What Exercise Burns the Most Calories?

Exercising burns more calories than a normal day. High-intensity exercise, such as cycling, jogging, or running, typically burns more calories than other sports.

Compound exercises like planks (which work multiple muscle groups at once) burn calories while also building muscle. The more work you do while exercising, the more energy your body needs. So, by doing compound exercises, you burn more calories. Strength training also builds muscle, which burns more calories than fat.

Read on for 14 exercises you can burn calories, including cardio and compounds. You can try these exercises at home at your own pace without fancy gym equipment or expensive equipment.

Compound Exercises

Compound exercises require you to use more than one muscle group at a time. As a result, they burn a lot of calories because they require more work to complete than other sports. Each compound exercise contains strength exercises (such as planks) and exercises to get your heart pumping and burning calories. If you’re looking for a workout that burns a lot of calories at once, try the following exercises.

1. Plank

To get into the plank position, first place your abdomen on the ground. Place your hands directly under your shoulders, tighten your abs, and lift your torso off the ground. Be sure to keep your back flat as you pull your toes towards your calves.

Here are some plank variants to try:

• Mop planks: You’ll need to do this exercise on a hardwood or linoleum floor, placing a small towel under each foot. In a plank position, drag your body from one side of the room to the other. Use your arms to move around to pull your weight. The one that walks through the room, walks to a wall, and back is a round.
• Butt lift: Start in a plank position and push your hips upwards to create an inverted V shape. Keep the core engaged and go back to the starting point.
  Knee to elbow: Move your left knee toward your right elbow in a plank position. Move your foot back to the starting point and repeat on the other side. Continue alternating.
• Rainbow Plank: Try this plank variation to work the external oblique muscles. In the plank position, move your hips from side to side. Try to get as close to the ground as possible.
• Side Plank: Place your right forearm and foot on the ground and fold your left foot over your right foot. Hang your left arm in the air to maintain your balance. Lower your right hip towards the ground and return to the starting point. Continue with the desired number of repetitions and repeat on the left side.
• Up and down: Start in a plank position with your elbows straight (think push-up position). Lower the right forearm, then lower the left forearm. Return to the right hand, then the left hand.

2. Squat press

Hold a weight in each hand and stand shoulder-width apart with your feet apart. Bend your elbows at a 90-degree angle with your palms facing inward.

From this starting position, follow these steps for the squat press:

1. Slowly lower to a squat position, with your weight on your heels and your chest up. Hold for two seconds.
2. Stand firmly on your heels while lifting your weight toward the ceiling.
3. Repeat as many times as you want.

3. Rebellion

For this exercise, start with a plank position. You’ll need two weights – one in each hand to support you.

Follow these steps for rebellious boating:

1. Raise one arm to your body so that your forearm is aligned with your back and your elbow bent at a 90-degree angle.
2. Stick to a count of two. Tighten your abs and keep your hips as even as possible.
3. Lower back to the starting position. Repeat on the other arm.

4. Stairs (with counterweights)

By climbing stairs, you can improve your endurance and blood lipids (i.e., cholesterol and triglyceride levels). Studies have found that climbing stairs burns almost eight to ten times more calories than rest. Try climbing stairs instead of elevators or escalators whenever possible, adding this calorie-burning exercise to your routine.

You can climb stairs as a workout or even try adding weight to build muscles. Take a light weight in each hand and climb five or more flights of stairs (this could mean going up and down stairs at home, using a stair stepper at the gym, or finding a location with lots of stairs to climb). Rest for a few minutes and repeat as many times as you want.

5. Lunge jumping

Start with your feet together and your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle, follow these steps to perform a jumping lunge:

1. Lunge forward, keeping your chest straight. Make sure your weight is on the heel of your front foot.
2. When you raise your hands towards the ceiling, jump vertically, keeping your elbows bent.
3. Lunge to the ground and move the other foot forward. Repeat this on the other foot, alternating with each repetition.

Why Strength Training Burns Calories

Strength training builds muscle mass and helps prevent bone density from declining with age. Building muscle through strength training may help burn calories because muscle burns more calories than fat. People with more muscle mass may even burn slightly more calories at rest than people with less muscle mass.

It’s a common misconception that gaining muscle helps boost metabolism. Moderate strength training will only slightly affect the calories burned by the muscles. Still, incorporating strength training into cardio will help burn calories.

Factors That Affect Calorie Burning

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

• Age: As you age, you lose muscle mass, which slows down the rate at which you burn calories while exercising.
• Weight: People who weigh more than others need more energy to be physically active. As a result, the number of calories burned while exercising increases with body weight.
• Duration, intensity, and type of exercise: For example, walking slowly burns fewer calories than walking at a moderate pace.
• Muscle mass: Muscle burns more calories than fat. People with more muscle mass burn more calories than others at rest and during exercise.
• Gender: Some evidence suggests that men burn more calories than women when doing the same exercise. Men generally have more muscle mass and weight than women.

Tips for Burning More Calories

In order to lose weight, you need to consume more calories than you consume. Achieving your weight loss goals may not be easy, but adding physical activity to your routine can help you burn more calories.

Here are some ways to add more work to your daily activities and workouts to help increase the calories burned:

• Increase weight: Increasing muscle mass may help increase the number of calories burned at rest and during exercise.
• Climb stairs as much as possible: Climb stairs to burn more calories than using an elevator or escalator.
• Listen to music: Add upbeat music to your workouts to help you increase your intensity.
• Make plans with family and friends: Make exercise fun by bowling, swimming, or going for a walk with your loved ones.
• Act fast: Walking, jogging, or running faster can help increase intensity and burn more calories than usual.
• Sit less: Try pacing while talking on the phone, or taking a break from a walk while working. You can even try standing while working.
• Take more steps: For example, park your car far away from your storefront so you can get extra steps.
• Use a tracking device: A smartwatch or wearable device tracks your steps. There are devices that allow you to compete with your loved ones to see who has taken more steps.

Conclusion

Compound exercises, such as planks, rebel rows, and squat jumps, can get your heart pumping while also strengthening your muscles. Compound exercises help burn calories because they require a lot of energy.

Listen to your body while exercising and consult your healthcare provider if you feel discomfort or pain. If you have any chronic illness, disability, or wish to start high-intensity training after a long period of inactivity, you may consider reaching out to a healthcare provider to determine what exercises you can do and for how long.