How Many Calories Are You Burning at the Gym?

The Best 5 Ways To Burn Calories!

Do you have a fitness goal for this year? No matter whether you want to lose weight, bulk up, or maintain – calorie tracking is essential.

Tracking how many calories you consume versus how many you burn is vital to all three fitness goals. 

Tracking your exercise progress means having a better understanding of the calories your body is consuming while you workout. But it is easier to track the calories you are eating than those you are burning at the gym.

Many machines like treadmills and ellipticals drastically overestimate the number of calories burned during exercise. 

Let’s take a look at some calorie basics to get you started. 

Calories 101

First, you have a baseline number of calories you will burn each day. This calorie number is called your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This number is different for every person and accounts for 50%-70% of the calories your body consumes. 

Higher muscle mass means more calories burned, even while at rest. Physical activity in the body creates heat, which is why your muscles feel warm during exercise.

This ‘thermic effect’ is the second-largest contributor to calorie use – accounting for 20% of calorie expenditure during exercise. 

Finally, there are around 3,500 calories in a single pound of fat. That means a calorie deficient of roughly 500 calories per day will result in 1lb of weight loss per week.

This number can be adjusted to lose more, less, or maintain your current weight. 

Now that you understand some calorie basics, which exercises are best for burning calories?

Best Exercises For Burning Calories

There are plenty of activities that are great calorie-burners when done for at least thirty minutes a day.

A study released in 2017 by Harvard Health Publishing found five activities that are sure bets when it comes to calorie burning.

Those activities are running on a treadmill, stationary biking, circuit training, swimming, and weight lifting. 

Running on a Treadmill

Running is a great way to burn calories – our ancestors may have traveled as much as 20 miles per day.

Running at an 11-minute per mile pace burns around 27-400 calories – depending on your body weight. Running on an inclined treadmill or jogging on a hilly trail will burn more even more calories. 

Stationary Biking

Riding a stationary bike like a Peloton for thirty minutes at a moderate pace burns around 210-311 calories. Doing an intense spin-cycle class will up the calories consumed to 315-466. 

Circuit Training

Circuit training combines resistance exercises with intense cardio and strength training.

It is a great place to practice high-intensity interval training, which is great for cardio and calorie burning. Circuit training for 30 minutes a day burns between 240-355 calories. 

Swimming

Swimming provides an excellent cardiovascular exercise in a setting that is not rough on the joints. You can burn between 300-444 calories in a 30-minute swim session, making it a great workout. 

Weight Lifting

Building muscle is a great way to up the number of calories burned in your basal metabolic rate.

Weight lifting itself doesn’t burn as many calories as other exercises, but it is crucial for energy burning.

A thirty-minute weight lifting session only burns around 90-133 calories, but it builds lean muscle. You should have a weight-lifting regimen regardless of your overall fitness goals.