Is treadmill your go-to form of exercise when you are guilty of inhaling chocolate cake within seconds? Emotional eating may not be our best pursuit, but compensating that with exercise undoubtedly makes us feel better. While sweat indicates that you have burnt a few calories, an exact number would be better. Wondering how many calories per hour do a treadmill burns? The number of calories you burn through a treadmill depends on your pace, inclination, and metabolic rate. Many treadmills come with a digital screen that tells you your heart rate, calories burnt, speed, etc.
However, if you own an old-school treadmill that barely gives out any information, we might be of some help. No doubt, calorie counting is one of the main things that can get you to lose stubborn fat. The calories you consume and your burning play a pivotal role in deciding your weight loss pace. If you use a treadmill to burn extra calories, you must use its setting according to what suits you. Learn more about the science of the treadmill and how you can burn more calories in an hour. Let’s begin!
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How many calories do you burn in an hour on the treadmill?
Before you get your hopes up too high, we will remind you that each body is unique and burns calories in an hour. Generally, walking can burn up to 400 calories if you walk continuously. On the other hand, jogging can burn up to 600 calories, and running can burn 800 calories. If you are a heavier person, it will take much more effort for your body to move on the treadmill. Hence, you can also end up burning 700 to 1000 calories. If you use different settings on the treadmill to challenge yourself, you can burn more calories in an hour.
What affects the number of calories you burn on the treadmill?
You can burn more calories in an hour than average if you use different treadmill options. Also, a few other factors can make you burn more or fewer calories in an hour. In this section, we are going to discuss just that:
1. Weight
One of the main things that make you burn more calories in an hour is your weight. Yes, you heard that right; your weight plays a huge role in the number of calories you burn. A heavier person is most likely to burn more calories than a skinny person. On average, a 180-pound person burns 480 calories walking on a treadmill for an hour. However, if you are less than 180 pounds, you will burn fewer calories. A heavier person has to make more effort to use the treadmill; hence, they burn more calories.
2. Pace
Your pace or speed also plays a pivotal role in determining whether or not you are burning the maximum calories. If you start with a warmup speed of 2MPH and increase it slowly, you will undoubtedly burn more calories. Jogging at speed you are comfortable with help, but you need to increase speed. One concept known as high-intensity interval training helps people burn calories faster. You walk fast for one minute, then jog for one minute. Constantly getting your heart rate to increase and decrease puts your body in fight or flight mode. You end up burning more calories than usual using this method.
3. Inclination
You can also use the incline settings to burn more calories apart from using the speed setting. Many of us see the incline setting, but not many use it because we don’t know its purpose. You must have noticed; it takes a lot more effort to go uphill than going downhill. Incline creates an uphill effect by inclining the treadmill’s surface slightly. You are most likely to burn 3 to 5 calories more in a minute with the incline setting. Increasing your speed setting and using an incline to get in shape faster is better.
4. Holding the handlebar
You must have noticed that all treadmills come with side support and a handlebar. The sidebars help in providing a sense of security to a user. Do you keep holding the handlebar when using a treadmill? If so, you must stop doing that and eliminate that habit. Clutching the handlebars reduces the calories you burn because you put maximum weight on it. Apart from fewer calorie drops, you can also accumulate a lot of tension in your back. You will feel your back and shoulder ache badly, so don’t do it.
5. Smooth treadmill belt
There are highly efficient treadmills coming into the market these days. If you have been using the treadmill for a while, you must have noticed that some treadmills have a slightly rougher surface. The treadmills with rough surfaces make you burn calories faster than those with a smooth surface. It takes more effort to jog on a rough-edged treadmill; hence, you sweat a lot more. You can set the incline setting to 1% to compensate if you have a smooth surface treadmill. On the other hand, avoid using motorized ones as they are not that efficient.
6. Age
Age plays a pivotal role in determining whether or not you will be burning calories more than average. You burn calories depending upon your metabolic rate, which decreases with age. A younger person will burn calories faster compared to an older person. However, your diet plays a pivotal role in ensuring fast metabolism. If you are a healthy person, you will eventually burn calories faster. Hence, you must pay special attention to your diet when indulging in any form of exercise. It does not only help you keep fit but also maintain your physique.
What are the ways to burn more calories on a treadmill?
As a beginner, people always struggle with increasing the speed on the treadmill and keep walking at a slow pace. If you are amongst those people, you need to start adopting a few habits to increase the number of calories you burn on a treadmill. Here are a few tips:
1. High-Intensity Interval training
High-Intensity Interval (HIIT) training is the modern form of exercise that believes in shocking your system to burn more calories. You jog faster for about a minute and then run fast the next minute. You keep doing the same thing for a few minutes; you will notice sweating more than usual. It slows down your heart rate and then increases it for faster calorie burn.
2. Exercising for longer
One of the obvious things that can help you with weight loss through the treadmill is working out for longer. You can increase the time on the treadmill to burn more fat. As a beginner, you might not be able to work out for more than 20 minutes. However, you must progress and start exercising for a more extended period. However, you can burn sustainable calories if you start increasing your pace and time.
3. Distance
If you look at the treadmills display closely, you will know that it displays distance also. If you have a hard time being on the treadmill for longer, you can try to cover a certain distance in your target time. Losing weight is the plan of many, which gets them to use the treadmill. The more distance you cover, the more calories you will burn. Start with at least a mile and start to build up gradually.
Are the calories displayed on the treadmill correct?
Today, many treadmills come with a calorie display which is super helpful if you are trying to keep track of your fitness. However, many people wonder if the treadmill calories counter is legit or not. We bet you must have thought that treadmill calorie display is 100% correct. Well, it is not always wrong, especially if it asks for your weight. If you can enter your weight on a treadmill, it will most likely display the correct information. On the other hand, a treadmill is not displaying correct information if it has no feature to evaluate the user’s weight.
Remember, if you are a heavier person, you will burn more calories than average, even more than a skinny person with good metabolism. If you want an accurate calories display, you can use apps such as Fitbit for more accuracy. What you see on a treadmill is a general display, not a customized one. Apart from apps, you can also use a calorie calculator as it takes all your personal information to estimate the results. However, if you are too particular about losing weight, the treadmill display works fine.
Conclusion
A treadmill is a great exercise machine that helps you lose weight faster and keeps you fit. If you are a fitness enthusiast, you must know how many calories per hour a treadmill burns. The answer depends upon your pace, weight, distance, and, most importantly, the time you spend on a treadmill.