How To Burn Over 4000 Calories In Day, Without Stepping Foot In A Gym | Men's Health Magazine Australia

“I Doubled My Movement Goal… Without The Gym”

When you think about burning a whopping 4000 calories, what immediately comes to your mind?

I bet you’re conjuring images of a brutal 30km slog on a treadmill, perhaps back to back hero WODs at your local CrossFit box, or spending 90 minutes tearing it up on the rowing erg. Well good news fitness lovers, because the reality is a lot simpler than that.

After spending only one single day in Beautiful Byron Bay in early February, I incidentally burnt over 4000 calories without lifting one single dumbbell. In fact, I barely felt I was exercising at all, at least not with the intent of burning these calories.

The morning started with the sound of rain drops on the roof at the Byron on Byron Hotel. With the compulsory morning coffee fueling my drive to get moving, I eagerly await a car to take me to a surf lesson at one of Byron’s most famous breaks, The Pass.

Arriving to 4-5 foot rolling waves, I wax up the board (probably a solid 500 calories right there), spend 10 minutes activating the hamstrings, and upper body to prepare myself for the shred I was set to unleash on these unwitting waves.

I paddle out to a crowd of 30 in the water, and immediately hit a set of waves, attempting my first wave, I am up, a 120m ride into the mid-break, and a smile from ear to ear makes you understand why this place is a dream come true. Each wave I caught was cheered on by those in the line up with a massive yeoooooooow (does stoke burn calories? Probably).

14 waves later I check in with my Apple Watch and the Dawn Patrol app that has been tracking my level of stoke movement.

450m, and travelling at speeds of up to 35km per hour, the heart rate was racing at at average of 142 BPM. Yeah, OK, lucky they’ve included surfing in the Olympics, because Tubular Todd is on his way to Tokyo [nickname still a work in progress].

I burnt 1,136 calories in 90 minutes of paddling, standing and riding these amazing waves. Retiring after a solid session of waves, I had to turn the arms over in a swim with a bunch of mates who wanted to race in an open water swim for about 300m. Up for the challenge we hit the water, getting rolled around in some solid 5-footers. Going out was tough, but the ride in was epic, getting in and out within 8 minutes, I burnt 113 calories, and came home with a third place out of 6 people.

Apple

Apple

Of course, burning calories means taking some time out to put the calories back in, we had lunch at The Beach House at The Pass. All the time sharing our Dawn Patrol stats.

A light walk after lunch, we hit a swift 10,926 steps, over 8.5km, upon arriving at a secluded yoga practice where breath and movement are the focus. 60 minutes of free flowing movement and taking some time to sit with yourself in a small range of positions yet vital for hip, hamstring, upper body, and lower spine… Yin Yoga was the perfect fix for the afternoon. Oh yeah, and I burnt 101 calories just sitting, stretching and breathing.

Getting salty, slightly sun kissed, and bent into shape, accumulated to a total of 4,000 calories for the day according to my Apple Watch. Not a bad way to close those movement rings without even breaking a sweat.

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