How to Burn More Calories When Working Out

“Aaand… you can stop now, folks.”

Your workout class just ended at the gym. As you are trying to catch your breath and wiping your sweaty palms and fingers on your tights, the only thing that you have on your mind is how many calories you have burned. As you glance at the fitness device on your wrist, the numbers mock you.

Damn!

“Just 60 Kcal in 15 minutes?”

We can tell by your tone that wasn’t the goal you were aiming for. The thing about burning more calories is getting all fired up before your exercise routine. Yes, a warm-up is necessary as it will make your limbs more limber, but if you want that intense burning feeling in your muscles, which indicates you are doing right, you’ve got to up your fitness and health game.

There are several factors that affect the number of calories you burn. These include:

• Your height and weight
• Pace
• Intensity
• Duration of exercise

The following chart shows how many calories are burned in a certain weight category by exercise:

Exercise Type	Body Weight
	125lbs (57kgs)	155lbs (70kgs)	185lbs (84kgs)
	Calories Burned Per Hour
Running	652	808	965
Bicycling	480	596	710
Jump Rope	453	562	671
Rowing Machine	420	520	622
Stationary Bicycling	420	520	622
Casual Swimming	396	492	587
Hiking	340	421	503
Jogging	396	492	587
Aerobic Dance	396	492	587

Now that you know the basics of burning calories, let’s take a look at the tips on how to do it:

Avoid Zombie Mode

This is what we refer to as the “steady pace workout,” which people start and end with. Whether you are doing cardio or running on the treadmill, you need to set a high exercises ratio. For example, working out for 30 seconds straight, at 90% or maximum heart rate, and taking a break for 30 seconds to bring down the lub-dub to 70%. You can wear a SMART fitness band to measure your heartbeats. The higher your heartbeat, the more calories you will burn.

Pop on Headphones

According to a study conducted by Brunel University in West London, music increases exercise endurance by 15% and helps you burn more calories. The reason behind this is that music blocks fatigue and energizes you by helping you keep pace and synchronizes your movements. So, make an exercise playlist with all those toe-tapping songs you love that make you want to get up on your feet and dance, dance.

Limit Your Rest

As explained earlier, if you rest more, your heart rate will come back to normal, which will disrupt your running calories burned. Of course, in the beginning, you won’t be able to go on for long. However, if you steadily increase your minutes, you will see a huge difference in the burned calories numbers from when you started your exercise routine to the present. This brings us to our next tip:

Rest but Don’t Rest

So, we do understand that resting is important to catch your breath, but how about cheating rest? Let’s say that your weight loss running plan includes the treadmill and a jog in the park. When you feel that your speed is slowing down, convert to walking at 1 mph. If you are on the treadmill ― lower the speed to 1, walk for 30 seconds and then do some walking lunges. This way, your overall calories burned will be way high than what you had initially aimed for.

Quench Your Thirst with Cool Water

It’s a warm day outside, and the weather isn’t exactly to your liking. By now, we have established that the longer you exercise, the more calories you will burn. It’s basic math!

So, here’s a tip that will astonish you:

Did you know that drinking cold water can increase your exercise endurance? Yes, something as simple as drinking a glass of water with a temperature of (39°F) can allow you to workout 25% longer. The participants in the study who drank warm water got tired easily compared to those who drank cold water. They were able to exercise for longer hours and felt the sessions went easier too. The results revealed that by drink cold water before exercising could keep the body temperature down and energy up.

Engage Your Arms

Do your arms stay in place when you are doing an exercise? If that’s the case, engage them in every exercise! From cycling to running, or when trying out a new exercise that targets your lower body, swing those arms. It’s the best way to get rid of love handles and increase your workout intensity.

Put on Weight

We are not talking about your middle but those dumbbells you are holding in your hand. The trick to exercising with weight is to add on the kgs according to your weight and height. Do not try to take on too much on your first try. This can cause a slipped disk and lead to chronic back pain.

Heavy weights break down more protein in your muscle, forcing your body to use more energy and enter the repair and recovery phases. This is how you build lean muscle tissue. If you are picking up a 5kg dumbbell, do at least 5 reps of lifts.

Final Thoughts

The minimum amount of time to actually burn some calories and fight those extra pounds is 12 minutes (this does not include the warm-up). Only then will you be able to build a training effect, which will improve the ability of your body to produce fat-burning enzymes like lipase and use oxygen to keep up with the increasing demands of an exercise routine.

If your workout plan is not giving you the results then perhaps, you need a fitness coach to help you with your performance. Visit the website On the Go Fitness Pro to get a personal trainer. They offer in-home personal training sessions, as well as great advice on their blogs. To know more about their services, call on 702-756-4444.