Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Holidays
  • Cooking 101
  • Healthy Living
  • Shop
  • News
  • Good.Food.Fast
  • CL Diet

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Register/Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Logout
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More Next
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More Next
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More Next
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    • New Year, New You
    • Super Bowl
    • Valentines
    • Easter
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • Shop
  • News
  • Good.Food.Fast
  • CL Diet

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Register/Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

CookingLight diet CookingLight diet
  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Health News Chevron Right
  3. 7 Best Calorie-Burning Workouts

7 Best Calorie-Burning Workouts

By Carolyn Williams, PhD, RD
March 08, 2015
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photo: David Martinez
No one wants to waste time when they’re trying to reach a weight-loss goal. So what’s the most effective use of your workout time when trying to lose weight? Answer: Activities that maximize calorie burn. These workouts will help you burn calories fast, despite your fitness and strength levels. From low-intensity sports to high-intensity exercises to strength training, we have ideas you can easily incorporate even if you're on a busy schedule.
Start Slideshow

1 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Swimming

The ultimate low-impact, calorie burner, swimming engages all your major muscle groups making it a great way to burn fat (think 400 to 700 calories per hour) and tone muscles at the same time. Not the best swimmer when it comes to strokes and technique? Research shows that as long you can propel yourself through the water to get to one end of the pool and back, then you’ve mastered the sport well enough to burn calories.

1 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

10-Minute "Blasts"

If you don’t have an extended block of time in which to exercise, try incorporating two to four 10-minute bursts of moderate- to high-intensity exercise. Research shows these that these short intervals are just as beneficial for your health as exercising longer at one time, because you burn calories both during and after these intensive bursts. Vary your activity based on your schedule by jogging when you walk the dog in the morning, power walking during lunch, and then dancing with your kids before bed.

Try this 10-minute cardio blast workout.

2 of 7

3 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

High-intensity Interval Training

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is all the rage and the premise behind many boot camp and CrossFit-type workouts. HIIT workouts combine intense short bursts of exercise (think sprints) followed by a repeated series of lower-intensity exercises that are usually strength-based. Although only 20 to 30 minutes total, the constant up and down in intensity sizzles calories and also causes dramatic improvements in your cardiovascular fitness compared to longer workouts where the intensity doesn’t vary.

3 of 7

Advertisement

4 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Total Body Strength Training

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

While the long-term metabolism benefits are great, strength and toning exercises don’t burn loads of calories when you’re actually doing them unless they involve the whole body and increase your heart rate. The only effective way to speed up your metabolism is to build muscle. Check out the class listing at your local fitness center to see if they offer full body strength or weight classes, or look for online videos for exercises you can do at home. This type of workout will burn calories now and keep your metabolism revved up later.

4 of 7

5 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Tennis

Credit: Photo: David Martinez
If you hate exercise but love friendly competition, then tennis may be the calorie torcher for you. This sport keeps you continuously running, as well as engaging muscles when you serve or hit the ball. Another plus (in addition to the possible 500 to 600 calories you can burn per hour): Research shows tennis has positive effects on brain function and memory since you’re literally thinking on your feet.

5 of 7

6 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Treadmill Circuits

Credit: Photo: David Martinez
Tired of your monotonous walking or running routine? Next time you’re on the treadmill, look at incorporating circuits that continuously change up the speed and incline every one to three minutes. Alternate intervals with one that challenges and pushes you out of your comfort zone followed by one that allows you to recover. Search treadmill circuits or treadmill intervals for examples to get started.

6 of 7

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 7

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Cycling Class

Credit: Photo: David Martinez

Stationary cycling may sound intimidating if you’re not a bike rider, but it takes much less skill and coordination than other group fitness classes. Each rider continuously changes speed and pedal resistance, so all fitness levels can participate. In each 45-minutes class, you burn 400 to 600 calories and get a high-intensity, low-impact cardio workout as well as lower body muscle work.

7 of 7

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Carolyn Williams, PhD, RD

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 7 Swimming
2 of 7 10-Minute "Blasts"
3 of 7 High-intensity Interval Training
4 of 7 Total Body Strength Training
5 of 7 Tennis
6 of 7 Treadmill Circuits
7 of 7 Cycling Class

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Cooking Light

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Cooking Light Diet this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Meredith Cooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Statementthis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

View image

7 Best Calorie-Burning Workouts
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.