Most people blame their slow metabolism for gaining weight. But what does slow metabolism mean? Is metabolism the only contributing factor to gaining weight? And if so, is it possible to improve metabolism to lose weight?
Metabolism indeed plays a vital role in gaining and losing weight. But contrary to the common belief, slow metabolism is not the only contributing factor to excess weight gain.
Although our body’s metabolism influences some of the primary energy needs, how much we eat, along with how many physical activities we indulge in, are some of the things that determine our body weight.
Metabolism is a complex process in which the food we intake is converted into energy. And during this process, the calories present in the food and beverages we intake are combined with oxygen to suffice our bodies’ energy needs to function. It is surprising yet true that when our body is at rest, it still needs energy to perform hidden functions such as blood circulation, adjusting hormone levels, breathing, and growing and repairing cells. And the number of calories our body takes to carry out the hidden functions is known as our basal metabolic rate, what we call metabolism.
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There Are Multiple Factors Determining The Basal Metabolism, And Some Of Them Are:
The Composition Of The Body: People with large or more muscle can burn more calories even when their bodies are at rest.
Gender: Compared to women, men usually have less body fat and muscle. This means men can burn more calories than women.
The Age: As we grow older, the fat count in our body tends to increase, whereas the amount of muscle decreases. Therefore as we get older, our calorie-burning process slows down.
However, now we understand that no matter how tempting it is to blame our metabolism for weight gain, metabolism is not responsible at all. Therefore, we need to control other things to lose weight and burn calories.
This article will primarily focus on physical activities that help burn more calories.
Best Exercises For Calorie Burn
When you invest your valuable time to sweat, and burning calories is your goal, you will want to know if the exercises you perform are worth your time. Confusion is real when it comes to the best practices that help maximize calorie burn.
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If you ask some friends, they will say cardio is the ultimate calorie-burning exercise, while others might swear by strength training. But it is time to know about all the calorie-burning practices and choose the most suitable one for yourself.
However, cardio exercises such as running tend to expend more calories than weightlifting. Please do not take our word because many physical therapists and fitness coaches think the same.
Some also say that cardio training keeps our post-exercise oxygen consumption from hours to days. The reason is that when we work out at a higher intensity, our body requires more oxygen afterward to recover and repair muscles.
The above statement proves that cardio exercises are more effective at burning calories. But we all need to remember that how many calories an individual can burn depends upon multiple factors, such as how much their body weighs. Bodies that weigh more also burn more calories in one go.
However, some cardio exercises burn more calories than others. And we will know about them one by one.
Jumping Rope
Calories Burned: 667-990 calories/hour when jumping at 120 skips per minute.
Jumping rope is a great exercise and is an effective form of cardio. It is also an underrated type of exercise. It is a great calorie burner alongside, helping in the development of body coordination, calf and ankle strength, cardiovascular endurance, posture, and core strength.
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During jumping rope, all the muscles of our body work together. Hence, the exercise is believed to be thermogenetic since it creates heat and burns many calories.
When you start jumping rope exercise and continue it for at least 2 minutes straight, it will heavily challenge your cardiovascular capabilities. Your heart rate will rise immediately, and you must maintain the energy your muscles produce. Jumping rope alongside burning calories also challenges different energy systems of our body.
When we become more skilled in jumping rope, it is also believed to build bone density that guards the human body against osteoporosis and bone loss, improves heart health, increases agility, reduces stress, and boosts our mood.
How To Do It:
Jumping rope is a simple exercise, and everyone can start their jumping rope journey with an inexpensive plastic rope picked from any local departmental store. But remember, a very lightweight jumping rope can make learning a bit tricky since you will not be able to feel the rope rotating around your body, making it hard for you to jump correctly.
During jumping rope exercise, the position of your hands and the rope is critical. Therefore, to hold a jump rope properly, you need to focus on two things: symmetry and movement. You need to ensure that both your hands are roughly at the same distance from the central line of your body, and while jumping, your elbows and shoulders must have minimal movement while your wrist should be in a complete function to generate the rotation.
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If you are a beginner, the best way to jump rope is to go slow initially. It is better to do it in 20 to 30 bursts until you master it. And once you achieve mastery, you can increase your speed and duration to burn more calories in one go.
Sprints
Calories Burned: 639-946 calories/hour
If you want to achieve your calorie burn goal faster, you can consider adding sprint training to your schedule. When you add faster sprints and slower intervals together, it can give you impressive results in the matter of calorie burning. Sprint exercises are great for people who want to burn more calories but don’t have time for steady and long endurance exercises.
Sprint training is appropriate for both recreation exercisers and elite athletes. Sprint enhances endurance performance, and many studies have found that participants who complete two months of sprint training bring improvements in maximum oxygen uptake. A test is done to measure a person’s cardiovascular fitness.
Sprint exercise is also known to improve muscle health and performance, and several weeks of sprint practice is way better than the traditional endurance training people do for years.
How To Do It?
If you are a beginner to sprinting, you must start slow as overdoing it can lead to injury. Before introducing sprinting to regular exercise, you must build your base fitness level. And when you start sprinting, start with only one set of 4 sprints, and the number can grow as you achieve your fitness goals.
If you are at the intermediate level and have started sprinting for a long time now, add up more sets of sprints to your daily exercise routine. However, you need to remember that you must avoid sprint exercise too often in a week since your body also needs adequate rest.
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Now comes the advanced level of sprint exercising in which you can intensify your sprint routine by continuing to increase the number of sets. You can also add resistance exercises with sprinting. For example, if you are cycling or running, you could try sprinting hills. You can also try strength-building techniques on the upper or lower body if you swim or skate.
Kickboxing
Calories Burned: 582-864 calories/hour
Kickboxing is a great calorie-burning exercise. Apart from helping you get a toned body and build muscle mass, the benefits of kickboxing are tenfold. Many people take up kickboxing as a daily exercise routine, especially those who think about losing weight. But it is essential to understand that losing weight with kickboxing is not as easy as it sounds. It is because kickboxing is a strength-building exercise too, and most people gain weight in muscle mass.
However, with patience and dedication, you can lose weight by burning more calories through kickboxing than you are taking in. Kickboxing is a whole-body exercise that allows your muscles to work out, and that is why most kickboxers we meet are lean, fit, and muscular.
A healthy lifestyle and a dedicated kickboxing routine can help you burn up to 900 calories every hour. According to many studies, kickboxing is a great high-intensity workout for people who want to get into shape.
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How To Do?
There are 3 core elements of kickboxing. The first one is learning how to do boxing. The second element of kickboxing is to strike your feet, and the last is to combine both: your kicks and punches.
If you are a beginner in kickboxing, you first need to learn how to turn your face and your forearms to form a posture that makes you look like you are holding weapons and shields together. Now you need to use your fists to generate force to attack your opponent. Boxing is a very natural form of exercising since when we feel attacked, it is our body’s natural response. That is the reason most beginners must start with boxing.
The second part of kickboxing is kicking. In this part, you need to use your feet and shins. The most common kicks associated with kickboxing are sidekicks, hook kicks, heel hook kicks, and food jabs. The fighting stance in kicking and boxing is different. For kicking, your fighting stance has to be more leaned back so that you can reach and extend with your legs. And for boxing, you must lean forward more to add more power to your punches.
The last step of learning kickboxing is to combine your kicks and punches eloquently and smoothly. Most people make a common mistake while learning kickboxing: they strike only with their fists or their feet. And that is either kicking or boxing but not kickboxing. It takes some time and patience to master the ability to combine both seamlessly. But when you stick with it, you will gain that perfection in no time.
Running
Calories Burned: 566-839 calories/hour when you cover one mile in 10 minutes.
Running is a great way to lose calories, especially if you are someone who does not like playing a sport or hanging out in the gym. It is an activity that requires no trainer or coach, and you can do it on your own. All you need is a pair of quality shoes, and no other tool is required for running.
We all know running is good for health but how many calories does running burn? Though around 900 calories can be burnt through running in one go, the exact amount varies from one person to another—people who weigh more burn more calories.
According to the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention, it is suggested that a human body must maintain 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity and 75 minutes of high-intensity activity to have good health. Running is a moderate-intensity exercise, but it can fall into the high-intensity category if you increase your speed.
Besides helping you burn calories, running is also helpful to maintain a healthy weight, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reducing the risk of heart diseases, lowering the risk of osteoporosis, and improving depression and anxiety.
How To Do?
If you are a beginner, you must first make your body habituated to this exercise. Therefore before starting, it’s better to talk to a doctor to know if you have any chronic health condition. That way, you will be protecting yourself from risking any injury.
As mentioned earlier, the only thing required for running is a pair of good shoes. Running shoes are different from regular walking or sports shoes. They are specifically designed to provide you with good support to your foot and knee while running.
Once you have the shoes, it’s time to start running, and a good general plan is to start with a brisk walk and then eventually add more speed to your walk.
If you want to burn more calories in less time, you can combine running with other strength training, such as lifting weights. When mixed with other exercises, running proves to be very helpful in burning more calories than you ever expected.
Spinning
Calories Burned: 568-841 calories/hour
Spinning gets much credit for being one of the most calorie-burning exercises. And there are many good reasons behind it. Depending upon factors like your intensity and body weight, you can burn around 400 to 600 calories in an hour. But to be very frank, starting your spinning exercise is not as easy as you probably think.
That is why many people enroll in spin classes to boost the burn. However, since consistency is the key, staying consistent with your spinning routine can help you get commendable results.
How To Do?
You can buy a spin bike for yourself at home to do spinning exercises. But if you have enrolled for a spin class, the equipment is generally present to save your investment. However, you can combine your spin exercise with great music to make this challenging exercise happening and fun for yourself.
Spinning exercises not only calorie burning but also strengthen the lower body when done in a proper form where the core and mid-section of your body are constantly engaged. When you go to the spin studio or do spinning exercises at home, you first need to adjust your bike correctly. Setting up the bike is critical; if you do not know how to do that, you can watch a video or contact the manufacturer to ensure the cycle is set correctly.
One thing you need to remember is that though it is intermediating to add resistance to your bike, riding without resistance is a bad idea. However, faster speed also does not mean that you will burn calories better. Therefore while adding some resistance to the wheel, start slowly and then gradually shift to a higher speed.
Stairs Climbing
Calories Burned: 452-670 calories/hour
Climbing stairs is recommended by doctors and healthcare professionals for weight loss and burning calories. It is a great workout that improves a person’s cardiovascular fitness while building body strength. Since you need to be balanced while climbing stairs, the exercise also makes your body balanced while strengthening your muscles and improving posture.
The question on your mind may be how many calories you can burn while climbing stairs. Around 2 to 5 calories can be burnt when you climb just one stair on average. When practiced for 30 minutes, a person can burn up to 235 calories. However, some factors determine how many calories you lose, such as your workout’s intensity, body weight, etc.
How To Do?
Stairs climbing is not a challenging workout. Therefore, you don’t need any extra instruction. However, to make the most of stair climbing, you can add up a few physical activities, including stair lunge, stair push-ups, etc., to burn a good number of calories from stair climbing.
Some FAQs Answered Regarding Calorie Burning
How Many Calories Can A Person Naturally Burn In A Day?
On average, an adult woman can burn roughly 1600 to 2400 calories daily, whereas on average, an adult man can use 2000 to 3000 calories daily.
Is Exercising Enough For Burning Calories?
Losing weight or burning calories requires high-intensity workouts combined with a balanced diet. Therefore one needs to be extremely mindful about what they eat and how much calories they intake through those foods. Calorie burning should always be more than the calorie consumed.
How Many Calories Do I Need To Burn To Lose One Kg Of Weight?
According to studies, 7700 calories make up 1 Kg of weight. Therefore, to reduce calories, you need to combine it with exercise and balanced food to lose calories and body weight faster.
How To Burn Calories Quickly?
Consistency is the key. Therefore, to burn more calories, you must incorporate a consistent workout routine. However, running, swimming, walking, bicycling, and jumping rope are some of the best for burning calories faster.
Does Burning Calories Mean Burning Fat?
When you decrease your calorie intake and increase your physical activity, the energy required for your body functions is collected from the fat stored in your body. Alongside if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you can gradually lose fat from the body.
Conclusion
The more active you are, the more calories you will burn. Though many products promise to help burn more calories, there is nothing that can replace a good workout routine. Even the experts say that working out is the most proven way to burn more calories. The exercises mentioned above will help you burn calories even after your workout has ended. I hope this article helped you know about some of the best activities and how to practice them to burn calories. Keep following us for many such articles to keep yourself fit and healthy.
