How Much Am I Actually Burning?

If your goal is to burn calories during your workout then you might find the latest research from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota interesting. They ranked 39 common exercises based on information obtained from the US National Institutes of Health.

The chart below is based on scientists calculating the number of calories burned if a typically obese or overweight person did each of the activities for one hour.

Please note the results do not take into account the participant’s age, sex or speed of movement.

So obviously the chart is self-explanatory but the key findings reveal running at a rate of 8mph and skipping burn at least 861, and up to 1,074, calories for every hour of activity.

Yoga appears to be the worst exercise for weight loss, causing a maximum loss of just 228 calories after a 60 minute but obviously most people who do yoga are not primarily there for burning calories.

Slow walking, bowling and ballroom dancing also fail to make people lean, burning a maximum of 255, 273 and 273 calories an hour, respectively.

In the middle of the list, kayaking, weightlifting and light swimming burn between 400 and 500 calories every 60 minutes.

You must obviously be aware that the chart is literally relating each exercise to calories burned, each discipline in its’ own right has many other health benefits beside calories burnt.

Adapted from: Ainsworth BE, et al. 2011 compendium of physical activities: A second update of codes and MET values. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2011;43:1575.