Most people never know the number of calories they’ve burned after a workout. While it’s not necessary to know the exact number of calories burnt – having a rough estimate will help you manage calories better.
There’s no doubt that you have to maintain a calorie deficit to lose weight. And you can only do that by eating less or exercising more. In this article, I’ll show you various ways to maintain a deficit of 500 calories through exercise.
But remember you can’t out-train a bad diet. So make sure your diet is on point.
Burning 500 calories every day can help you lose one pound a week. But the truth is, most people don’t have time to exercise every day. And that’s why you have to eat less to increase your deficit.
Note that the calories burned will vary from person to person. Factors like age, gender, body size and training intensity determine the number of calories burned. You have to put effort and train at high intensity if you want to burn a lot of calories.
It’s worth noting that, I used a weight of 180 pounds when calculating the number of calories burned for each exercises.
Here you go, 26 ways to burn 500 calories a day
1. Strength Training
Strength training is a great way to burn calories and increase muscle mass.
But it’s not easy to determine the number of calories burnt in strength training. That’s because some exercises use more energy than others. For instance, leg exercises burn more calories than arms or abs exercises.
The best approach is to do full body workouts – that way, you’ll bun the most of calories. Also, train at high intensity, do challenging exercises and take short rests between sets. The high-intensity interval training (HIIT) method involves short intervals of high-intensity work — training near 90% maximum heart rate (MHR) — followed by intervals of slower-pace active recovery. Research confirms the shorter-duration HIIT method is superior to steady-state cardio for losing fat. In a landmark 1994 study published in the journal Metabolism, researchers had one group follow a 15-week HIIT program and another perform only steady-state cardio for 20 weeks. The data revealed that the steady-state group burned 15,000 more calories but the HIIT group lost significantly more bodyfat.
A more recent study conducted at the University of New South Wales (Australia) reported that a group of women who took part in a 20-minute HIIT program of eight-second sprints followed by 12 seconds of rest lost six times more bodyfat than a group that did steady-state cardio for 40 minutes at 60% MHR. And that’s not HIIT’s only fat-fighting benefit. The increase in intensity boosts the metabolism and keeps it higher longer after your workout is over. This is known as EPOC, or the afterburn effect, which in part helps fuel the repair of exercise-induced damage.
Research on subjects using either low-intensity protocols or the HIIT method found that the HIIT group burned an average 10% more calories in the 24 hours following exercise than the low-intensity groups, even though the total calories burned during each workout were the same. So if you train intensely enough, you’ll burn calories just sitting on the couch afterward.
Burn 500 in: 32 - 45 minutes with HIIT
2. Interval Training
High intensity interval training is a great way for busy folks to exercise. It only takes a few minutes to get the benefits of a one-hour workout.
Just make sure you train at high intensity and don’t take long rests.
You can burn 500 calories in 20 minutes if you perform your intervals at a speed of 12mph.
3. Running
If you like training outdoors, running can help you melt that extra fat.
Contrary to popular belief, running faster doesn’t burn more calories. Even so, running faster is better. Because you’ll cover a longer distance in less time, and end up burning more calories.
Note that you’ll burn more calories running on a hilly terrain than on flat ground.
To burn 500 calories you need to run for 40 minutes at a speed of 6mph (10 min mile).
4. Rowing
Whether row in water or use a rowing machine – you’ll definitely burn off fat.
If you’ve never used a rowing machine before, learn how to – most people don’t use it properly. many people at the gym using incorrectly i.e. rounding their back when they go forward or using their arms to pull before their legs have extended.
It only takes 50 minutes of moderate rowing to burn 500 calories.
5. Stair Climbing
I hear people complain about climbing stairs all the time. If only they knew the number of calories they’d burn if they did it regularly.
In fact, going up and down the stairs several times a day can transform your body. And running will bring better results.
You can also use the stair climber machine to get your workout going.
It only takes 30 minutes of fast-pace climbing to burn 500 calories.
6. Tabata Time
The Tabata protocol is an extremely high-intensity training method that produces results very quickly. A Tabata workout or sequence is an interval training cycle of 20 seconds of exercise performed at maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated eight times for a total of four minutes. To burn 500 calories, perform four separate Tabata intervals, each four minutes in length. Include a five-minute warm-up and cool-down.
7. Burpees
A burpee is one of the best exercises you can ever do. It activates all the muscles, improves endurance, builds strength and burns fat.
Doing burpees for 40 minutes without long rests can burn up to 500 calories.
8. Jumping Rope
Jumping rope doesn’t just burn fat – it helps with balance, increases explosiveness and improves cardiovascular health.
Someone who weighs 200 pounds or more needs to jump rope for 32 minutes to burn 500 calories a day. a 150 lb person, approximately 50 minutes.
Probably best done by splitting it up as jumping for 50 minutes straight may be a little extreme. So split it up into to smaller chunks and jump during the morning, day, evening or whenever you have spare time maybe whilst you wait for your dinner to cook, during commercial breaks whilst watching your favorite programs…
9. Hiking/ Mountain Climbing
Taking a trip to the mountains can help get rid of excess fat. And you’ll also build muscles while at it.
To burn more calories carry a heavy bag with you.
Hiking for 50 minutes can burn up to 500 calories.
10. Cardio Boxing
If you like boxing, use it to burn fat. You can either use a punching bag, or spar, or fight in the ring.
Realize that these three options don’t burn the same number of calories. Fighting burns the most calories, then sparring and punching bag burns the least calories.
Increase leg movement (even when using a punching bag) to burn more calories.
Boxing is rated as one of the best forms of exercise because it conditions the whole body, and builds strength, endurance, balance, agility and coordination at the same time.
To burn 500 calories you need to box in the ring for 30 minutes, or use a punching bag for 60 minutes, or spar for 40 minutes.
11. Martial Arts
Martial arts training burns a lot of calories because it involves many movements like kicking, punching and sparring.
Whether you’re into karate, or, taekwondo, or kickboxing – train at high intensity.
You only need to train martial arts for 45 minutes to burn 500 calories.
12. Stair Climber for 50 minutes
Hop on the stair climber at the gym or find some stairs to run up and walk down (remember to walk down as you don’t want to lose your balance).
13. Spinning Class
These classes will have you burning calories fast although it will depend on your input. No slacking, push hard, increase the resistance and keep going. Depending on the instructor you can burn up to 500 calories in about 45 minutes.
14. Walking
Walking may seem like a regular activity, but it’s actually a great way to burn calories.
Well, it’s the distance covered that determines the number of calories burned, not how long you walk. And studies show that it takes 10,000 steps to burn 500 calories.
You can burn more calories walking if you carry a weighted backpack or wear a weight vest. Here are several ways to walk more and burn more calories.
To burn 500 calories you have to walk at a moderate pace (3mph) for 110 minutes.
15. Surfing
For those that are luck enough to live by the beach and enjoy 80 degree winter weather like I do by living in sunny LA, grab your surfboard. You can burn up to 500 calories every 80 minutes.
16. Zumba
If you want to have fun and burn calories at the same time, Zumba is the way to go.
You just need to dance at high intensity and maximize on arm, waist, and leg movement.
In fact, don’t need more than 40 minutes to burn 500 calories through Zumba.
17. Yoga
Many people may not know this but yoga actually burns fat. But the truth is, you can’t burn 500 calories in a single yoga class of 45 minutes.
You have to practice yoga for 150 minutes to burn 500 calories.
18. Pilates
Just like yoga, Pilates are not the best for burning calories. To burn 500 calories you have to do Pilates for 150 minutes.
19. Tennis
Sometimes folks are not motivated to do strength training or run. With a sport like tennis, you can get a full body workout without it feeling like a chore.
By the way, did you know that the average running distance of two sets tennis is 3 miles?
If you’re playing singles, it’s possible to burn 500 calories in just 50 minutes.
20. Hill Sprints
If you live at a hilly place and don’t do hill sprints, you’re sitting on a gold mine. Hill sprints are one of the best ways to burn fat fast.
In fact, various athletes use hill sprints as part of their training.
Well, you can burn 500 calories in just 10 minutes. This makes hill sprints the fastest (but not the easiest) way to burn calories in this list.
21. Outdoor Cycling
Besides burning fat, cycling improves cardiovascular health and circulation of oxygen in the body.
If you want to burn more calories cycling – cycle on hilly roads and at a high speed. You can also do high intensity intervals cycles.
To burn 500 calories you need to cycle moderately (12-14mph) for 46 minutes.
22. Rock Climbing
Some folks tend to get bored with jogging and bodyweight exercises. If that’s you, try rock climbing.
Whether its indoor rock climbing or outdoor you’ll get a full body workout and burn lots of calories.
It’s also a time saver because you only need 35 minutes to burn 500 calories.
23. Fidget and keep moving
i.e. leg bouncing (annoying to some so choose when wisely – maybe not to be done during a meeting or whilst chatting to friends), walking around while you are on the phone. Take the stairs, get of the bus one stop earlier, park further away from the entrance and walk that extra bit. How about going to drop of that report in person rather than putting it in the internal mail. OK this one is not going to burn you those 500 calories by itself but they are easy enough to incorporate throughout your day to help get in some extra calories burnt.
24. Swimming
Swimming is a good non-impact exercise for burning calories. If you have knee pain or lower back pain this can be a great exercise for you.
Realize that different strokes don’t burn calories the same way. Butterfly burns the most calories, followed by freestyle.
Swimming freestyle moderately for 55 minutes is enough to burn 500 calories. You have to swim throughout – floating around in the pool won’t cut it.
25. Football/ Soccer
Playing football for a team or in your local park is ideal for burning fat. You’ll cover a lot of distance and build muscle without much effort.
A study by Harvard medical publications found that someone who weighs 185 pounds will burn 500 calories in 50 minutes playing soccer.
26. Get out the Shovel
For those of you who are experiencing snow at the moment and need to clear the drive then grab a snow shovel and in 80 minutes you will have burnt off 500 calories…
Final Word
There are many ways you can burn 500 calories a day, although I have mentioned just a few of them above, this does not mean you have to limit yourself to only these. Start thinking about what you like to do and where outside, inside, alone, with others etc).
Clearly, there are numerous ways to burn calories. Just do the ones you enjoy and stick to them. And remember exercise alone won’t do much if you don’t eat healthy and maintain a calorie deficit.
