by Lynn Murphy

Created on: June 27, 2008

My motto when it comes to exercise is this: If I a going to do it, then I want to burn the most calories possible. Otherwise, why do it? Obviously, while many exercises are good for cardio strengthening and basic good health, and while all exercise burns calories, some activities have a much higher calorie burn.
Running has always been a good choice for burning calories. A twenty minute run can burn more than twice the calories of a twenty minute walk. A forty minute to hour run is even better. For most people, those who aren't training for a marathon, four miles at an eight to ten minute pace will burn around three hundred calories. Of course, when you run for that amount of time, you will burn calories more efficiently all day. Here's a hint: you will be less bored if you run outside than if you run on a treadmill, thus, you will probably run faster and further than you would in the gym. Use a pedometer if you have to know your calorie burn and steps.

Cycling will burn even more calories and will be less damaging to the joints. Spin classes at gyms claim to burn 700 calories per class. This would not be achievable for the beginner, as you will have to have the muscle mass and cardio ability to maintain the level needed to burn that many calories, but working on higher gears will, during and hour class, burn somewhere between four and five hundred calories for most people.
Rowing is another exercise which many people do not know about. Most well equipped health clubs will have a rowing machine. The machine exercises 80% of the body's muscles and burns about five hundred to six hundred calories per hour. It works upper body and legs and is a great alternative to running.
If you are using machines at the gym, the elliptical running machines, which simulate cross country skiiing are also a good choice for high calorie burn. For those who live where you can do cross country outside much of the year, the calorie burn for cross country skiing is much higher than down hill skiing.
As far as video workouts go, the Tae-Bo tapes are the best for getting the heart rate up, for strength training and calorie burn-some of them claim to burn 800 calories an hour. I doubt that for most people it is this high, but it is a fun workout and probably does rank up there with rowing and spinning.
Add cardio to your weight workouts. In between weight lifting exercises, run a few laps or ride the lifecycle, then go back to lifting weights. This gets your heart rate up. Also, doing weight reps that use more than one muscle at a time will help you burn calories more efficiently.
If you can only walk, then challenge yourself to walk faster. The body is naturally able to walk, so to get the cardio workout and the calorie burn, you will need to pick up the pace. "Mall" speed won't be enough. Try walking on varying terrain, for example do hills, or walk on park trails. Going cross country or hiking will burn more calories because you have to work harder. And then you can gradually add time. Aerobics classes are good exercise and even better for bonding, but the average class does not burn as many calories as other forms of exerecise.
With any cardio, you have to do strength training as well, because the more muscle mass that you have, the more calories you will burn. Many people, especially women who are afraid of bulking up, will skip strength training all together. Adding two days a week to cardio will make a big difference for overall physical fitness.

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