How does one burn over 1000 calories a day?

Zumba or dancing, running , swimming, playing baseball, ultimate Frisbee and so many other fun things to do to burn so many calories in a day.

When I burn 1000+ calories I work out for 90-100 minutes. 1 hour cardio, 30-40 minutes of strength training. I wear a HRM and it tells me I have been burning some more than the machines say. I have no idea about mfp's estimates never tried. But as others say I weigh a little over 50lbs more than you I will easily burn more than you.

Its not uncommon for me to burn 1k calories a day in the gym, my usual gym day consists of atleast 2 gym classes (going up to 4), with an hrm.

which can range me from 1100 cals to 2800 cals depending on the classes. (a few times over 3000 from walking long distances before and after my classes).

I built myself up for these durations.

However it is alot better that you do what you find comfortable and enjoy to aid you with your fitness, trust me i wouldnt do the classes if i didnt enjoy them.

Much thanks for all the suggestions! It seems running/biking for an hour is the suggested form of exercise to burn a big amount... which translates as impossible for me at the moment. The main reasons is, I'm not physically fit enough to actually run for an hour. I can't quite even complete 1 round at the track by running, which is why I alternate between running and brisk walking.

I tried to start the C25K in hopes of finally being able to run for a good length of time, but it's been difficult to actually put it to practice because it rains a heck load where I live. I also live in a city, so hiking and all that nice nature stuff is out too.

Most of my cardio at the gym is spent by doing intervals though (in hopes of burning more and increasing my endurance as well), but even pushing it like crazy (for me) with high intensity intervals for 30 minutes... or more accurately 25 minutes of intervals, with 5 minutes of warm up, I'm burning about a little under 300 according to the elliptical machine at the gym. I don't know whether doing intervals is supposed to burn more calories, but it seems the machines register them the same way whether you're going at a steady pace or alternating high intensities. I guess my question would then be: is there a difference in the amount of calories burned in a session of intervals vs steady pace (other than saved time or after burn, etc.)?

Thanks again, all!

hey, if you do say 3 miles steady run, or 3 miles interval your still going to burn the same as ur body is going the same distance. although your pace is steady on the steady run, youl be going faster then slower than that on the interval so it will prob even itself out to the same pace as if you were doing a steady run, so it will burn the same......hope that makes sense lol

Well call it basic and simple but if you want to burn 1000 calories a day (which is kinda insane by the way as thats about half or more of what you need to stay alive), I would say up the cardio, add intensity with light weights (ie: weighted squats, dumbell overhead squat press, etc ... see GSP Rushfit [google it]), base your diet around slow burn proteins like chicken, fish, chicpeas , and mixed nuts, and eat six small snack-like meals per day rather than three larger ones so the metabolism is kept burning. I also have had a great deal of success with green tea extract and CLA suplements. I am an amature mixed martial arts competitor and I often use green tea (cold) in my recovery drinks before fight day so I can make weight for my division. Another route, although not recommended, would be to consume fewer calories than you are burning in daily activity (if you burn 500 calories during your workout also subtract 500 calories from your daily food intake to make up the 1000 calorie defecit. if you need any further advice feel free to message me, I may not be a certified trainer but I have been at this for a very long time and have found many strategies that work.
p.s. check out beachbody.com, the forums are excellent resources and there are several online coaches who will be more than happy to steer you in the right direction.

I have a HR monitor (actually a bodyfit which is like the body bugg used on Biggest loser) and I'm just under 200 lbs. (So essentially, I'm a 140lb girl that runs with a 60lb back pack on...that's what I tell myself.) When I want to get around 1000 calories I have to do about 30 minutes on the elliptical at a decent resistance. Then I do walk/run intervals for an hour on the treadmill. I can't move when I do it. When I'm finished with the treadmill, I find that the tread mill has UNDER estimated my calories burned by around 150 - 175 calories. Now, when I used to weigh 160 lbs I couldn't burn as much. Weight is one of the big factors of caloric burn. So, when you run, just throw a backpack on and put some weights in them

Calories burned depends on two factors: intensity x body weight. If intensity is equal, a heavier person will burn more than a lighter person, and vice versa. It's no more complicated than that.

I often use running at 6 mph (10 min/mile) as an example, because it's a work intensity that a lot of people can relate to and the math is easier. Running at this speed is an intensity of about 10 METs.

Back to the original formula: Calories burned/hour = Intensity (METs) x body weight (in kg). So, to burn 1000 calories in an hour running 6 mph, one would have to weigh at least 220 lb (100 kg).

A runner at 80kg (176 lb) would have to run 8:10 mile pace for an hour to burn 1000 calories.

At the OPs weight of 60 kg, she would have to run at a 5:30/mile pace for an hour to burn 1000 calories.

So it takes a combination of moderate/high weight and high fitness to be able to burn 1000 calories/hour.

A lot of people using cheap HRMs or who have not set up their HRMs properly are getting inflated readings. A significant percentage of exercisers have max heart rates that are higher than the age-predicted estimate that HRMs use by default. As a result, the HRM thinks they are constantly working at 90%-100+% of max when they might only be at 65%-75%.

Things like thermal stress, high proportion of upper-body work, cardiovascular drift, can lead to artificially elevated heart rates and, thus, overstated calorie counts.

Thanks for the very helpful explanation! How does one find out what intensity (MET?) level an exercise is? I got a bit confused on the part "5:30/mile"... what does the 5:30 stand for? 5 miles in 30 minutes? Sorry if that sounds completely stupid... :P

Regarding what you said about estimating calories burned... would you say online tools like the one MFP has to estimate calories burned is fairly accurate? Or not really at all?

Once again, thank you for shedding some light into this. It's looking more and more unlikely for me to be burning 1000 calories a day anytime soon, it seems.

Sorry--sometimes I lapse into runner jargon--that's how I got started on this whole path.

5:30 means 5 minutes, 30 seconds per mile.

And, as others have said, there is no point in burning 1000 calories--it's just an arbitrary number.

Calorie burn and weight loss goals need to be proportionate to the size of the individual. Yes, at 60 kg, it is unlikely that you will burn 1000 calories in a workout. However, a loss of 5-6 pounds will make a significant difference in your appearance, whereas on a larger person who burns a lot of calories in a workout, it might not even be noticeable. So, it all works out in the end

I only keep track because I am a performance and numbers-driven person when it comes to exercise and those are the types of goals that motivate me--I keep all kinds of extraneous benchmark data.

Here are the keys: be fairly heavy and be able to run fast.

I'm ~ 175 lbs and I can burn 1,000 in an hour if I run at solid clip (~ 7:30 pace).

If you weight less and/or run slower then you have to run longer.

i ride my bike to work and back at a vigorous pace. that's about 90 minutes which MFP says is good for about 1,330 calories. then i lift for 45 minutes at lunch which is worth another 170 or so.

according to mfp, i should be eating about 4,600 calories after factoring in the workouts. after my first week on MFP i was at a 10,000 calorie deficit and had lost 3 lbs - that's pretty darn accurate...

PS: Go out and get a heart rate monitor. It will be much more accurate than the averages on MFP. My advice--get a Polar. Polar invented HRMs for sports.

It will give you an accurate count of calories burned and give you a good idea of the intensity of your workouts. You will also be able to use it to figure out your real max heart rate.

Keep in mind that a effort like that will deplete your muscles of glycogen (energy) in fact preventing you from exercising more often as supposed to harder. I'd take 7 days of 500 cal workouts = 3500 than 3 x 1000 which in part what will do for you is to burn in your brain the idea that working out is painful as if we don't go through enough self-negative-talk.

True, you do burn your glycogen with intense training (anaerobic). BUT, you can easily replenish your glycogen by eating a quality high-carb post workout meal within 2 hours of your workout. Smoothies are great. Ideally, you should have something within 30-40 min of your workout if it is really intense. (I like Recoverite from Hammer Nutrition.)

Also, replenishing your glycogen will reduce muscle soreness and get you ready to work out again the next day.

Keep in mind that a effort like that will deplete your muscles of glycogen (energy) in fact preventing you from exercising more often as supposed to harder. I'd take 7 days of 500 cal workouts = 3500 than 3 x 1000 which in part what will do for you is to burn in your brain the idea that working out is painful as if we don't go through enough self-negative-talk.

True, you do burn your glycogen with intense training (anaerobic). BUT, you can easily replenish your glycogen by eating a quality high-carb post workout meal within 2 hours of your workout. Smoothies are great. Ideally, you should have something within 30-40 min of your workout if it is really intense. (I like Recoverite from Hammer Nutrition.)

Also, replenishing your glycogen will reduce muscle soreness and get you ready to work out again the next day.

Yep!! Glycogen stores are very easy to replenish.

And far from being painful, I find a nice long run or good bike ride somewhat therapeutic.

I would suggest stronglifts 5x5. It will build your strength, takes between 45min and an hour to do. If you really feel you need to, you can do some mild cardio later in the same day.

What I do Is in the morning I have a half a protien shake as I start my weights. I do 2 sets of 5 reps w/just the bar bell (mine ways 15 lbs) then , 3 sets of 5 with 2/3 to 1/2 what my working weight is going to be. Then 5 sets of 5 of my working weight with about a minute between each set. I do 3 exercises/day alternating between workouts (never doing to A workouts in a row).

A B for deadlifts I only do 1 set w/bar, 1set w/1/2 work weight and 1 set @ work
Squats Squats weight.
Bench Press Overhead Press
Bent rows Deadlift If you've never done weights then start w/the empty bar and don't add a
any weights to the bar with the exception of deads and rows so that you can let the bar go to the floor on the down. If you have to use 5s or 10s then set them on top of some thicker weights or thick phone books so you can go to the floor at the proper height.
Add 5lbs to the bar on each session of that exercise. When you start feeling like this is not so hard and your energy goes up you can add some gentle cardio. Definately do non-strenuous yoga on your days off and take one full day of doing no structured exercise. Make certain you get enough protien. My fat isn't gone yet, but I can see something resembling muscular arms underneath and I've dropped an inch on my waist since starting.

Good luck.

A lot of awesome suggestions are given, but it all boils down to one real answer. The only way to burn 1000 calories a day is to start off by burning the first 1. As far as how long it takes, that is not too important in my opinion. Too many factors come into play for that. I am usually in the 1000 cal a day club and I strap on my HRM and just go for it. Whether running/walking/circuit training/biking/playing sports, I add up all the cal burned and make sure it is at my predetermined calorie burn for the day. If I set my goal for 1000 and only able to get 600 during my morning sessions, I go back during lunch, or after work. And yes, I have a family, a full time job, volunteer with a football team and have tons of other obligations, but I do make time for ME. You can do it, but it will take time, if that is something you have a desire to do. But as another person suggested, it is easier to burn 500 calories and cut back 500 less calories a day that will give you a 1000 calorie deficit. Good Luck.

Training for triathlons is an easy way to burn over 1000 cal a day.