How To Burn More Than 500 Calories In An Hour
If you’re under the impression that a quick elliptical session is going to help you burn the maximum number of calories you possibly can in an hour, you’re thinking along the wrong lines. Unless you’re willing to shift things into high gear, you won’t be able to maximize the calorie burn. Thankfully, there are so many workout options you can try to burn additional calories. It is possible to burn 500 calories an hour just by planning your workout sensibly. But, before you go any further with these workouts, it is important to understand that the total number of calories burned during a workout depends heavily on factors like your body weight, age, fitness level, and body fat percentage.
Along with different factors, what you eat will have an impact on how many calories you end up burning by sticking to a workout routine. You need to eschew bad calories and stay away from processed food as much as possible. Instead, include fruits, vegetables, beans, grass-fed meats, and plain water in your diet.
Exercises to Help You Burn 500 Calories an Hour
As mentioned already, your body weight and the intensity of the exercise will have a huge impact on the number of calories you burn. Someone with higher body weight is likely to burn more calories doing the same workout for the same amount of time as someone with a lower body weight. Nevertheless, you can include the following exercises to your routine and in terms of weight loss, benefit immensely.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
High-intensity interval training is the contemporary workout regime that allows people to burn more calories in less time by investing less energy. It’s popular among people of all levels, from beginners to those with an intense hardcore workout regime.
High-intensity interval training is the fastest way of burning calories and an average 150-pound person can easily burn 750 calories within an hour. If you can’t invest more time and wanted to lose a good chunk of calories every day than this HIIT is for you. For this regime instead of a 30 minutes continuous but moderate cycling, break your workout. Do 30 seconds of sprint followed by 4 minutes of light and resistance free peddling.
Repeat this set five times for a total of just 22.5 minutes of cycling with only 2.5 minutes of sprint level and 20 minutes light pedaling. This HIIT technique won’t exhaust you and will yield better calories burnt results than 30 minutes of moderate cycling.
Bikram Yoga
Bikram yoga is not like your ordinary yoga class. It is performed in a heated room where temperatures usually hit 105 degrees. This heated surrounding multiplies the benefits you yield from your yoga session and helps you burn approximately 500 calories in an hour along with calming your mind.
Working Out With Bikram Yoga
In Bikram yoga you begin and end each circuit in a sun salutation. The work out comprises of four basic series of steps and a variant is added to each repetition of the series. The whole workout lasts only 15 minutes.
Main Series in Sun Salutation
- Mountain Pose
The first step in the series is the mountain pose. For this, you have to stand tall like a mountain keeping your both feet together. Keep your shoulders relaxed and evenly distribute your body weight through your soles and arms. Now take a deep breath and take your arms over your head and reach up towards the sky with your fingertips. Make sure your palms are facing forwards.
- Standing Forward Bend
The next step in the series is the standing forward pose. Continue from mountain pose and exhale while bending forward like a swan dive until your fingertips touch the ground. Try not to bend your knees but if your back hurts or constraints then bend your knees to attain the desired pose. Make sure your toes and fingertips are in line with each other.
- Forward Bend with Flat Back
The third step in the series is to bend forward with flat back. From that position, inhale and lean a bit more till your fingers touch the outer edges of your feet. Keep your back flat and look forward till your tailbone reaches away from the top of your head. You can bend your knees and hand if your back is not flexible to attain the desired posture.
- Downward Dog
The last step in the series is the downward dog. From your current position, now place your palms flat on the ground, shoulder-width apart, and jump both feet back. This way you will land softly in downward dog position. Remember to spread your fingers and keep your feet hip-width apart. Your tailbone will remain away from your head top as in the previous posture.
Repeat the series
Now repeat the same series in reverse direction. Move back to forward bend with flat back posture and continue towards standing forward bend and at last rose up to a mountain pose and here your circuit ends.
Cycling
Cycling is a great exercise for burning calories faster but a casual ride in the park won’t help in burning many calories. You must cycle continuously for at least 15 minutes at the speed of 13 to 14 miles per hour to burn away a good chunk of them. With this speed, you can easily burn 500 calories in an hour with continuous peddling.
If you will add some resistance or ride on an elevated plane this calorie burning rate will increase dramatically. Cycling is a great exercise for toning your leg muscles and making them stronger.
Rowing
Rowing is another great exercise and if you can’t access a boat, you can make use of rowing machines usually available at the gym. This exercise is good for toning arms and shoulder muscles and increasing their strength. It can also assist you in burning a good amount of calories if you use it correctly. Rowing for only half an hour at moderate speed can burn around 210 to 311 calories depending upon your weight. If you increase your speed the number can jump to around 400 calories.
Jumping Rope
The classic jump rope is a great calorie cutter as well. It is a good workout that involves all the muscles of your body resulting in quick calorie reduction. It not only tones all the muscles but you can easily burn 100 calories with just ten minutes of jumping. The best thing about jumping rope is you don’t need any specialized gym equipment or huge workout space. You can easily enjoy this exercise in your own time at home.
Aerobics
Aerobics is the classical workout that involves your whole body. This popular exercise is often accompanied by fast pace music to boost energy levels, add pace and speed up the moves. An average aerobic session of one hour helps burn 500 calories but you can add some variations to this classic workout and increase the resulting benefits. Wearing weights on your ankle and wrist will accelerate the rate of calorie burn to 600 calories per hour.
A variation on the theme is water aerobics, which works even faster. Jogging or working out in water makes use of water resistance and not only helps burn calories faster but also shapes your body faster than the usual aerobics. An hour of pool time including water jogging burns around 580 calories an hour. The best thing about water aerobics is that it is accessible for elderly citizens as well.
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is another classic exercise that helps you in burning a good number of calories in the minimal amount of time. You don’t need to go on actual site and climb mountains but can utilize special gym settings to mimic mountain climbing. An hour of mountain climbing results in burning 500 calories and the way back down burns calories at the rate of 280 per hour. It also involves all major muscle groups and is the best exercise for strengthening muscles and hand grip.
Agility Ladder Drills
You can burn tons of calories using the right types of agility ladder drills. These drills work because they help improve your agility, speed, and reflexes, along with strengthening your ligaments, joints, and tendons. As mentioned already, HIIT will help burn mega calories, and agility ladder drills are also a form of high-intensity interval training. The short bursts of intense effort ends up torching a serious amount of fat in a short time.
Ballroom Dancing
Dancing is one mode of exercise that is not only calorie cutter but is fun to do. Whether you opt for jazz or ballroom, dancing helps you attain a slim waistline in just a few days. Dancing is best for toning body and burning calories. An hour of dancing burns approximately 700 calories and easily whilst having fun.
The contribution of Weight in Burning Calories
A person who is overweight can easily lose weight in less time but the person with only a few extra pounds on his body needs to work harder for a longer duration to burn desire number of calories.
120-lb. Exerciser
On average, a 120 lb. exerciser can burn 500 calories in an hour if working with moderate intensity. You can burn the same amount of calories in less time if you increase the intensity of your workout. For instance, a vigorous cycling or rowing session will reduce the same 500 calories in just 45 minutes. Similarly, less intense exercises will increase your workout span for burning 500 calories.
150-lb. Exerciser
150 lb. exerciser can easily burn 500 calories with just jogging around or biking at low to moderate intensity in an hour. You can make your workout span shorter by increasing the intensity of the same exercises. For instance, if you start running at 10 miles per hour you are more likely to reduce 500 calories in just 45 minutes or less. You can also increase workout span by reducing the intensity of your exercises. For instance, an easy swimming for 75 minutes will burn the same 500 calories.
200-lb. Exerciser
A 200 lb. exerciser can easily burn out 500 calories without doing any intense workout. For example, walking at a speed of 4 miles per hour can easily burn 500 calories. By investing some more effort in a workout, you can accomplish your 500 calorie goal in less time. For instance, biking or rowing at moderate intensity will lead to the burning of 500 calories in just 45 minutes. If the exerciser chooses to invest very little effort, they can still burn 500 calories but in a longer span of time.
250-lb. Exerciser
People with weight over 250 lb. can shed 500 calories with minimum effort. Just walking around at moderate pace will burn 500 calories in an hour. With increasing the intensity of their workout 250 lb. exerciser can shed more calories in lesser time. However, due to the weight factor they are often unable to invest more effort or opt for vigorous workouts, like jogging, running or cycling at high speed or on elevated surfaces.
Conclusion
It all boils down to the fact that you can end up burning additional calories by increasing the intensity of any exercise, but it also depends on how intense you can make it and that depends on your current fitness level. Some exercises are inherently more vigorous, like running, so they are going to burn more calories in a short time compared to a less vigorous exercise, like walking. Therefore, it is important to plan your workout carefully to suit your fitness level and weight loss goals.
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