How Many Calories Do You Burn Just Sitting (2023)

FAQs

How Many Calories Do You Burn Just Sitting? ›

Sitting, by comparison, only burns 60 to 130 calories an hour. Think about how fast that adds up! You could burn anywhere from 120 to 210 more calories just by swapping 3 hours of sitting for standing.

The average person burns around 1800 calories a day doing absolutely nothing. For example, according to the Healthy Eating Guide, sitting burns an estimated 75 calories per hour. This number will vary, however.

Yes, even as you sit, you burn calories – but not much. Sitting quietly burns about 100 calories per hour. Standing increases this to around 160 calories per hour.

Your brain burns calories to perform basic functions. It burns a bit more if you think really hard, but it's not enough to make you lose weight. That doesn't mean exercising your brain has no benefits. Activities like listening to music, doing puzzles, and learning new hobbies can all boost your cognitive function.

As a very approximate number, we burn around 50 calories an hour. View Source while we sleep. However, every person burns a different amount of calories during sleep, depending on their personal basal metabolic rate. View Source (BMR).

The exact number of calories you burn while sleeping depends on your age and weight. Generally speaking, sleepers burn between 40 – 80 calories an hour. So in an 8-hour window, you can expect to burn between 320 – 640 calories per night.

When you sit up straight, you are going to minimally workout muscles in the upper body, shoulders and the back. This, in a way, helps strengthen the core and promotes calorie burning, since you exert pressure in maintaining a straight back. Even simply engaging your muscles while at rest can help.

Water increases calorie burning

Water may also temporarily increase the body's resting energy expenditure, or the number of calories burned while resting. Drinking cold water may further enhance water's calorie-burning benefits, because the body expends energy, or calories, by heating up the water for digestion.

How to speed up metabolism? ›

According to Healthline, running burns the most calories. A tried and true exercise that requires little more than your legs and the open road, running burns just over 800 calories for a 155-pound adult per hour.

Sitting, by comparison, only burns 60 to 130 calories an hour. Think about how fast that adds up! You could burn anywhere from 120 to 210 more calories just by swapping 3 hours of sitting for standing.

Every body burns calories at a different rate. But on average, you burn about 100-200 calories per hour if you're standing, and only 60-130 calories if you're sitting. This means using a standing desk does help you burn more calories than you would if you were sitting!

Being More Active Burns More Calories

Even fidgeting burns more calories than sitting still. Here is a comparison of different activities and how many calories a 170-pound (77 kilograms) person can burn in an hour. Standing burns more calories than sitting (186 calories vs. 139 calories).

A: To burn 1,000 calories daily, you should engage in high-intensity exercises that burn a significant amount of calories. Running, cycling, swimming, and HIIT are a few examples. It's important to gradually increase exercise intensity and duration to avoid injury and maintain a sustainable fitness routine.