The 10 Exercises That Burn The Most Calories & 10 That Are Overrated
Not All Workouts Are Created Equal
While it's always good to get the body moving, not all exercises are going to give you the same benefit in terms of torching calories and burning fat. Understanding which moves are truly effective can save you time and help you reach your fitness goals faster. To help you focus your energy, here are the 10 exercises that burn the most calories and 10 that are overrated.
1. Running
A high-intensity activity, running burns the most calories out of any sport. You can burn 200 to 500 calories for every 30 minutes you run, depending on your body weight and speed.
2. Boxing
Boxing is an excellent full-body workout. A basic 30-minute boxing routine can burn around 300 calories, while a HIIT-style training session or one-on-one fight can burn significantly more.
3. Swimming
Swimming is a great all-around exercise that works every muscle group. Someone swimming vigorously for 30 minutes can easily burn around 300 calories.
4. Cycling
Cycling can burn a significant amount of calories, particularly if you're going quickly or doing hills. The amount of calories you burn cycling varies widely because it can be done with such differing levels of effort, but it's generally around 200 to 700 calories for every half hour.
5. Tennis
Tennis is a rigorous sport that generally requires a lot of effort to play. While a doubles match burns 250 to 500 calories an hour, a vigorous singles match can burn upwards of 700 calories.
6. Aerobic Dance
Aerobic Dance exercise, like Zumba, is an excellent way to burn calories while having fun. You can easily burn over 250 calories for every 30 minutes of high-impact aerobic dancing.
7. Rowing
Rowing is a great full-body exercise that builds muscle while challenging your cardio. A one-hour session of moderate rowing can burn 500 calories in an hour, while a more vigorous session can burn well over 700.
8. Stair Climbing
There's a reason the stair stepper machine at your gym is so popular: it's one of the most effective calorie-burning exercises. For every step you climb, you burn 0.17 calories, so imagine what you can do running up thousands.
9. HIIT
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions can burn up to 30 percent more calories than a steady-state workout. In half an hour, you can burn 500 calories or more if you really push yourself.
10. Jumping Rope
Jumping rope isn't just something little kids do; it's an extremely effective fat-burning workout. You can burn up to 16 calories for every minute you spend jumping rope, depending on your speed and intensity.
Now that we've talked about the most effective calorie-burning exercises, let's talk about overrated ones that really don't do that much.
1. Crunches
As far as ab-targetting workouts go, you can do better than crunches. What's more, they burn very few calories and can strain the neck or back.
2. Low-Intensity Yoga
Low-intensity yoga is excellent for stretching, especially the day after a high-intensity run or bike ride. However, you're not going to burn many calories from a gentle yoga session.
3. Gentle Pilates
Similar to yoga, pilates isn't the best way to burn calories or slim down, unless it's reformer pilates or coupled with HIIT. Pilates is based on making slow, deliberate movements, so it's not going to get your heart rate up much.
4. Walking
Walking is a great weight-bearing exercise, and while it's good for your health, it doesn't stack up against running or HIIT in terms of calorie-burning, unless it's at a very brisk pace or includes hills. It's a low-intensity exercise that only burns around 30 calories for every 1,000 steps.
5. Bicep Curls
Bicep curls are good for targeting and building that one very specific muscle. However, the total calorie expenditure of this workout is minimal.
6. Slow Jogging
Going for a slow, long jog has many benefits, including endurance building and cardiovascular health. However, compared to HIIT or a high-intensity run, it's not the most efficient calorie-burning exercise.
7. Ab Roller
The ab roller is a great ab-strengthening tool, but it burns very few calories. It's more effective for muscle-building, improving posture, and enhancing stability.
8. Static Stretching
Static stretching is great for flexibility, mobility, and recovery, but it's so low-intensity it can hardly be called a workout. It's not effective for weight loss or fat burning.
9. Leg Extensions
Leg extensions are a necessary part of leg day, but they don't burn a lot of calories. They target a specific muscle (the quads), but it's a super-controlled and low-intensity movement that won't help you reduce body fat.
10. Dumbbell Side Bends
Dumbbell side bends are not only ineffective at burning fat, they're also easy to do incorrectly and frequently lead to injury. They're meant to target your oblique muscles, but they don't engage other core muscles or burn a lot of calories.
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