What do you consider a good workout (calories burned)?

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  • Motleybird
    Motleybird Posts: 119 Member
    I agree that a good workout is one you will keep doing. I don't really have a single workout in a day, I have several smaller rounds of exercise. I walk my daughter to and from school. I also have certain exercises I do every day. This counts as practice, not workout, but I do log it. So far today I'm over 300 and I may practice some more later. On days when I have my classes I get over 700. On other days when I feel I need a bit extra, I hop on the bike and go at about 10 calories a minute. Tai Chi only counts as 300 per hour, but it all adds up. This past weekend we had a workshop and I was really trying to pig out in order to keep up! Of course, my definition of 'pig out' has changed a bit.
  • zack1st
    zack1st Posts: 43
    I currently burn around 300 calories in half a hour on a bike,but I'm now waiting for a rower to be delivered so I'm thinking 30mins of each.you think that would be effective?
  • itsjustmish
    itsjustmish Posts: 107 Member
    I'm currently doing Jilian Michaels Body Revolution and (as I'm pretty small, by all accounts) I usually *only* burn between 150-200 calories in a 30 minute workout. I'm a sweaty mess by the end of the session and most definitely feel like I've worked hard. The results (in terms of the change in my body shape and the increase in strength) speak for themselves, so I can't say I'm really too bothered about the fact that my workout results in such a small calorie burn. For me, exercise is for strength, fitness, and general wellbeing whilst better eating habits create a (small) defecit in order to continue to burn the last of the fat. So, in answer to the question, I consider any workout to be a good workout! :)
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Any workout that progresses me towards my goals rather than away from them (calories burned is not a good indicator of a workout in my estimation)
  • T_Ciku
    T_Ciku Posts: 133 Member
    I don't focus on calories burned that much. I do a variety of exercise and some have huge calorie burns while others have teeny weeny ones. But both are good for me so I don't care. :) I feel just as proud logging a 70 calorie burn from 20 minutes of Pilates as I do logging a 400 calorie burn from Turbo Jam.
  • PrissyPisces
    PrissyPisces Posts: 117 Member
    If I can hit near 300 in a 30 minute workout on my lunch break, I am stoked.

    Right now I'm burning about 307 calories in 31 minutes. I'm excited about that for many reasons. One, I haven't exercised in sooooo long, and I just started back Two, I'm eating to lose 2 pounds a week already, so any calories burned will be "extra" since MFP expects you to eat back calories, and I don't. Once this workout becomes less challenging for me, I'm definitely going to work on adding more. More calories burned is never a bad thing,since I have so much weight to lose.
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
    A good workout is any workout I come back from feeling great, energized, and motivated to go workout again in the near future. I don't care if it's only 20 minutes long and less than 50 calories burned.
  • Shauna2626
    Shauna2626 Posts: 196 Member
    300-450 calories burned
  • mojohowitz
    mojohowitz Posts: 900 Member
    1000 calories or I've wasted my time... like today. I'm 6'5" 220 lbs.
  • dawnmcneil10
    dawnmcneil10 Posts: 638 Member
    There's a difference here in the type of workout. Working out to burn calories/lose weight I used to shoot for a minimum of 500 calories because it was where my body felt the burn.
    I'm in maintenance (hate the term as this is my new life) now I guess as I'm pretty happy where I am but my mind is different than it used to be now I get "activity" not "exercise" in every day, most days I'd say I burn around 300 calories some more, some less but when I go for calorie burn I still shoot for that 500 it's just not a regular focus any more.
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    Depends on how I feel afterwards. I routinely do 2 pole classes back to back, which burns about 600 calories. Whereas if I do Jillian Michaels' Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism I burn around 430, but feel like I'm about to die, so that one feels like the better workout. I have done both on the same day before, which is just ridiculousness.
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,268 Member
    any workout where ive burnt 300 or more calories. just to get me back on track for the day (calorie consumption-wise ha ha%Pr

    me too.
  • onefortyone
    onefortyone Posts: 531 Member
    If I really, really do not want to go to the gym, I tell myself I can leave as soon as I've burned off 250 calories, so in my mind that's my "minimum or it's not even worth going" number. 300-400 is my preferred number, and I feel super awesome if I burn over 500. I don't have time issues to worry about as I don't work, and I can easily fit chores/laundry/cleaning/errands around a gym session. So it's down to motivation for me - something I've been lacking for quite a few weeks!
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    Anything that gets me on my feet and active.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I have to go with the minority here...for me it's not about calories burned....mainly because most of those are just estimates anyway...regardless of where you get them...and if it's machines then yah way over.

    in 45mins of lfiting heavy I might burn 155 calories but I just squated my bodyweight +25-30lbs 3x5 and benched 130lbs same thing etc.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I don't track calories burned but they do show up on MFP though. I can have a good 200 calorie workout (Lifting Weights) but a good cardio workout is anywhere from 500-5000 calories depending on what I do.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    What do you consider a good workout caloriewise?

    1,000 an hour, or it's just a warmup.
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
    If i do my outside 4 mile jog I burn anywhere from 500 to 550 calories. When i get back to my office (I go during my lunch break, and yes, come back sweaty as hell lol) i'm sweating, exhausted, got my *kitten* kicked, the whole works. When I go to the gym, I burn at the most 400 calories because i'm on a time limit so I can get back to work in time. 400 is if I totally kicked some *kitten* in the 45 minutes I was there.

    So for me a good super workout is about 500 to 550 calories.

    What do you consider a good workout caloriewise?
    I don't workout for the sole purpose of burning calories. That's icing on the cake. I workout to improve my fitness levels. If I can run farther and a little faster and meet my long run or fitness goal for the week (this week will be a 20_ miler but I do not log all my runs) than that's good for me.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I don't gauge a good workout based on calorie burn, but by how my body got worked.

    Yesterday I did 40 minutes of weights, some body weight work and a bit of cardio and burned 224 cals. It was an awesome workout that works my muscles and helps me build strength.

    Today I spent 47 minutes with a combination of running, sprinting and walking with my Zombies, Run! app for 3.25 miles, and burned 411 calories. Also a good workout, beneficial in different ways than the workout I did yesterday.

    Tomorrow it's back to weights, and likely a lower calorie burn, but as I said - no less a good workout just because the burn is lower.
  • whyyesitsneke
    whyyesitsneke Posts: 47
    I don't workout for a calorie burn.

    I workout because I want my stomach to tone as it goes down and to be strong. I lift weights to help with this. I walk, jog, and run a lot because even if I'm slow, I can notice my legs getting firmer and more shapely.

    But if I don't sweat and don't feel tired, it's not a good workout for me.

    If I don't walk/jog daily, it's a bad day in my mind.
  • Alyssawinter1221
    Alyssawinter1221 Posts: 118
    I consider a good workout for me to be at least 600 calories. I typically burn 600-800 calories staying at the gym for 75-90 min/ day with most of that being cardio (running/biking/elliptical). I work out 7 days a week. I am also not on a super time crunch (I work full time but I'm on summer vaca from university)... when I get back to school and working I will prob aim for 500 calories.

    But I agree that the only bad workout is the one you didn't do! Its what works best for you :)
  • mrsmarit
    mrsmarit Posts: 229 Member
    It looks like I am going to be way under "the norm" here. I consider ANY workout a good one. Before I joined MFP, my workouts were sporadic, at best. Since joining, I am pretty sure I have had some kind of workout every single day. Some days it is riding my stationary bike for 15 or 20 minutes at low intensity. Most days it is for 30 or more minutes at vigorous intensity, burning about 300 calories. Yesterday, I just walked at lunchtime for 30 minutes, and since I had a pretty low calorie day, I didn't do anything else, but still felt great that I had gotten that walk in. So I'm more about getting something in every day than burning a ton of calories each day. For me, I'd never be able to keep it up if I tried to burn 500 or more calories each day, so I like my current "life style change". :ohwell:

    This is the same for me. Any workout I do is a good one. I have been inconsistent in my workouts this year.
  • Early_Riser
    Early_Riser Posts: 127 Member
    I aim for 400 cals each cardio session. (using Fitbit cals...not machine, cause they are usually totally wrong)
  • akaiookami
    akaiookami Posts: 44 Member
    I am now hugely envious of all of you. ;) I guess I don't do enough cardio to compete, but I would feel like I was absolutely winning at life if I ever hit 500+ calories. I don't have access to a gym or much equipment, so my workouts are usually 30ish mins of running, 30ish minutes of mostly body weight strength training, and then another 20 or so of either lower impact aerobics, yoga, pilates, etc.
    I've never been a natural athlete so I will treasure every minute I exercise and every calorie burned- I'm just proud of myself to DOING something. lol
    (srsly though.... ENVY)
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