These 8 Exercises Burn the Most Calories for Weight Loss, According to Experts

Whether you like to take a nice daily walk or hit the gym hard, chances are you’ve been curious about the amount of calories multiple workouts burn. And the fact is that not only the type of exercise affects the number of calories burned, but also the duration of exercise, pace, intensity, age, height and weight.

“There are so many nuances to burning calories throughout the day,” he says. daniel jumpscertified personal trainer and founder of Train with Danny. “On average, we burn 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day just going about our daily lives.” But a 300-pound person who is taller is going to burn more calories than a 150-pound person who is shorter will burn because the more you weigh, the more energy your body needs to function.

What factors affect the number of calories burned?

A calorie is a unit of energy used to measure weightloss. To lose a pound, you have to burn 3,500 more calories than you take in per pound of weight, USDA says. Your ability to burn calories is affected by your age, height, workout intensity, and the length and pace of your workout.

Age is an important factor in determining calories burned. “If you are 60 years old and less mobile, then you are not as agile and able to reach as high an intensity during a workout as if you were 18 years old,” says Saltos. And intensity matters. How quickly you move between sets affects your heart rate level, which determines how much energy (calories) your body burns.

Duration and pace can also determine how many calories you burn during exercise. For example, “walking you can burn 300 to 500 calories in an hour, while running can burn that same amount in about half the time,” explains Saltos. He will also burn more calories by walking for a longer period of time, rather than say 10 minutes.

How to burn more calories during a workout

Although the number of calories each person will burn during any given day varies, there are still some ways you can increase the amount of energy you burn. Jumps recommends keeping an eye on your heart rate.

“An elevated heart rate is your body’s physical response to pump more blood. This requires more oxygen and energy, resulting in more calories burned,” says Saltos. Increasing the intensity of your workout and reducing the rest time between repetitions can help keep your heart rate elevated. “If you usually do 1 minute between sets, try 30 to 45 seconds of rest,” suggests Jumps.

You can also make your workouts work better with compound exercises. “Compound movements use multiple muscle groups at once,” says Jumps. “If you do a bicep curl, this will only target one muscle: the biceps. A chin up, on the other hand, uses your biceps, back, and core muscles, so you’ll burn more calories.”

What types of exercises burn the most calories?

You can level up any workout with the suggestions above, but the type of workout you choose can also naturally burn more calories. Running, swimming, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and bicycling are just a few of the exercises that give you the most bang for your buck.

Run

“Run it is one of the best calorie burners out there,” says Saltos. An average person can burn between 500 and 1,000 in an hour of running. “Speed, pace and endurance are factors that can affect this range. But running uses every muscle group in your body, allowing you to burn more calories.

Swimming

Swimming is a low-impact exercise that also targets multiple muscle groups. “In just 30 minutes of swimming, the average person can burn 200 to 300 calories,” says Saltos. Swimming also improves cardiovascular health, builds endurance, and builds strength—all good reasons to want to jump in the water.

Cycling

There’s nothing like a nice evening bike ride in good weather, and it’s actually great exercise for you too. A long, steady bike ride can burn 500 to 700 calories in an hour, Saltos says. “If you want to build intensity with interval sprinting on a stationary bike for 20 seconds and rest or slow down for 10 seconds, then you can burn 500 to 700 calories in about half that time,” he notes.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

If you want intensity, HIIT exercises provide exactly that. These workouts involve working hard in intervals and then resting. “There are so many versions of HIIT, but traditional tabata involves pushing for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds, for 8 rounds or 4 minutes,” says Saltos. Because your heart rate will stay elevated, you’ll burn more calories in less time. “On average, a person will burn 400 to 600 calories in 30 minutes,” he says.

jump the rope

This childhood activity can actually do wonders for your health. “Jumping rope is great for strengthening your lower and upper body while improving endurance and cardiovascular fitness,” says Jumps. It also improves your coordination, because your mind has to work while you jump. Jumping rope can burn 600 to 1,000 calories in an hour.

strength training

Strength training is one of the most efficient ways to burn more calories. “An hour of strength training can burn 300 to 400 calories on average, but you’ll continue to burn more calories throughout the day due to the EPOC effect,” says Saltos. The EPOC effect, also known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, represents an increase in metabolism that occurs after strength training linked to the oxygen consumption that is required to help restore muscles.

Boxing

Boxing is not only a great way to release pent up energy, it also helps improve balance, increase endurance, and strengthen your upper body and core. “Boxing also helps you burn calories, with the average person burning between 500 and 800 calories in an hour-long session,” says Saltos.

Rowing

The push-pull motion of rowing machines targets multiple muscle groups, including your arms, core, and back, helping you burn more calories. “An hour of rowing burns 400 to 600 calories on average,” says Saltos.

In general, any exercise is a good exercise.

The old saying goes that any exercise is better than none. If you only have time for 10 minutes of exercise a day, it’s better than 0 minutes a day. “Everyone is obsessed with calories burned during exercise, but the calories you burn during that hour in the gym only represent 10 percent of the calories you burn in a day,” says Saltos.

Look for opportunities throughout the day to optimize calories burned, such as parking further away from the grocery store, standing while you work, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. “This will make a big difference in how many calories you burn,” she says.