What exercise burns the most calories? Here’s your guide to calorie-torching workouts

We all prefer different types and intensities of exercise, from swimming and cycling to high-intensity interval training and yoga. Maybe running through a wooded trail or the concrete city streets is your thing, or maybe you prefer pumping serious iron at your local gym or home gym. You might be a yogi who enjoys a range of practices or an avid swimmer gliding through laps. If you’re trying to lose weight or achieve a particular fitness goal, trying certain types of exercise helps you ramp up the calorie burning. Let’s look at how calorie-burning contributes to weight loss and what exercise burns the most calories. 

How does calorie burning contribute to weight loss?

Calories are units of energy you take in from your food and drink. You can track your calories, how many you’re taking in, and how many you’re burning with the help of certain apps and wearables. Counting calories is a popular method based on the CICO or ‘calories in, calories out’ model.

The idea is that if you take in more calories than you’re burning for energy, your body could store these calories as body fat, leading to weight gain over time. If you take in fewer calories than you’re burning for energy, it could lead to weight loss over time. When you’re more physically active, you typically burn more calories and improve your metabolism. Calorie counting can be helpful, but it doesn’t consider the quality or type of food you eat in terms of health and weight loss. 

The complexity of the weight loss picture

Weight loss is more complex than just calories alone, and several factors play a role, such as hormones, genetics, physical activity, nutrition, and stress. Some people accelerate weight loss by counting calories, and some implore other methods, such as following a ketogenic diet and lowering sugar intake. 

Factors to consider

The number of calories you burn depends on several factors, such as:

• Your age — People tend to lose muscle mass as they age, which slows the speed that they burn calories when working out.
• Your height and body weight — People who weigh more require more energy for physical activity.
• Muscle mass —If you have more muscle mass, you’ll burn more calories while at rest and exercising compared to people with less muscle mass. This is why building muscle and strength training is important.
• The duration, type, and intensity of the exercise — A slower stroll won’t use up as many calories as a brisk walk. 

What exercise burns the most calories?

Running is generally considered the exercise that burns the most calories per hour. When it comes to bang for your buck, going for a run is the calorie-torching winner. Other excellent options include swimming, jogging, cycling, and high-intensity interval training or HIIT. Of course, any exercise is better than none at all, but if you’re specifically looking to burn more calories in less time, it’s probably best to go for running, jumping rope, swimming or, cycling at a brisk pace, or HIIT.

Many trainers and fitness professionals believe the best option is to incorporate both strength training to build muscle along with cardio and aerobic exercises in your workout routine.

Here’s how many calories you’re burning

Let’s look at how many calories you’re burning per hour with various workouts. This list is based on an individual weighing 160 pounds engaging in one hour of exercise:

Other effective calorie-burning exercises include:

• Compound exercises like planks that strengthen your muscles.
• Rowing.
• Stair climbing.
• Calisthenics.
• Aerobic dance.
• Stationary bicycling.
• Boxing.

You’re also consuming lots of calories playing certain sports like basketball and doing activities like lawn mowing.

Exercises to burn calories fast

If you don’t have much time and you want to burn calories fast, it’s best to focus on high-intensity workouts that ramp up your heart rate, such as:

• High-intensity interval training
• High-knee running
• Running
• Butt kicks
• Mountain climbers
• Swimming
• Sprinting
• Stationary cycling

Moves like jumping jacks and mountain climbers get your muscles moving and your heart pumping.

Here’s how to do the cross-body mountain climber:

1. Start in the straight plank position with your hands stacked under your shoulders.
2. Brace your core and bring your right knee in toward your left elbow to ‘rotate’ your knee at the top of the movement.
3. Kick your right knee back behind you to return to the plank position.
4. Now, bring your left knee in toward your right elbow.
5. Kick your left knee back behind you to return to the plank position.
6. Repeat the movement, alternating your legs and accelerating your speed.

Exercises to burn calories from home

If you can’t make it to the gym and you don’t have gym equipment at home, you can still power through high-calorie-burning bodyweight exercises and workouts such as:

• Running
• Brisk walking
• Aerobic dance
• Jumping jacks
• Jumping rope
• Burpees

Switch between high-energy moves like burpees and compound strength training moves like planks.

Here’s how to do a burpee:

1. Start in a squat position with your feet about shoulder distance apart.
2. Place your hands on the floor in front of you, just inside your feet.
3. Lean your weight onto your hands and kick your feet back behind you so you’re in the pushup position, resting your weight on your hands and toes.
4. Try to keep your body in a straight line from your head to your heels.
5. Perform one pushup before frog kicking or jumping your feet back into the squat starting position.
6. Jump to stand while reaching your arms up overhead.
7. When you land softly with your knees bent, get back down into the squat position, and you can begin another rep.

Compound exercises and strength training

Compound exercises work multiple muscle groups at the same time to help you develop strength and muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so building muscle through strength training could help you burn more calories over time.

Here are some worthwhile compound moves to try:

• Planks
• Squat to press
• Renegade row
• Jump lunges
• Climbing stairs with weights

Here’s how to do the renegade row:

Equipment needed: Two dumbbells or kettlebells and an exercise mat if you’d prefer a softer surface.

1. Place two dumbbells on the floor about shoulder-distance apart.
2. Start in the plank position, supporting your body weight on your hands and toes. Try to make sure your body is extended in a straight line from your head to your heels, and the dumbbells should be directly under your shoulders.
3. Support your body with the dumbbells or the handles of the kettlebells.
4. Engage your core.
5. Push the left dumbbell into the floor and row the right dumbbell up to your torso.
6. Pull your shoulder back and flex your elbow on the rowing side to bring the dumbbell to your torso.
7. Lower the dumbbell to the floor and now repeat the rowing movement with the left dumbbell.
8. Repeat until you complete the set.

What cardio is the best for calorie-burning?

Vigorous-intensity cardio torches the most calories. Your heart rate will be elevated, and you won’t be able to carry on a proper conversation with this type of cardio. 

Examples include:

• Running
• Water aerobics
• High-intensity interval training
• Jump rope
• Sprinting
• Swimming
• Zumba and aerobic dance

Tips to get started

The following are top tips to get started:

• Work with a personal trainer for guidance.
• Use a fitness tracker, wearable, or calories-burned calculator like this one from Ace Fitness.
• Add aerobic exercise and resistance training to your weight-loss plan to help prevent the loss of muscle and bone.
• Try different exercises to switch up your routine and keep you motivated.
• Add weights and work on building muscle mass.
• Take the stairs whenever you can.
• Listen to music to distract your attention.
• Find an accountability partner.
• Stay hydrated and optimize your nutrition.

The bottom line

Listen to your body and ask your doctor or physical therapist if you’re not sure if a particular type of exercise is suitable for you. 

Running reigns supreme when it comes to calorie-torching. If you’re not a runner, there are plenty of other vigorous-intensity cardio options to try, such as jumping rope, jumping jacks, aerobic dance, and cycling or swimming at a brisk pace. For the best outcome, include resistance training to develop strength and muscle mass and compound exercises like planks that require a lot of energy.