The number of calories you should burn in a workout depends largely on your personal fitness goals, body size, exercise intensity, type, and duration of the workout.

Key Points on Calories to Burn in a Workout

• Fitness Goals :
  • If your goal is weight loss, a common recommendation is to create a daily calorie deficit of about 500 calories, which can be achieved by burning calories through exercise and/or reducing calorie intake. Burning 250 calories in a workout combined with cutting 250 calories from your diet is a typical approach to lose about 1 pound per week (since 3,500 calories roughly equals 1 pound of fat)

* For goals like improving strength, speed, or muscle mass, calorie burn is a secondary consideration, and workouts focus more on performance metrics than on calories burned

• Factors Influencing Calories Burned :
  • Body weight: Larger individuals burn more calories doing the same activity than smaller individuals

* Exercise intensity and duration: Higher intensity and longer workouts burn more calories

* Type of exercise: Cardio activities like running or cycling burn more calories per hour than lower-intensity activities like yoga or weightlifting

* Age, gender, fitness level, and genetics also affect calorie burn

• Typical Calorie Burn Examples :
  • Running or rowing: About 80-100 calories per mile for many people

* High-impact aerobics: Around 400-600 calories per hour depending on body weight

* Weightlifting: Roughly 200 calories per hour for some individuals

* Moderate-intensity activities like walking burn fewer calories, around 120-220 calories per 30 minutes depending on weight

How to Estimate Your Calories Burned

You can estimate calories burned using formulas involving MET values (Metabolic Equivalent of Task), your weight, and duration of activity:

Calories burned=T×MET×3.5×W200\text{Calories burned}=\frac{T\times MET\times 3.5\times W}{200}Calories burned=200T×MET×3.5×W​

where

• TTT = duration in minutes,
• METMETMET = activity intensity value,
• WWW = weight in kilograms

Summary

• There is no fixed number of calories you should burn per workout; it depends on your goals.
• For weight loss, burning around 250-500 calories per workout is common.
• For general fitness, focus on consistency and workout quality rather than a specific calorie target.
• Use your body weight, workout type, intensity, and duration to estimate calories burned with online calculators or formulas for more precision.

If you want a personalized target, consider your fitness goals and use a calorie calculator that factors in your weight, activity type, and duration