Low-Intensity Activities That Burn Calories and Alleviate Stress

Low-Intensity Activities That Burn Calories and Alleviate Stress

Today’s current circumstances have made it difficult and worrisome for many to visit the gym, which can expose them to health risks for an extended period of time. Thankfully, there is a myriad of things people can do to continuously burn calories and combat stress — all without hitting the gym or leaving their homes. Here are some of them that you might want to try:

Walking around your House

In everything that it does, the body burns calories. You breathe, you burn calories. You sit down on your chair and read, you burn calories. However, if you want to burn a significant amount without sweating that much, what you can do is walk around your home. On average, a 30-minute walk can help you burn around 90 to 200 calories. Depending on your weight, that amount can go even higher. If you want to make things a bit more challenging, you can also try walking with some additional weights on, such as a backpack.

An article by LiveStrong explains how additional weight can help you burn around 10-20% more calories. In addition to making you physically healthy, walking can also boost your mood. NBC News’ feature on walking mentions how this low-intensity activity can increase creativity and heighten joviality, vigor, attentiveness, and self-confidence. Walking can also reduce ruminations over negative experiences and alleviate some of the common symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Being sexually active

Aside from inducing pleasure, did you know that sexual activities can also help one burn some calories? According to a study published in the journal PLOS One, the energy expenditure during sexual activity is averaged at 101kCal in men and 69.1 kCal in women. When compared to a 30-minute moderate-intensity workout, the same study found that coitus can cause men to exhaust up to 276kCal, while women, on the other hand, can expend around 213 kCal.

Although self-pleasuring is not as physically taxing as an actual lovemaking session, it can still help you burn a few calories and improve your circulation. In addition to this, PrettyMe’s guide to adult toys also notes how having some quality ‘me’ time can also relieve stress by stimulating the release of feel-good hormones. These include endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin. All three are capable of improving mood by balancing out the stress hormone and making one feel content, relaxed, and sociable.

Practicing Yoga

In our previous post ‘Pandemic Exercise and Mental Health’, it was highlighted how, due to a variety of safety concerns, a lot of people struggled with going to therapy. This reality caused many to turn to alternative forms of therapy, such as exercise. One type of exercise that can also help you manage stress and maintain your weight is yoga.

This meditative activity has been found to burn between 180 and 460 calories depending on the type, intensity, and length. A write-up by Harvard Health Publishing emphasizes how yoga can also reduce the impact of exaggerated stress responses by decreasing physiological arousal. For instance, yoga can reduce your heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and ease your respiration.

Now that the world has grown extra stressful, it’s all the more reason for most people to engage in activities that are good for both the mind and the body.