How Many Calories Am I Burning

When I Exercise?

The number of calories you burn depends upon your weight, the activity your are doing and the intensity level you are exercising at. Any activity that you perform can be done at a variety of intensity levels. If you exercise at a higher intensity level, you will be working harder, expending more energy and burning more calories than someone who is not working quite so hard.

1.	I've included three separate Activity/Calorie tables.

2.	The tables should be used as a general guideline (the numbers are approximations).

3.	The number of calories you actually burn could be slightly higher or lower depending upon your intensity level and your weight.

The first table deals with step aerobics only. Calories are calculated for different step heights based upon a stepping rate of 120 beats per minute for a 120 pound person.

If you weigh more than 120 or you are in a faster paced step class, the number of calories you'll burn will be higher than those displayed in the table. If you weight less than 120 or you are in a slower paced step class, you'll burn fewer calories than indicated in the table. The table is just an approximation of the number of calories you expend. If you work at a more intense level (raise your arms above your shoulders, lift your knees all the way to your chest etc...) you will burn more calories than displayed. (Data for this table was taken from Reebok Instructor News, Volume 4, Number 3, 1991.)

Step Height	Calories/min	Calories/10 min	Calories/30 min
4 inches	4.5	45	135
6 inches	5.5	55	165
8 inches	6.4	64	192
10 inches	7.2	72	216

The second table gives the caloric expenditure after 10 minutes of activity for various body weights. This data was obtained from Rebok Instructor News, Volume 4, Number 2, 1991.

Activity & Calories/10 min	125 lbs	150 lbs	175 lbs	200 lbs
Aerobics (traditional at high intensity)	95	115	134	153
Gardening	41	49	57	65
Raquetball	75	90	106	120
Running (9 min/mile)	109	131	153	174
Shopping	35	42	49	56
Sitting (reading or watching TV)	10	12	14	16
Sleeping	10	12	14	16
Standing (light activity)	20	24	28	32
Volleyball	28	34	40	45
Walking (15 min/mile)	44	52	61	70
Walking upstairs	150	175	202	229

The third table lists a wide variety of exercises and the caloric expenditures for a 123 lb women and a 170 lb man. Data for this table was taken from Reebok Instructor News, Volume 5, Number 2, 1992.

Activity & Calories/10 min	123 lb woman	170 lb man
Basketball	77	106
Cycling (5.5 mph)	36	49
Cycling (9.4 mph)	56	74
Dance Exercise (High Impact Aerobics)	94	124
Dance Exercise (Low Impact Aerobics)	80	105
Football	74	102
Raquetball	76	107
Rope Skipping (slow)	82	116
Rope Skipping (fast)	100	142
Running (8 min/mile)	113	150
Running (11 ½ min/mile)	76	100
Skiing (Cross country)	80	106
Stairmaster	88	122
Step Aerobics (4 inch bench)	48	66
Step Aerobics (6 inch bench)	58	80
Step Aerobics (8 inch bench)	67	92
Step Aerobics (10 inch bench)	75	104
Soccer	78	107
Swimming (back stroke)	95	130
Swimming (breast stroke)	91	125
Swimming (fast crawl)	87	120
Swimming (slow crawl)	95	130
Swimming (side stroke)	68	90
Swimming (treading water)	35	48
Tennis (singles)	61	81
Volleyball	28	39
Weight training (super circuit)	104	137
Weight training (muscular strength)	44	60
Weight training (muscular endurance)	58	80
Walking	45	59