Additional exercise

Over the last few decades a great deal of knowledge has been built up around calculating how much energy we burn when doing a variety of activities, sports and exercises. In this section of the web site we have pulled together a selection of the most common and easily accessible activities.

For example, for an average woman*:

• walking briskly for 30 minutes will burn approximately 150 calories
• swimming leisurely for 30 minutes will burn over 260 calories
• cycling at a reasonable speed continuously for 30 minutes will burn around 380 calories
• jogging moderately for 30 minutes will burn about 300 calories
• and running at a stretch for 30 minutes will shift an impressive 610 kcal

Of course there are many, many more activities and sports to choose from. Examples include racket sports such as squash, badminton and tennis, home activities such as gardening and vacuuming, outdoor fun such as hill walking and canoeing. Details of these and a wide variety of other activities will be incuded in various artilces planned for the future. Make sure to register with the site so that we can keep you up to date.

If you’re just starting to get active again three of the most accessible forms of regular exercise are

• walking
• swimming
• cycling

You can follow the links to pages with more information on these common activities including how many calories they burn as well links to other useful sites which might help you get going.

Are calories burned at the same rate for everybody?

No. In the same way that an individual’s BMR changes with the physique and other factors, the amount of energy expended (or calories burned) for a given activity will depend on the individual.

Take the example of a couple walking up a few flights of stairs. Let’s say one is twenty pounds heavier than the other. By the time they reach the top the larger person will have done more work. The smaller person would have to be carrying three heavy bags of shopping to have done the same.

One of the reasons that overweight people have a higher risk of heart disease is that they put their heart under additional strain every day by carrying around their own excess weight.

* Of course, some would say there's no such thing as an "average woman"...!