The fastest, safest way to lose weight quickly involves a healthy diet and exercise. While all exercise is good, some activities burn more calories resulting in faster weight loss. It is possible to burn 300 to 500 calories during a half-hour workout if you exercise at the right intensity. For best weight loss results, exercise 30 minutes or more five days a week.
Gym Workouts
The Harvard Medical School's health publication ranks the stationary bicycle at the top of it's list for burning the most calories in a gym. Riding at a vigorous pace burns 315 to 466 calories during a 30-minute workout. High impact step aerobics ranks high as well burning 300 to 444 calories per half-hour. The number of calories you burn will vary depending on your weight and the intensity of your effort.
Outdoor Workouts
Running between an eight and six-minute miles burns from 375 to 733 calories putting it at the top of Harvard's health publication list for sport and training activities. Second is bicycling at 20-miles per hour, which burns 495 to 733 calories. If you can't run or cycle at those paces, even a slower speed burns several hundred calories. To avoid the impact of running, try rollerblading, which according to the Mayo Clinic, burns 913 to 1,363 calories per hour.
Interval Training
Studies on interval training suggest that it can burn more calories than sustained aerobic activity. Interval training alternates between high and low intensity exercises, such as sprinting for a minute and jogging for a minute. Many sports offer the same benefits as interval training because of the short bursts of high intensity mixed with lower intensity exertion, such as tennis and basketball. An additional benefit of interval training is that you can exercise for a shorter period of time and still burn many calories.
Build Muscle
Strength exercises don't burn as many calories during the workout, however they build muscle, which increases your resting metabolic rate. A higher metabolic resting rate results in more calorie burn all day long. Several muscle building exercises, such as squats and lunges can increase the heart rate adding additional calorie burn during your workout. Strength training should involve all major muscles in the legs, core, shoulders and arms and be performed at least two non-consecutive days a week.
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