Burn Baby Burn

Calories that is...

While all exercise burns some calories, some sports or activities burn a lot more.
Let's look at the basic, daily calories burned by humans. Men, due to their generally larger size, burn more calories. A resting 70-pound man burns 15 calories per minute; a 115-pound woman burns 12.
Keep in mind that a pound of fat contains 3,700 calories. But as fat contains more water and blood vessels than does a pound of lean muscle mass, that pound actually comes in at 1.2 pounds.
The ability to burn calories decreases with age; thus we gain weight. A 20-year-old person can ingest 3,000 calories per day and maintain her weight. By age 50, however, she cannot ingest more than 2,000 calories.

When planning an exercise program, choose an activity that you can sustain for at least 10 or 15 minutes. Sure, running burns more calories than walking, but if running wipes you out after a half mile or bothers your knees, you’re better off walking.

The table below gives calorie estimates for a number of popular aerobic activities. The number of calories you actually burn depends on the intensity of your workout, your weight, your muscle mass, and your metabolism. The table includes a few stop-and-go sports such as tennis and basketball. Activities like these are not aerobic in the truest sense, but they can still give you a great workout and contribute to good health and weight loss.

The numbers in this chart apply to a 150-pound person. (If you weigh less, you’ll burn a little less; if you weigh more, you’ll burn a little more.)

Calories Burned during Popular Activities

Activity 60 minutes

Aerobic dance 684
Basketball 564
Bicycling at 12 mph 566
Bicycling at 15 mph 708
Bicycling at 18 mph 850
Boxing 660
Circuit weight training 756
Cross-country skiing 583
Downhill skiing 420
Golf (carrying clubs) 348
In-line skating 600
Jumping rope, 60–80 skips/m 572
Karate, tae kwon do 768
Kayaking 300
Racquetball 456
Rowing machine 415
Running 10-minute miles 731
Running 8-minute miles 893
Ski machine 564
Slide 608
Swimming freestyle, 35 yds/m 497
Swimming freestyle, 50 yds/m 523
Tennis, singles 464
Tennis, doubles 170
VersaClimber, 100 ft./min. 750
Walking, 20-minute miles, 240
Walking, 15-minute miles, 292
Water aerobics 280