How to burn more calories at the Gym

[reneek 1]

I was wondering how to burn more caloreis at the gym. I get an hr of cardio at the gym everyday (thats all the time i have i have a full time job and little ones at home) and the machines are telling me i am only burning 300 calories for that hr. I have read some post saying that some people are burning 8oo calories and hr is this because they are running their a** off. I am doing much better then i did several months ago (i can now do 3.7 and a 2 percent incline on the treadmill when i started i could only do 2.5 no incline) I am now on level 3 on the bike but i am still 225lbs and can't run on the treadmill for more then a few mins. I do 20 mins on three machines every day. Does more calorie burning just come with time as you loose more weight you can go faster and up you levels. I want to be able to get the most out of my work out.

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

Hi!

Different machines produce different results. I know for one, the elliptical will burn 800 calories in one hour for me.

Keep in mind too it does depend on how heavy you are, wether you are male or female etc.

All the best!

[cookienay 0]

Elliptical is the way to go!! You burn twice the calories almost. If you can get up to at least 45 minutes on it, you will definitely see a difference. Good luck!

[AlaskaGirl77 0]

Love the elliptical..burns burns burns those calories..so does the dreaded stair stepper!! burns even more...trust me,at 322 lbs..it's not fun..but i do it for 10 mins a day...also i do Water aerobics...not old lady stuff...but a military run/style class that i burn aprox. 1300 calories in the hour

[reneek 1]

Hi!

Different machines produce different results. I know for one, the elliptical will burn 800 calories in one hour for me.

Keep in mind too it does depend on how heavy you are, wether you are male or female etc.

All the best!

When you do the elliptical and burn 800 calories what level do you use. Because i have used the elliptical and in 20 mins it said i burn 120 calories maybe the machines are wrong

[Jachut 487]

If you're going to stay with cardio machines, interval training will burn more calories for you - well more correctly, it will set your body up to burn more FAT. Calorie burn might only increase slightly due to doing a slightly greater distance, but your metabolism will skyrocket.

that means, if you can only run for a few minutes on the treadmill, then spread your run out - walk very fast for five minutes, run flat out for two, recover with a minutes slower walk, walk very fast for another four, run flat out for two.

www.cardiocoach.com is an excellent MP3 interval training program (there's about 8 volumes) that will take the guesswork out of that for you.

But if at all possible try some circuit training. So instead of a whole hour of cardio break it up with heavy duty squats, lunges, pushups etc. Much more strength work done hard and fast, with work on the cardio machines in between will give you a better result.

Cardio does get the fat off, for sure, and is never a waste of time, but you can get better faster results. I didnt really come to believe this myself until AFTER I'd lost all my weight just running, but what things like bootcamp and circuit have done for my body since is quite amazing. And I can eat and eat and eat and never gain.

Dont go by what machines say you've burned, and ellipticals in particular are notoriously inaccurate becuase they base the calculation on a running movement, when in actual fact you dont actually leave the ground like you do with running. Go by your perceived exertion, set distance goals ad challenge those. Unfortunately to burn a lot of calories in an hour, it has to hurt, if you know what I mean.

Edited November 12, 2009 by Jachut

[TracyW2 137]

Love the elliptical! I do about 30 minutes and burn about 400 calories. Definitely gives you a good work out.

[happy2lose 0]

Ya'll have me convinced I need an elliptical :thumbup:

[Maggie76 0]

I completely agree with Jacqui.

I started out spped walking and at high inclines. I'd burn less than 400 calories. Then I started to add a bit of running. For example, first I'd warm up with 5 minutes of walking, run for 90 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, etc until I hit 25 minutes. Now, after warming up for 5 minutes, I run at intervals of 3-4 minutes and walk about 3 minutes in between, for about 45 minutes, then I power walk at an incline of 10 for 10 minutes, then cool down. I've been burning over 700 calories doing this - and that's according to both my treadmill and my BodyBugg.

Even if you can't run for longer than a few minutes, that's fine. Just run as long as you can (or for a few minutes), walk to catch your breath, and run again. Try to do this for a few weeks for 25 minutes, then slowly increase your run times and your overall workout time on the treadmill. You will notice the changes to your body and to your ability to run longer!

Best,

Maggie

[Lottie 0]

Congratulations!!! on adding workouts to your daily routine. I agree the calories on the equipment varies for individuals depending on the incline of the machine and speed. I experienced this same thing and decided to invest in a HEART RATE MONITOR. You enter your personal information (example:age,weight,height ect) and it calculates, your total workout time, Avg HR, MAX HR and Total Calories Burned. Cardio is an excellent way to burn fat. Make sure you do workouts you enjoy. When you get use to a certain machine or a particular workout you need to push yourself a little harder to keep seeing results. INTERVAL TRAINING is a great way to keep your heart rate up. Keep up the good work.

[Southern Charm 0]

How many cal should we be burning? if we only take in 1200 in a day and Im buring 4-800 cals just in cardo that would put me in a negative cal for the day. is this OK or do i need to increase my cal intake to burn 800+ cal during workouts

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,281]

Southern, when losing weight the whole idea is to get our intake at a negative. Now, as far as personal needs, for me if I stay around 1200 per day I’m losing. However I have noticed that when I’m burning extreme amounts I tend to lose slower. I don’t know why, but that’s just me. My body burns efficiently with about 1 hour to 1.5 hours per day workout time. That being one hour cardio and half hour strength training six days per week.

[Maggie76 0]

Southern Charm,

If your goal is to lose 2 pounds per week, then you need to keep a 1000 calorie deficit between the amount of calories you consume v. the amount of calories you burn. So, if you consume about 1200 calories a day, you want to burn 2200 calories each day. If you work out daily and burn 800 calories just during your workout alone, then I would guess that you are making your 1000 calorie deficit each day, since folks generally burn at least 1500 calories a day just sitting around.

I have a BodyBugg, and it tells me that generally I burn about 1800 calories a day when I work from home and without working out. When I work out, I burn an additional 650-700 calories, so I have been able to manage the daily deficit needed. Some days I burn 4000 calories when I’m out and about – if I can do that for 2 or 3 days a week, and burn at least 2500 calories the other days, then I really notice a difference when I weigh myself! Makes you want to do a happy dance! :thumbup:

Hope this helps,

Maggie

[davsil 0]

You shouldn't be in negative territory between intake & exercise. Remember, just being alive burns calories. There are some great calculators on line that will tell you how many calories you should be eating based on your weight and overall lifestyle to lose a certain amount of weight each week.

If you don't get enough food your body can go into starvation mode and stop losing weight because it's trying to preserve itself.

On exercise I like the elliptical as well. In about 20 minutes I burn around 300 calories. But then I also follow that with about 20 minutes of weight machines (strength training is very important to prevent muscle loss) and then I swim laps for another 20 minutes or so. Swimming is great exercise if you have access to a pool. It's highly aerobic, low impact, works all parts of the body and is actually enjoyable compared to most exercises.

[REALIZEinCT 0]

I would highly recommend to invest in a good heart rate monitor. It will tell you with much greater accuracy how many calories you've burned versus the machine counter. Also, I find it motivating to keep track of my daily workouts and see the numbers -- and results! -- add up.

Good Luck,

Pete