Burpees may be one of the most hated, yet efficient exercises you can do to burn fat. But when it comes to burpees vs running, which burns more calories? Doing some quick research I found a good amount of miss-information on the subject on the internet. With numbers being thrown out as a fact with no studies to support them. And when I did find the studies, surprise surprise, those previously mentioned websites at the top of google are completely wrong.
Let’s correct their mistakes, break down the real studies, and get you to answer the heated question. Which burns more calories, burpees or running? And don’t worry, I’ll give you a quick answer below too!
Burpees vs Running Calories Burned
The short answer: Studies have shown that you will burn an average of 13.2 calories per minute doing burpees at a pace you could sustain for 20 minutes. For running, studies show that the average calories burned completing a 9.5 minute mile burned 115 calories. Or 12.1 calories per minute.
So based on the scientific studies you will burn 13.2 calories doing burpees vs 12.1 calories running per minute at around the same energy exertion level.
Diving Deeper into the Numbers
Researching the difference in calorie burn between burpees and running took me longer than most other topics. It also led to me finding a few great studies that have been done over the past 15 years. And I wanted to share some of the info with those that are interested. Also having them linked in one place so you don’t have to hunt like I did.
Here is a link to a study testing the calories burned during a Tabata running workout at high intensity. They found that participants averaged 14.5 calories per minute. Showing that the harder intensity workout burned more calories per minute than sustained running or burpees.
Another study also shows that calorie burn may stay higher for longer following HIIT, Tababa, and sprint workouts. Which was also supported by this study showing the difference between low intensity and high intensity calorie burn after the workout.
Conclusion
When looking at burpees vs running – Calories Burned, it’s important to take a few things into account. Including weight, age, recovery, prior fitness level, and energy output. All of these things are going to have an effect on the amount of calories you burn. There is no one number fits all. And just because you burn 100 calories one workout, doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same for someone else. Or even the same for you on a different day. So don’t live and die by counting calories. Just get out there and put in the work! As the studies show, time and effort is what matters.
