Exercising increases your metabolism, your body's ability to burn calories quickly. The best calorie-burning exercises are continuous exercises, which are called aerobic exercises, according to weight-loss studies as well as exercise experts such as Dr. Kenneth Cooper and Dr. Dean Ornish. These exercises also improve your fitness more than stop-and-start exercises, which are called anaerobic exercises. Burning 3,500 calories equals burning 1 lb.
Running
Running at three fast speeds is tied for first, third and fourth in weight loss among about 150 activities in a "Harvard Heart Letter" report. Running 10 mph, which means running 6-minute miles, burns 1,466 calories per hour in 185-lb. people and 1,228 calories in 155-lb. people. Running 7- and 8-minute miles burns 1,078 and 930 calories per hour in 155-lb. people. Ornish estimates that average runners burn 100 calories per mile. He also urges people embarking on a program of running or other strenuous exercises to consult their physician first.
Bicycling
Bicycling is the second-best calorie-burning exercise. Bicycling more than 20 mph and bicycling 16 to 19 mph ranks tied for second and tied for fifth in the Harvard study. A 155-lb. person burns an average of 1,228 calories per hour bicycling more than 20 mph and 992 calories per hour bicycling 16 to 19 mph.
Cross-country Skiing
Cross-country skiing wasn't analyzed by Harvard, but a study of about 175 exercises by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services reports that only running and bicycling fast burn more calories. A 155-lb. person burns 1,161 calories per hour cross-country skiing uphill and 985 calories per hour skiing more than 8 mph. In addition, Cooper ranks cross-country skiing as the best exercise for improving fitness. The college textbook "An Invitation to Health" also ranks it as among the best for fitness.
Speed Skating
Speed skating is the fourth best calorie-burning exercise. Competitive speed skating burns 1,056 calories per hour in 155-lb. people. Other kinds of ice skating burn significantly fewer calories, but the sport is still a good weight-loss exercise. Skating more than 9 mph burns 633 calories per hour in 155-lb. people.
Other Top 10
Boxing, canoeing, handball, jai alai, squash and stationary rowing on an exercise machine are tied for fifth through 10th as calorie-burning exercises. They all burn 844 calories per hour in 155-lb. people, according to the Wisconsin report. Two exercises that finished slightly outside of the top 10, swimming and stationary bicycling, are also excellent weight-loss exercises. Cooper ranks swimming and stationary bicycling as among the top six exercises for fitness along with running, walking, cross-country skiing and outdoor bicycling. Stationary bicycling is also the top calorie-burning gym activity, according to the Harvard report.
References
- "Harvard Heart Letter"; Calories Burned in 30 Minutes for People of Three Weights; July 2004
- State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services: Calories Burned Per Hour
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease"; Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "Start Strong, Finish Strong: Prescriptions for a Lifetime of Great Health"; Kenneth H. Cooper, et al.; 2007
- "An Invitation to Health"; Dianne Hales; 2010
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