rate, which is the number of calories your body burns at rest. Then note how many calories you’re eating per day.
Once you have the total calories you burn at rest and eat in a week (multiply your BMR by 7 and calorie intake by 7), you can adjust your calorie intake and workouts so you burn around 2,000 calories per week, which is the goal that Taylor gives to most clients.
According to Taylor, aiming to lose a pound or two a week is a healthy goal. one pound equals 3500 calories, and you can break down how you create that deficit. She recommends burning 2,000 calories per week. working outand then cut 1,500 calories a week from your diet, which breaks down to about 214 fewer calories per day.
A general rule of thumb is to try to burn 400 to 500 calories, five days a week during workouts. Remember, the number of calories you burn in a workout depends on your weight, gender, age, and many other factors, but this number is a good starting point. For example, a man who weighs 200 pounds will burn more calories doing the same exercise than a woman who weighs 130 pounds.
“Every body is different, which is why it’s so important to work with certified professionals to customize a program for you, monitor your program, make suggestions as you go, and make modifications if needed,” says Taylor.
Heart rate-based fitness trackers and monitors are tools for determining calorie burn.
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How to track calorie burn when you exercise
Most fitness trackers including Fitbit, Apple Watch and Howl, will tell you your calorie burn for each workout. This is usually based on your heart rate and other personal information you entered in the device settings when you set it up (such as your weight, age, and gender). Taylor says that she has been a fan of the Polar heart rate monitor since chest strap monitors (like Polar) tend to be more accurate than the trackers you wear on your wrist. Neither of those devices is perfectly accurate, but they can get you close.
You can also use a online calculator where you select the type of training, your age, gender and weight and the duration of the training.
According to Taylor, the main factors that determine how many calories you burn during a workout include:
heart rate training zone: Their heart rate the zones show “how hard you’re pushing and recovery periods,” says Taylor. “Your heart rate changes daily, so knowing how much you’re burning and what zones you’re training in will only help you reach your goals much faster.”
Your natural resting heart rate: Everyone has a unique resting heart rate, and a normal range is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. If he has a higher resting heart rate, Taylor says his training will need to be adjusted accordingly. “These customers generally get up pretty quickly and stay in the higher burn zones longer, so they need breaks more often,” says Taylor.
Your weight: “If someone weighs 120 pounds, they will burn less per hour than someone who weighs 180 pounds,” says Taylor.
types of workouts: “How you’re training matters,” says Taylor. This is why you should opt for an exercise routine that takes into account both cardio and strength training, even if strength training doesn’t burn as many calories as your cardio training. Building more muscle over time will help you burn more calories when you’re at rest.
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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health care provider regarding any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or health goals.
