There’s more to fitness than just burning calories, but if you’re trying to lose weight or burn fat as part of your fitness goals then you’ll want to do exercises that burn calories. Calories provide energy for our bodies, and the general rule of thumb is that if you burn more calories than you’re eating you’ll lose weight.
When you’re hitting the gym, chances are you’ve got a limited amount of time and you want to make the most out of your workout. So if burning calories is your goal, what’s the most efficient way to do that?
Cardio Focus
If you’re alive, then you’re burning calories. Even sitting and thinking burns some calories. But if you want to burn more calories, then you need to get moving. The more you move, the more calories you burn. That’s why cardio workouts—the kind that get your heart rate up—are typically considered the best calorie-burning gym workouts.
Interval running on a treadmill, using a stair climber, cycling on a stationary bike, and jumping rope are easy exercises that let you pack a lot of calorie-burning into your time at the gym. You could also burn calories with a bodyweight exercise circuit that includes reps of exercises like sit-ups, pull-ups, and jumping jacks. Kickboxing, kettlebell circuits, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), and using TRX suspension straps are also good options for burning calories.
Don’t Forget Muscles
Exactly how many calories you burn during a workout and which workouts will be the best fit for you depends on many factors. For one thing, men tend to burn more calories than women when doing the same exercises for the same amount of time. That’s because men typically have more muscle mass, and muscles burn calories more efficiently. Similarly, as people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and so their bodies burn fewer calories.
Though cardio is typically recommended as the best way to burn calories, strength training also plays a big role. You might not burn as many calories lifting weights as you would jumping rope for the same amount of time, but you’ll still burn some calories, and the muscles you build will make your other workouts burn calories more efficiently.
Fit Your Needs
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to fitness. I already mentioned that how many calories you burn in a workout depends on your sex, age, and muscle mass. Other individual factors also influence how effective a calorie-burning workout will be. These factors include genetics, starting fitness level, and how much time you can spend in the gym.
You’ll get the most out of your workouts if you go to a gym where you can talk with trainers to get advice and try out a variety of different equipment. At Extreme Studio Performance, you’ll find everything you’d expect to see in a gym as well as a unique selection of equipment you won’t find in other gyms. As a member, you can talk with our trainers and ask for advice on using any of the equipment. We also offer personal training and group training if you’d like more help creating a personalized fitness routine to match your specific goals.