Does Studying Burn Calories [Is It Better Than Working Out]
A long day at school or college can make you feel worn out – sometimes even more than working out. It turns out that using your brain to focus on something and do things like studying uses energy – and it burns calories actually.
Why Does Studying Burn Calories
After a couple of hours of workout, you can feel extremely exhausted and worn out – this is because glycogen in our muscle break down when we use our muscle. Eventually, muscles run out of energy and we end up feeling exhausted. But does this really happen when we study or use our brains too much?
Yes, mental fatigue is real – mental activities such as studying also use glycogen even though they don’t require muscles to break down glycogen. So, our brains burn calories even performing basic tasks much more than studying.
Energy Use for Studying
According to researchers and scientists, a 70kg individual can burn 100 calories per hour studying while staring at a screen, and in a classroom same individual is likely to burn around 110-120 calories per hour. So, if you study for long hours, you will burn more calories which will cause mental fatigue.
Does Thinking Burn Calories
Yes, thinking can burn calories according to the Healthline. However, this is not a significant amount of calories that can cause weight loss or feeling exhausted. Our brain is an organ that is not a muscle, exercise can increase muscle by burning calories – exercising our brain does improve cognitive functions but it does not cause weight loss or muscle gain.
Does Studying Cause Weight Loss
Studying or any other brain workout can burn a significant amount of calories just as a normal workout at the gym. But it’s not likely to cause any weight loss – that can be achieved only by working out properly at home or the gym.
Benefits of Brain Workouts
Just because brain workouts do not help any weight loss – doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any benefits. Brain workouts such as studying, listening to music, and doing puzzles can help improve our cognitive functions. This will help cognitive decline that happens due to age.
How Many Calories a Student Need
it’s recommended to intake at least 1600-2400 calories per day for a student using a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks in between. This will help students feel less worn out after a long studying session or a group study.
Do Studying at Night Cause Calory Burns
Studying at night can burn an additional 10% calorie burn per hour compared to day time. This is equivalent to 110-140 calories burned per hour for a 155 pounds person. The amount of calories burned can be changed according to the weight of the person.
The Conclusion
Studying just like any other activity or task that uses our brain can burn significant amounts of calories per day, especially if you are studying for long hours. It can make you feel worn out but it won’t cause any weight loss like exercising.
