We’re picking up on a reader question that was emailed to us today with personal trainer, Melanie Gilder.
Reader’s question: “How can I burn an extra 500 calories a day to help speed up weight loss?”
Over to Melanie.
Burning 500 Calories
The first thing I would say is that burning an extra 500 calories a day through exercise is quite an ambitious goal requiring a lot of commitment. And I’d also urge you to just be aware that if you do the same intensity exercise every day and stick with the same calories restrictive diet constantly, eventually you might find it becomes less effective over time.
That’s because of a phenomenon known as “adaptive thermogenesis” which is about how your body gets used to your activity levels and calorie intake and why weight slows down over time even if you stick with the same plan religiously.
So just be aware that mixing things up is going to be important.
Now you also mention that your goal is weight loss. So I’d also suggest considering things like a good combination of strength and cardio in your workouts.
But let’s answer your question anyway. Here are 6 different activities that could burn 500 calories. The following are all based on someone of around 10 stone. For those who weigh less, you often find it takes longer to burn the sale calories and those who weigh more will find it takes less time to burn the same calories generally speaking.
Running
An obvious one and certainly not everyone’s favourite! But for someone who weighs 10 stone, 45 minutes of running at roughly a ten minute per mile pace will burn around 500 calories
2. Boxing with a Heavy Bag
Intense boxing with a heavy bag for around an hour will burn 500 calories in someone of around 10 stone in weight.
Strength Training
An hour of strength training with minimal rest will burn around 500 calories too
Rowing
Around an hour of rowing for a 10 stone person will burn 500 calories or so. You can do this either out on a river in a boat (if you happen to have one to hand) or on the rowing machine in the gym or at home if you have one
Walking
Don’t underestimate the calorie burn of a decent walk. If someone of around 10 stone walks at a pace of 3.5 miles per hours, they’ll burn 500 calories in around 90 minutes.
Swimming
Swimming laps for an hour or so (based on a weight of 10 stone) burns around 500 calories too
Mixing it up
Do vary your workout, both in terms of activities and also calories burned day to day. A flexible and mixed routine is often easier to stick to and more enjoyable.
