The average calories spent per hour by a 150-pound person are listed below. (A lighter person burns fewer calories; a heavier person burns more.) Since exact calorie figures are not available for most activities, the figures below are averaged from several sources and show the relative vigor of the activities.
| Activity | Calories burned |
|---|---|
| Bicycling 6 mph | 240 cals./hr. |
| Bicycling 12 mph | 410 cals./hr. |
| Cross-country skiing | 700 cals./hr. |
| Jogging 5 1/2mph | 740 cals./hr. |
| Jogging 7 mph | 920 cals./hr. |
| Jumping rope | 750 cals./hr. |
| Running in place | 650 cals./hr. |
| Running 10 mph | 1280 cals./h |
| Swimming 25 yds/min. | 275 cals./hr. |
| Swimming 50 yds/min. | 500 cats./hr. |
| Tennis-singles | 400 cals./hr. |
| Walking 2 mph | 240 cals./hr. |
| Walking 3 mph | 320 cals./hr. |
| Walking 41/2 mph | 440 cals./hr. |
The calories spent in a particular activity vary in proportion to one’s body weight. For example, a 100-pound person burns 1/3 fewer calories, so you would multiply the number of calories by 0.7. For a 200-pound person, multiply by 1.3.
Working harder or faster for a given activity will only slightly increase the calories spent. A better way to burn up more calories is to increase the time spent on your activity.