how many calories should you burn at the gym?

since getting back in shape, I now have the ability to get much longer workouts than I used to be able to. Is there an "ideal" number of calories I want to shoot for each time?

Tue. Aug 28, 4:21pm

That's great that you're seeing improvements in your workouts :) I wouldn't base too much on the numbers on cardio machines - if that's what you're looking at. I'm not sure they're that accurate and if you're like a lot of people (myself included) you may subconsciously rationalize food choices b/c of that number you saw ('Hey, I burned 500 calories today, this little snack won't hurt!)

I say just pay attention to how you're feeling, continually challenge yourself as far as your effort, and get a heart rate monitor if you really like looking at numbers.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007, 6:56 PM

Your ideal workout is one you can keep doing- I can go out on my bike and burn 3-4000 calories over the course of a 3-4 hour ride, but I won't be doing much the next day. But, I can go out for a 1 hour ride, burn 1000 calories and be ready to ride again the next day.

So, same for the gym- if you can easily burn 500 calories a day without hurting yourself at they gym, do it. If doing more makes it hard for you to go the next day, cut back.

If you want to get a more accurate calorie count, I'd suggest getting a Heart rate monitor- they're pretty cheap -I've got a Polar F-6 that's got calories along with a bunch of other features, and it cost me less than $100.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007, 11:14 AM

it's fashionable to say that you should workout to feel good and be relaxed- but the fact is most of us are so busy that when we get to the gym we ought to give it our best.

Even if you do get sore, that is a good feeling, no?

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