How Can I Burn 500 Calories a Day?

Have you ever been in a situation where you just happen to eat too much, and then all you can think of is excess calories and what you should do about it? You wonder how many calories you need to burn for the next couple of days to balance the scale.

And if this happens during your weight loss journey, you are in trouble. The effort you put in for weeks can vanish into thin air if you don’t do something about it soon.

Most people try to solve this situation by reducing calorie intake even further. However, for beginners who are not used to dieting, this strategy always backfires.

The truth is most of us never really get out of this defensive position where our back is not against the wall. Every month starts with the same goal to lose weight and ends with a mistake and a new plan to reach the same goal.

However, there is a way to get out of this defensive position and solve this mistake; a workout routine to burn up to 500 calories daily.

You don’t have to make changes to your diet, you don’t have to plan again, you don’t have to regret going out with friends, all you have to do is perform an additional workout routine (of your preference) to burn 500 calories.

Moreover, These workout routines consist of different exercises. So, you can choose a workout routine depending upon the exercise you like.

Let’s first go through the exercises to burn calories:

6 Exercises to Burn 500 Calories Daily

You can use any exercise to burn 500 calories, but the simplest way is to perform the easiest exercise that burns the most calories in the least amount of time.

The exercises mentioned below are easy, train most muscle groups, and burn the most calories. You can use one of these exercises to burn 500 calories, but it’s better if you add two-three exercises to your current routine.

Moreover, these exercises will improve your cardiovascular fitness, mobility, balance, and endurance.

1. Jumping Jacks

This is the easiest exercise on the list. To perform this exercise, stand straight with your arms at your sides and legs together. Bend your knees slightly and jump into the air.

As you jump, spread your legs shoulder-width apart while stretching your arms out and over your head. Jump again and revert to the starting position. That’s it. Repeat as many times as you need to.

Muscle Targeted: Glutes. Quadriceps, Calves, Shoulders

Calories Burned: 8-16 calories per minute for a person weighing 120-250 lbs (The more you weigh, the more calories you will burn)

Sets: 10 sets of 3 minutes to burn 250+ calories

2. Jump Rope

This exercise is not as easy as jumping jacks, however, it won’t take much time to learn it. Moreover, it burns more calories than jumping jacks.

To perform jump rope, get a rope and hold it in your hands while keeping your hands at the level of your hips. Rotate your wrist to swing the rope (keep your arms stable), don’t rotate with a lot of elbow moments; use your wrist instead.

Jump with both feet at the same time, repeat. At first, you will find it difficult to perform even a single rep, but as you get used to it, you will get faster.

Don’t try to do everything correctly on the first attempt. Take it slow, perform it, get used to the motion, and slowly fix the mistakes.

You can get a jump rope from Amazon.

Muscle Targeted: Calves, Quadriceps, Glutes, Abs, Obliques, Hamstring, Forearms, Shoulders, Back muscles

Calories Burned: 15-20 calories per minute on average

Sets: 10 sets of 3 minutes to burn 450+ calories

3. Surya Namaskar

Surya namaskar, also called the ultimate asana, targets most major muscle groups, improves metabolism, blood circulation, digestion, etc, Adding this yoga pose to your current routine will also improve your balance, mobility, and flexibility.

Muscle Targeted: Tones almost all major muscle groups

Calories Burned: One round burn around 13 calories

Sets: 12 rounds to burn 400+ calories

4. Jogging

Jogging is one of the most effective ways to burn calories and improve cardiovascular fitness, bone density, heart health, immune system, mobility, strength, and overall health. If you are a beginner, start by walking daily for 30 minutes and slowly increase your pace as you get used to it.

Muscle Targeted: Quadriceps, calves, hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors

Calories Burned: 30 minutes burns 200+ calories

Sets: 1 set of 30 minutes to burn 200+ calories

5. Swimming

If you want to lose weight but aren’t interested in going to the gym or jogging, swimming may be a perfect fit for you. Swimming is more enjoyable than running (but not hiking), and you are least likely to hurt your ankles while swimming.

Moreover, swimming burns more calories than jogging and is among the few sports that you can enjoy all the way up into your 90s.

Muscle Targeted: Abdominals, pecs, hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, deltoids, lats

Calories Burned: Depends upon the stroke (On average, Breaststroke burn 200+ calories in 30 minutes, Backstroke burn 250+ calories in 30 minutes, Freestyle burn 300+ calories in 30 minutes, Butterfly burn 450+ calories in 30 minute)

Sets: 1 set of 30 minutes to burn 200+ calories

6. Hiking

This is the ultimate way to lose weight. Even if you quit all the workout routines you are following currently and just hike 2-3 times a week, you will burn enough calories to stay skinny all year round.

Combine hiking with healthy eating, and you are golden.

Muscle Targeted: Glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, hips, calves

Calories Burned: On average, 300-600 per hour

Sets: An hour hike to burn 300+ calories

Workout Routine For Beginners to Burn 500 Calories in a Day

To burn 500 calories, all you have to do is follow one of the workout routines mentioned below:

1. Jogging (30 minutes) + Surya Namaskar (20 rounds)
2. Swimming (any stroke, 30-minutes) + Jump Rope(4 sets of 3 minutes)
3. Hiking + Jumping Jacks (4 sets of 3 minutes)
4. Hiking + Surya Namaskar (10 rounds)
5. Jogging (30-minutes) + Surya Namaskar (10 rounds) + Jump Rope(3 sets of 3 minutes)

I recommend the fifth workout routine (Jogging + Surya Namaskar + Skipping). It’s easy, requires no planning, trains most muscle groups, and you can do it all week.

Moreover, take care of your diet. No matter how much you exercise, if you are consistently consuming excess calories, you will gain weight.

If you are trying to lose weight, following a diet plan along with the workout routines mentioned above will help you in reaching your weight loss goal faster.

You can create a calorie deficit to lose weight.

Just reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories. This much calorie deficit is sustainable and healthy. Calorie deficit combined with an exercise routine mentioned above can help you in losing up to 4-5 lbs per month.

If calorie deficit is not working, You can try the keto diet or intermittent fasting to lose weight. The last time I followed the keto diet, I was still in college (2020).

I lost 24.7 lbs in 47 days. Here’s an article on How to Start Keto Diet, 10-Day Keto Diet Meal Plan, you can use to follow the keto diet. 

You can get a custom keto diet meal plan from here. This plan will be tailored to your weight loss goal and food preferences. Here’s a 7-Day Intermittent Fasting Meal Plan you can use to follow intermittent fasting. 

You can use a BMI calculator to find out your BMI (If your BMI is above 25 kg/m², you are overweight). You can use an ideal weight calculator to calculate your ideal weight and how much weight you need to lose.

You can use cronometer app to track your calorie intake, nutrition, biometrics, and more.

Conclusion

Burning 500 calories is as easy as going out for a very long walk.

There are several exercises to do it. However, you don’t have to use every single one of them. Pick the exercises you are comfortable with and stick with them.

The more you perform those exercises, the better you will get at them, and the more convenient it will become for you to burn calories doing them. Moreover, take care of your diet. No matter how much you exercise, if you are consuming excess calories daily, you will gain weight.

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