Do we burn more calories when exercising in blazing heat?

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Monklady123
Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Omg it's hot outside! ugh. I suspect the answer is no, we burn the same number of calories whether it's hot or cold. But it seriously feels like a sweated off another pound or two. :p (don't we wish...)

But that got me to wondering if we do indeed burn more calories while exercising in a particular temperature. I'm going to google in a sec. In heat we have the sweat factor. But in cold wouldn't our bodies be burning extra calories trying to stay warm?

Anyway, those are my thoughts as I recover from walking my dog. lol

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  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    edited June 2015
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    So the best scientific research I've seen on this looks at regular yoga versus "hot yoga"--a big selling point of the latter is that the hot temperatures of the classrooms raise your average heart rate (this is true), so you are burning more calories. Unfortunately, when using tools to measure calorie burning more directly than estimating off heart rate, researchers found no increase from the heat. As it happens, your body naturally reduces its power output to compensate for the changes required to operate in heat. (Like, your "feels good" running pace is significantly slower in heat&humidity than on a cool autumn day).

    As far as cold goes--the only time I'm familiar with exposure to cold having a noticeable impact on calorie burn is cold water endurance swimming. Running for an hour in the winter, not so much.

    Nice job getting out there in the heat! Hydrate yourself and your pup!
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
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    I can tell you that my heart rate is higher when I am running in the heat. It normally runs in the lower 150s, but this morning, I was struggling to keep it below 175.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    When running, calories burned depend mainly on weight and distance covered. All heat accomplishes is making you feel uncomfortable. Unfortunatley weight loss is not faster when doing things that are not pleasant :(
  • MamaBirdBoss
    MamaBirdBoss Posts: 1,516 Member
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    Slightly, according to several studies on runners. :) Unfortunately...not enough to matter. LOL.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I read somewhere that you burn more calories in cold weather because your body is trying to keep warm. Then another article that said warm weather makes people want to get outside so they are moving around more and burning more. Either way I figure the differences cancel each other out so who cares. l'd chalk it up to water weight and focus on the bigger picture of just getting more activity in.
  • Monklady123
    Monklady123 Posts: 512 Member
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    aggelikik wrote: »
    When running, calories burned depend mainly on weight and distance covered. All heat accomplishes is making you feel uncomfortable. Unfortunatley weight loss is not faster when doing things that are not pleasant :(

    Lol, too bad. If that were the case -- if weight loss were faster when doing things that were unpleasant -- then I'd be skinny as a rail since I hate to exercise. lol :smirk:

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