This page shows you the number of calories a typical person burns for 20 minutes participation in different exercises. We should all aim to take 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week. This can be a mixture of all types of physical activity, anything that makes you slightly out of breath and raises your heart rate slightly.
This table doesn’t only show values for organised exercises, but also for more enjoyable pastimes, like walking, dancing and gardening which many of us enjoy doing.
Updated July 2010 to indicate speeds.
| ACTIVITY | CALORIES |
| Leisurely walk (2mph) | 59 |
| Dancing | 105 |
| Cycling (10mph) | 140 |
| Running (5mph) | 187 |
| Aerobics | 140 |
| Weights | 140 |
| Cleaning | 82 |
| Driving | 35 |
| Swimming (leisurely) | 140 |
| Tennis | 187 |
| Rowing | 200 |
| Golf | 93 |
| Circuit Training | 187 |
| Skipping | 100 |
| Gardening | 118 |
| Skiing | 160 |
The exact number of calories you burn will depend on the effort you put in and your weight. Moving a bigger body requires more energy than moving a smaller body!
It is interesting to note that our days resting requirement is 1300 calories for women, and 1600 for men. This is the minimum calories we would need to maintain a healthy weight if we stayed in bed all day!
This is great, will really help burn those unwanted calories each day
Superb post! I’m extremely interested in knowing how the cals are burnt! I guess there would be some difference depending on the amount of effort put in on each category, i.e. fast paced walking rather than leisurely etc, i’m surprised at how low swimming came out, less surprised at the figure for gardening, i’m a pro gardener in the UK, and i never have a problem losing the Christmas weight!
great info though, thanks
I reguarlly use carb cycling as im a bit of a body builder but its a good way for anyone looking to lose weight.
For about 6 weeks, 3 times a week I’ve been running at the gym. I run from between 30 mins and an hour every time. I run at 10km/h an hour (more like a medium jog really, I have to run at 13km/h+ before you could call it ‘running’). 10km/h is pretty standard with other people too.
In an hour run I burn (according to the machine) 720-750 calories. That’s about 250 every 20 minutes and the run isn’t even that fast! A long way from the 90kcal every 20 minutes this list is suggesting.
To be honest, this list just isn’t right for me.
I agree with the above. I run at the gym and the machine goes by your weight and the speed you run at, so it’s a lot more accurate than the above!
I agree with Adam.
I am calorie counting and exercising 5 days a week. Running 3 days with toning/conditioning weights and swimming with sauna afterwards for 2 days. I also cycle to and from my work which may be only 2km each way but it still makes a difference. With the exception of swimming I wear a heart rate monitor and I am burning way more calories that what is on the list above. it has been programmed with my current weight and activity level and it has enabled me to improve on my fitness considerably. My advice is to eat well, exercise often and not get stressed out over it – if you don’t cheat yourself you will suceed!
I totally agree, burnt calories depends on your height, weight and gender.
Are there any websites like this that do the same thing for extreme sports? i understand thats not as simple but can somone let me know please
hello everybody
thanks mate i enjoy it
You guys should our instructors … lol. I think the list is very useful to all people except the bodybuilders. Not all the people can burn 750 cal/hour, unless they are exceptionally fit. I think the list really helps the people who would like to enjoy the benefit of excercise through the day to day activity.
Lists like the abovce can make pretty depressing reading because it gives the impression that one would need to do circuit training for an hour to burn off the calories contained in a can of cola. You are going to want a can of cola after doing the excercise, so what is the point in doing it, one may one wonder. I am not denying the figures above (with the caveats regarding weight, height, gender) but they do not represent the big picture. If one does just twenty minutes of excercise (as hard as you can safely perform), then while the calories burned as a direct result of that excercise are not all that numerous (less than a can of coke), as a result of doing the excercise one will improve ones cardiac health, and increase ones metabolic rate. This means that after one has finished excercising and for the other 23 hours 40 minutes of the day, one will be buring more calouries, while one is sitting, standing, walking and lying down.
I’m 5′ 11′ tall, male and weigh 70kg. At 75 years of age I’m active but have to restrict my diet to 1200 calories a day otherwise I put on weight. It’s hard going.
How about you all read the post again – it specifically says that this is a guide for the average person!! It doesn’t take a genius to work out that you’ll burn more if you work harder, whether it be physically or in terms of intensity/speed…obviously if you weigh more and run harder you’ll burn more calories than a stick insect leisurely jaunting down the road! And they haven’t even included genetics/metabolism which have an even greater impact..