How much do you burn per day doing cardio?

[Eternal Sunshine]

I am on a new self-created regime where I have to burn at least 500cals doing cardio per day.

 

It could be anything, biking, jogging, stairclimber. I do prefer to do it outside though. Even when it's cold and raining I prefer to feel at one with the nature.

 

My muscles are constantly sore. Only week 2. I will see how I go.

[Mme. Chaucer]

I burn about 7 calories per day doing cardio.

[fucpcg]

All depends on the exercise you are doing. If you have smartphone, download Endomondo from apps store, will track what you burn, by almost any activity.

[Emilia]

I am on a new self-created regime where I have to burn at least 500cals doing cardio per day.

 

It could be anything, biking, jogging, stairclimber. I do prefer to do it outside though. Even when it's cold and raining I prefer to feel at one with the nature.

 

My muscles are constantly sore. Only week 2. I will see how I go.

 

Me too. Make sure you stretch properly after, helps with the soreness.

 

The faster you go, the higher your heart rate, the more calories you burn.

[zengirl]

I'm pretty sure none of those machines that track calories burned actually work, as you'd have to assess your own metabolic rate and fluctuations to really KNOW that. All we can do is guess, right?

 

I do either yoga or something like "The Shred" daily (quick cardio+strength tapes; there are many I have and pop in). Not terribly cardio-fixated, I suppose.

[johan]

I burn ~110 calories per mile running, measured by devices I think are accurate within 10% or so.

 

500 calories a day is a pretty tall order, if you mean every day, indefinitely. Sounds like 40 to 50 minutes of running-style exercise. Probably a full hour on an elliptical.

 

I'd suggest you aim a little lower initially and try to get that high in 4 to six weeks. If not I would caution that injury is a possibility, and mental burnout is a likelihood.

[Kamille]

While I agree with Zengirl that cardio machines and on-line calorie counters are 'estimates' at best, I was able to lose weight at a consistent pace by relying on them. By this, I mean that at least for me, they seemed to be accurate enough to be relied on.

 

As such a 40 minute run at 6mph= 450 calories burned.

 

If your muscles are constantly sore, I recommend you include a yin yoga or stetch class in your regime. Also, you might want to include a full day of rest. I'm not sure why this matters, but most trainers at my gym are pretty adamant about letting the body recuperate.

[fucpcg]

500 a day is NOT a tall order. I can burn 800 in an hour of rollerblading.

[spookie]

500 cals is a 5 mile run. I used to run that much per day, but it became increasingly harder to break a sweat without significantly upping my speed or mileage. IMO if fat loss is your main concern, your time is better spent lifting heavily.

[johan]

500 a day is NOT a tall order. I can burn 800 in an hour of rollerblading.

 

It is for someone just starting out. Trying to do it every day. I think it's a lot to ask of yourself. For a trained athlete, it's nothing.

 

My background: 8 years of competitive road cycling. 7 years of trail and road running and racing.

[FitChick]

There is a fitness adage: "You can't outrun a doughnut."

[Exit]

Although physical activity is awesome and should never be eliminated entirely, if you're doing it just for the net calorie balance, I totally subscribe to the idea that it's just easier to not eat those 500 calories in the first place. There's been mounting evidence and studies lately about how diet really trumps exercise in terms of net calories, fitness, etc. I should know, I lifted weights and exercised for years but never really got my diet in check, so I was never especially lean or good-looking.

 

Don't mean to get down on you, making sure to burn 500 a day through activity is great, if you're simply looking at it as a motivating factor and a measuring stick to make sure you get moving every day. But if you just want to have 500 fewer net calories each day, it's easier to skip a few pieces of food.

[RiverRunning]

I burn anywhere from 600 - 1k calories a day on average. Sometimes I have long workouts and burn 2k-3k.

[mercy]

I burn about 7 calories per day doing cardio.

 

Don't hurt yourself.

[xxoo]

Try this: Exercise Calorie Counter

 

500 can be a lot, depending on the size of the person.

[Kamille]

Don't hurt yourself.

 

Sometimes I have long workouts and burn 2k-3k.

 

Don't hurt yourself.

 

The very occasional 2-3k burn won't do damage. By very occasional, I'm thinking once every three-four months. And I hope you compensate on those days by consuming more calories.

 

Burning off more calories than you can actually reasonably consume in a day usually means loss of muscle. It also messes up the metabolism.

 

ES, slow and steady wins the race. You don't say much about other aspects of your regime or why you picked 500 as the magic number. The 500 calories deficit can be easily attainable by burning off 300 calories through exercise and cutting back 200 calories in diet. 500 calories/day = a loss of 1 pound a week.

 

And I agree with Spookie: weight lifting works wonders on the figure. It's not so much because you burn more fat than with cardio (there's debate about that - but general consensus is that it does increase your over all metabolism), it's more about the fact that it packs the muscles in. For instance, I lost 4 inches around the hips since starting to lift. (4 inches!) I'm at the same weight I was in my 20s, but was never this small in my 20s. It's all muscle baby.

Edited April 3, 2012 by Kamille

[tman666]

As FitChick said, you can't outrun a doughnut.

 

What she's saying is that there are a LOT of people who try to outtrain their diets. Creating a caloric deficit through training is possible, but most people are not training hard enough to negate the impact of their diets. Michael Phelps would be an example of the type of person who is training this hard.

 

For those who have day jobs/lives outside of training, the easiest and safest way to create a caloric deficit is through diet manipulation. If one is accurately tracking their caloric intake (food scale, anyone?), it's pretty easy to program in a 300-500 calorie deficit from maintenance calories without having to spend hours in the gym...

 

Add about an hour of intense/heavy weight training 3-4 times per week on top of that to retain muscle mass, and voila, bangin' body train, coming through, baby! BOOM!

 

Of course, if you like long bouts of steady state cardio, then whatever floats your boat, man.

[WilliamsTaylor]

My aim this year is to lose 50 cals everyday via a daily walk. I think setting daily or periodic goals for lossing weight and staying fit is important for losing weight and being fit and healthy.

[USMCHokie]

I do all my cardio while I'm sleeping...

[Star Gazer]

I burn ~110 calories per mile running, measured by devices I think are accurate within 10% or so.

 

500 calories a day is a pretty tall order, if you mean every day, indefinitely. Sounds like 40 to 50 minutes of running-style exercise. Probably a full hour on an elliptical.

 

I'd suggest you aim a little lower initially and try to get that high in 4 to six weeks. If not I would caution that injury is a possibility, and mental burnout is a likelihood.

 

I agree with this.

 

I burn about 95 calories per mile running road, and about 105 per mile running trail. Burning 500 calories a day via exercise is a lot. Most folks will burn out doing that... even elite runners.

 

Instead, I'd aim for an average 250 calorie deficit in your diet, and burning 250 via exercise.

[Emilia]

500 cals is a 5 mile run. I used to run that much per day, but it became increasingly harder to break a sweat without significantly upping my speed or mileage. IMO if fat loss is your main concern, your time is better spent lifting heavily.

 

Interval training, need to run faster but shorter distances. Anaerobic exercise burns much more than aerobic

[zengirl]

And I agree with Spookie: weight lifting works wonders on the figure. It's not so much because you burn more fat than with cardio (there's debate about that - but general consensus is that it does increase your over all metabolism), it's more about the fact that it packs the muscles in. For instance, I lost 4 inches around the hips since starting to lift. (4 inches!) I'm at the same weight I was in my 20s, but was never this small in my 20s. It's all muscle baby.

 

Interval training, need to run faster but shorter distances. Anaerobic exercise burns much more than aerobic

 

Yes. I do interval training with weights, a combination of strength and cardio, as well as lifting (we have equipment in the apt now, but I used to go to the rinky dinky apartment gym when no one was there) or yoga. I don't have to do very much to see results. Granted, I've got a good metabolism, but I think that interval training is just much more effective, as is mixing in lifting or some kind of body sculpting (pilates, yoga, etc) training. A calorie burned isn't just a calorie burned, just like all calories in aren't the same. The key to staying thin (whatever thin for your body is) long-term seems to be building and retaining enough muscle and keeping your metabolism cranked up.

 

Interval training is also my favorite kind of exercise, as an ADD person, so perhaps I'm biased. It seems to take less time for the same results, though.