So you spend quite a lot of your time getting yourself into a nice shape, and you certainly expect results, don’t you? Discussing the subject with others, you could have heard different opinions about the best method of workout to burn more calories – it’s cardio with some, weight-lifting with others, and something else with girls from the neighboring gym. Maybe it’s time to look into the matter.
Fast running
The simplest way to get yourself working out is to run: you don’t need anything special to start, you can use any shoes. If you make the speed of 8 mph, you can reach the level of burning more than 1,000 calories in a 200-pound individual during one hour. If we come down to it, running devours a lot of energy and puts strain on the cardiovascular system, making us need a rest after we have run some way (not a very long one!)
If you are into running seriously, try 20-second sprints (or less, if you’re not up to it) and when you get tired, jog for a minute or two, or walk, if you feel exhausted. Go on like that until you can hardly drag your feet. When you feel like getting as much as you can out of the exercise, put on a vest with weights. It works better than working dumbbells, weighing up ankles, when it comes to burning calories.
Jumping Rope
Jumping you can burn up to 900 calories in an hour at the rate of 120 skips every minute. Yes, the old rope burns fats like hell. For more strain on arms and shoulders add weight to your rope. See if you can continue for about ten minutes without pausing – if you can, develop your abilities. If not, pause during the workout and think what schedule can get you better results.
Running Up Stair Sprints
This can make you about 600 to 900 calories down if you keep running up the stairs for an hour. Or you can use a side of a hill. The point is, you must run up at a fairly good speed that you can’t keep up for more than 20 seconds, followed by a run-up at half the speed/twice the time. Given greater intensity, you will achieve more conspicuous results.
Kickboxing
The hourly burn for kickboxing comes up to something like 850 calories. Yet when doing this kind of exercise it is better to take fewer and shorter rest breaks, otherwise ist usefulness won’t be so high as to keep kickboxing close to the top of this list. Your best ratio would be about a minute and a half of heavy sparring and half a minute of rest.
High-intensity swimming
For those who feel that kickboxing or running up takes too much out of them, there is swimming, an activity that can be picked up by all sorts of people, old and young – and it is an excellent calorie-burner. An individual weighing 200 pounds can burn about 900 calories and more in an hour if they apply themselves well to the task. Therapeutically beneficial, swimming is good for cardio as well as for strength, plus the contact with water that adds its benefit. The colder the water, the more calories are burned.
High-impact aerobics
By doing high-impact aerobics you make your muscles contract and release many times quickly and consciously at the same time. High impact means that you perform movements involving raising both feet off the ground – like when you jump or do hopping plyometric style; also, some dances include such movements.
Mind, though, that while you may be having a lot of fun with your high-impact aerobics, and trying new movements, you should understand that your joints may not stand up to the strain. This exercise belongs with high-intensity interval training (HIIT), meaning people take intervals to work and to pause; such exercises are really great for burning calories on a large scale. Consider your possibilities, if you are exerting yourself intensively, go for a shorter duration, around 30 minutes for better results.
Racquetball
Racquetball is a tennis-like exercise in terms of intensivity, able to provide an average grown-up with 600 and more calories to burn within an hour. So, if you dismissed this activity because you saw old men at it in the gym, reconsider and give it a try. Since you are not supposed to sit down, it is rather strenuous – and a good calorie-burner!
Trying to work this agile ball in a confined space, you will be jumping and running all over the place to assume the best position for the game. The challenge provided is mental as well as muscular. Round up your friends and get up a 30-minute game. How do you feel? All right for another 30-minute round? Should you get accustomed to the activity, get into it for real and look up professional advice how to play the game for maximum enjoyment.
Water Skiing
As you watch videos and photos of people gliding on skis and following a boat on the water surface, you may think it is easy, while actually it requires a lot of skillful handling. You have to assume the right posture, measure the press of the feet on the water. Meanwhile you are holding on to the rope, and your arms, biceps, calves, and many other muscles are getting a lot of training. You can use one ski or two, notwithstanding, your forearm and quad muscles will certainly feel the impact of half an hour of water ski gliding.
Once you’ve gotten the knack of it, you can be into a serious calorie-burning activity; time your sessions, try out three-minute rounds as long as you can take it.
