Knowing how many calories you burn during a workout is essential if you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight.

The amount of energy you expend while exercising depends on several factors, including your age, biological sex, and workout intensity. You might be surprised to learn that certain exercises burn more calories than others, even if they take the same amount of time.

In this article, we’ll explore how these factors affect the number of calories you burn and provide charts to help you estimate your energy expenditure accurately.

Understanding Calories and Exercise

A calorie is a unit of energy that your body uses to function properly. The number of calories you need depends on your age, sex, weight, and activity level.

When you exercise, you burn calories, which can help you lose weight if you’re in a calorie deficit. Experts recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise per week to maintain good health. If you’re trying to lose weight, you might need to exercise more.

Factors that Affect Calorie Burn

Several factors influence the number of calories you burn during exercise, including age, biological sex, and workout intensity. Here’s a closer look at how each of these factors affects energy expenditure:.

Age

As you age, your metabolism slows down, which means you burn fewer calories at rest. That’s why many people gain weight as they get older. The same principle applies to exercise.

A 40-year-old woman who weighs 150 pounds burns fewer calories doing the same workout as a 20-year-old woman who weighs the same amount. To compensate for this, older adults might need to exercise more or adjust their diet to maintain their weight.

Biological Sex

Men and women’s bodies are different, and that affects the number of calories they burn during exercise. Men typically have more muscle mass than women, which means they burn more calories at rest.

This can give men an advantage when it comes to weight loss. However, women can still burn plenty of calories if they engage in strength training and high-intensity workouts. Ultimately, the number of calories you burn depends on your body composition, not your biological sex.

Workout Intensity

The intensity of your workout is perhaps the most critical factor that affects calorie burn. A high-intensity workout burns more calories than a low-intensity workout, even if they both take the same amount of time.

For example, brisk walking burns fewer calories than running, even if you cover the same distance. If you want to maximize your energy expenditure, you should focus on high-intensity exercises like sprinting, HIIT workouts, and CrossFit.

Calories Burned by Age, Gender, and Workout Intensity (Charts)

Now that you have a better understanding of the factors that affect calorie burn let’s take a look at some charts that show how many calories you can expect to burn during different workouts based on your age, biological sex, and workout intensity. Keep in mind that these are estimates, and your actual calorie burn might vary depending on your body composition, fitness level, and other factors.

Calories Burned by Age and Workout Intensity

This chart shows how many calories you can expect to burn per hour based on your age and workout intensity. The numbers are estimates for a person who weighs 155 pounds.

Calories Burned by Biological Sex and Workout Intensity

This chart shows how many calories you can expect to burn per hour based on your biological sex and workout intensity. The numbers are estimates for a person who weighs 155 pounds.

Calories Burned by Age and Exercise Type

This chart shows how many calories you can expect to burn per hour based on your age and the type of workout you’re doing. The numbers are estimates for a person who weighs 155 pounds.

Calories Burned by Biological Sex and Exercise Type

This chart shows how many calories you can expect to burn per hour based on your biological sex and the type of workout you’re doing. The numbers are estimates for a person who weighs 155 pounds.

How to Use the Charts

You can use these charts to estimate how many calories you’re burning during your workouts, based on your age, biological sex, and workout intensity.

To use the charts, find your age or biological sex on the left side of the chart and follow it across to the workout intensity or exercise type you’re doing. The number you find represents the number of calories you can expect to burn per hour. Keep in mind that these are just estimates, and your actual calorie burn might vary depending on your fitness level, body composition, and other factors.

Conclusion

Knowing how many calories you burn during exercise is crucial if you’re trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. The number of calories you burn depends on several factors, including your age, biological sex, and workout intensity.

Use the charts we’ve provided to estimate your energy expenditure accurately and adjust your workouts accordingly. Remember that exercise is just one part of the equation, and you’ll also need to pay attention to your diet if you want to see results.