Have you ever wondered how exercising impacts your weight loss or maintenance journey? It’s safe to say that it does, but how exactly does it work? Well, it all comes down to calories burned during exercise.
What are Calories?
Calories are units of energy that measure the amount of energy consumed or burned. It’s essential to consume enough calories to fuel our bodies for everyday activities.
However, when we consume more calories than our bodies need, the excess calories are stored as fat, resulting in weight gain.
What is Caloric Expenditure?
Caloric expenditure is the number of calories an individual burns to fuel body functions and physical activity. Our bodies require energy for various functions like breathing, digesting food, and regulating body temperature.
Physical activity, including exercise, is the most significant contributor to caloric expenditure. Our bodies burn extra calories during exercise than when we are at rest.
What Determines Caloric Expenditure?
Caloric expenditure depends on several factors, including:.
- The individual’s weight
- The type and intensity of physical activity performed
- The duration of the activity
For example, a 150-pound person burns approximately 240 calories during 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cycling. The same person would burn approximately 450 calories during 30 minutes of vigorous-intensity cycling.
The Benefits of Exercise for Caloric Expenditure
Exercise increases caloric expenditure and helps to create a calorie deficit, a key component of weight loss and maintenance. A calorie deficit is when an individual burns more calories than they consume.
When you exercise, your body burns calories in two ways. It can burn calories during exercise, but it can also burn calories after the workout as well. This is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), or the afterburn effect.
During EPOC, your body consumes more oxygen than usual to replenish its energy stores, repair muscles and tissues, and facilitate other essential body functions.
The body converts fat into energy during this time to rebuild muscle and perform these functions, resulting in extra calorie burn and weight loss.
Calculating Caloric Expenditure
Calculating caloric expenditure is essential for weight loss and maintenance. The overall number of calories an individual burns depends on several factors, including weight, age, and physical activity level.
To calculate caloric expenditure, an individual can use online calculators to estimate how many calories they should consume daily to create a calorie deficit.
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How many calories does exercise burn?
Most calculators ask for an individual’s weight, age, gender, and daily physical activity level. Physical activity levels are usually classified as:.
- Sedentary – Little or no exercise
- Lightly active – Light exercise 1-3 days per week
- Moderately active – Moderate exercise 3-5 days per week
- Very active – Hard exercise 6-7 days per week
- Super Active – Hard exercise twice per day or training for marathon or triathlon
Online calculators use various formulas to determine how many calories an individual should consume daily to create a calorie deficit.
For example, the Harris-Benedict equation is a formula used to calculate basal metabolic rate (BMR), or the number of calories an individual’s body needs at rest. To convert BMR to caloric expenditure, it’s essential to multiply it by an activity factor depending on an individual’s physical activity level.
Does Exercise Speed up Metabolism?
Exercise can speed up metabolism, increasing the number of calories burned at rest. The body requires more calories to maintain muscle mass than fat mass.
Regular exercise, including strength training, helps build and maintain muscle mass, increasing the number of calories burned at rest.
Additionally, EPOC increases metabolism, resulting in extra calorie burn after exercise. The afterburn effect can last up to 48 hours after exercise, meaning the body burns more calories even when not exercising.
The Best Calorie-Burning Exercises
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) and strength training are the most effective exercises for calorie burn during and after exercise.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT involves performing short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by periods of rest. This type of exercise stimulates EPOC, resulting in extra calorie burn after exercising, making HIIT an effective calorie-burning exercise.
Examples of HIIT exercises include sprints, cycling, and jumping jacks.
Strength Training
Strength training involves using weights or resistance to build and maintain muscle mass. This type of exercise is useful for increasing metabolism, as muscle requires more calories to maintain than fat.
Examples of strength training exercises include weightlifting, resistance band exercises, and bodyweight exercises like push-ups and squats.
Conclusion
Exercising is an effective way to burn calories, facilitate weight loss and maintenance. Caloric expenditure depends on several factors, including weight, age, and physical activity level.
Exercise increases metabolism, resulting in extra calorie burn, and creating a calorie deficit, essential for weight loss and maintenance. The best calorie-burning exercises include HIIT and strength training.
