Burning any significant amount of calories can be challenging. Whether you burn calories during gym workouts, swimming, or walking the number of calories burned is often not as much as we would like it to be.
For those who want to lose weight, walking can be a sustainable way of burning calories. But how many calories can you burn with only walking? And how many steps do you need to walk to burn 1000 calories?
On average, burning 1000 calories require you to walk between 20 000-25 000 steps. Being able to burn 1000 calories only from walking is possible, but can be difficult to sustain over time.
Table of Contents
How Many Calories Do You Burn By Walking?
One of the most overlooked ways of burning calories is walking. Walking is a great low-impact activity that actually burns a significant amount of calories.
An example of why walking is a great way of burning calories is by looking at the people in New York City. If you’ve ever been to the big apple, NYC, you will notice that you rarely see an obese person.
And that is due to everyone mostly walking everywhere, and burning calories while they are doing so. This past week I just came back from a trip to New York and I was wearing a Fitbit when walking around the city.
On average I was walking well over 20 000 steps a day and burning over 3000 calories without even thinking about it. This is the power of burning calories through walking.
Generally, walking for an hour will burn around 300-700 calories depending on the pace and whether there is an incline.
Is It Possible To Burn 1000 Calories in One Day?
There are many ways that you can burn 1000 calories in a day, with walking being the easiest of them. Walking for two-three hours total throughout your day will burn over 1000 calories.
However, there are many other ways to burn 1000 calories in one day that are more time efficient.
Skipping Rope
By using a skipping rope or jumping rope you could get your heart pumping and calories burning fairly easily. You don’t need more than just a skipping rope and a small place where you can jump. It is also typically a low-impact exercise, which means that you can do it several times a week.
Burpees
Burpees is an exercise that is used in most high demanding sports and also in the military to train people into better shape.
It is a great way to burn calories and you could do it literally anywhere.
Swimming
Swimming is one of the most underrated exercises for burning calories. When you are doing an intense exercise like sprinting or burpees you feel like you have burned a lot of calories, because your body temperature increases and you expend a lot of sweat.
With swimming you don’t really get the same sensation as those types of exercises but you still burn a lot of calories while swimming.
Swimming is a full body exercise and can be a great way to burn additional calories throughout your day.
Hill Sprints
Hill sprints are some of the best ways to burn calories within a short period of time. The physical toll that sprinting uphill has on the body, will burn a substantial amount of calories.
If you have access to a hill near you, then doing hill sprints is a fantastic way of burning off calories.
Can I Burn 1000 Calories in an Hour?
Burning 1000 calories just from walking on a flat surface is not really doable for most people. With an incline treadmill or walking uphill, you could burn a lot more than walking on a flat surface, but it would still be difficult to burn 1000 calories in an hour just from walking.
There are ways that you can burn 1000 calories in an hour, like hill sprints and high-intensity interval training. Another way to burn 1000 calories per hour is structured circuit training with high intensity and little breaks.
Most high-intensity activities where the heart is forced to pump at a higher frequency will burn a higher number of calories per hour.
When trying to burn a significant amount of calories in an hour, make sure that you only go for it if you think your body can handle it. Also, make sure to stay hydrated while training at high intensities.
How Long Do I Have To Run to Burn 1000 Calories?
Running for an hour will typically burn around 600-700 calories, which means that you will need to run for about 1 hour and a half to burn around 1000 calories.
It is worth noting that the more muscle mass or the overall weight, the more calories will generally be burned. So a person who is 150 lbs will burn fewer calories than someone who is 220 lbs.
To burn 1000 calories by running you will need to run anywhere from 6-12 miles.
10 Activities That Burn the Most Calories
The activities that get the heart pumping are generally the ones that burn the most calories. Here are the top 10 activities that burn the most calories.
1. Running
Running and sprinting are one of the best ways of burning calories. It utilizes the whole body and requires a lot of energy to be sustained. Running is definitely one of the most efficient ways of burning calories.
2. Skipping Rope
Even though you are only standing in one place, skipping rope can be a very challenging activity that will increase your caloric expenditure. Especially for those who are new to skipping rope, this is a great exercise for burning calories.
3. Spinning Sessions
Most gyms offer spinning sessions of 45 minutes or an hourly session. These are great ways to burn off significant amounts of calories. The spinning instructor will push you to give your best effort and your body will thank you for it afterward.
4. Kettlebell Circuit Training
Kettlebell circuit training sessions are great ways to not only burn calories but build muscle while you are doing so.
As you build more muscle by using kettlebells you will also raise your daily caloric expenditure. This means that the more muscle you build, the more calories you will burn throughout the days.
5. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
One of the absolute best sports to get into if you are looking to burn calories is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It is a combat sport that is based on wrestling and submissions against opponents.
Jiu Jitsu is a great way to burn calories while learning a new skill and having fun while doing so.
6. Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a very high-paced sport, which demands a lot of energy to be burned to be able to perform. It can be a fantastic way to burn calories.
7. Swimming
Swimming is one of the most underrated ways of training. It does require more effort than going to the gym, in the sense of having to go to a swimming pool and changing into swimming trunks to get a workout in.
However, if you want to increase the number of calories you burn in a workout, swimming is a great way to go.
8. Stair Runs
If you ever try to run up 200 steps of stairs, you will feel a sense of exhaustion that you rarely feel. With the amount of energy that is required to run up some stairs, it is typically not sustainable for longer periods of time.
Running up steps is one of the most effective ways for you to burn calories. Especially if you find a set of steps that are 100-200 steps, then you’ll get a really good workout in.
9. Basketball
Playing basketball is an activity that requires a lot of moments back and forth on the court. It is a sport where there is constant movement and not much rest, making it a great way to burn calories.
If you get a chance to play with some friends or even on a basketball team, this will be a great way to expend some calories.
10. Rowing Machine
Lastly, rowing is an activity that requires a lot of energy from the upper body as well as your cardio. Most gyms will have a rowing machine that you can use to burn up some extra calories.
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