Calories Burned at Gym

[Healthy4Life]

... what's the average you are burning?

I'm doing everything from elliptical, to the stationary bike, to the treadmill but... I'm not sure if I'm burning enough calories.

How do you increase the amount of calories you burn... work out longer ? or is it the intensity ?

Confused ?????

[Kent]

Re: Calories Burned at Gym

My goal for every run is over 400 Calories, but have little trust in what is reported to me on some pieces of equipment (stairmasters, and some ellipticals). They claim over 600 Calories burned for a less intense than a comparable time spent running. I guess that gets to my real workout indicator - heart rate (am I in the target cardio range) and the amount of sweat. If I am sweating, I know I am working.

As to the second question, the easiest way to burn more Calories is to work out longer. Yes, upping the intensity (running faster, adding resistance) will make the body work harder. But how much harder? 1 Calorie/min more? 5 Calories/min harder? Again going by the voodoo science that some elliptical trainer use you might be burning twice as much at resistance 10 vs. 1, how accurate is that? Are you sweating twice much? Is your body working twice as hard? I do know if I double the length of my run -- I know without a doubt I did twice the amount of work. My body was most likely in the cardio zone twice as long, and I can be relatively assured that I burned twice the # of Calories as doing half as long.

This is a non-exercise science view at workout activity.

[cleochatra]

Re: Calories Burned at Gym

Go for intensity by working harder and longer... not necessarily faster.

I burn 1500 calories for walking 4 miles on a treadmill on an incline of 8 at a pace of 3.2 miles per hour. Not fast... but that doesn't matter.

Speaking in terms of physics, when you are moving something up an incline (such as your weight), you are doing work. As a result, you burn far more joules-converted-to- kilo-calories walking on the incline that when you are walking on a flat surface, even if you walk a faster speed on the flat surface.

When I walk on a flat surface for 4 miles at a FASTER speed (3.5 mph), I burn only HALF the calories (700).

So on this one...it's all uphill from here... and I like it.

[ttdriver]

Re: Calories Burned at Gym

According to my extremely reliably accurate Polar HRM ( ), I burn alot more calories while running if I run LONGER. Yesterday, for example, I ran for 2 hours and 50 minutes and the HRM said I burned 1012 calories. I set my HRM for my age and weight and it computes my effort automatically. Also, I burn way more fat calories by running LONGER! Works for me!

Betty

[Labarum]

Re: Calories Burned at Gym

New picture, Betty. Nice one.

[ttdriver]

Re: Calories Burned at Gym

Thanks, Brian!!!


Betty

[Brook]

Re: Calories Burned at Gym

According to my extremely reliably accurate Polar HRM ( ), I burn alot more calories while running if I run LONGER. Yesterday, for example, I ran for 2 hours and 50 minutes and the HRM said I burned 1012 calories. I set my HRM for my age and weight and it computes my effort automatically. Also, I burn way more fat calories by running LONGER! Works for me!

Betty

Heart rate moniter is the only way to go for calculating calories burned IMHO! (I also have a Polar and I love it!)