Weight loss is a function of burning more calories than you consume through exercise, consuming fewer calories than you need to maintain your current weight, or a combination of both. Although dietary changes alone can produce weight-loss results, exercising as a method to burn fat and lose weight promotes a strong, fit body that's generally more capable of staying active through the years and fending off disease and illness. Both cardiovascular and strength-training workouts can burn fat and lead to weight loss.
Walking
Walking is an especially appropriate fat-burning workout if you have a lot of excess weight to lose. Although it’s a weight-bearing exercise, which means it helps build bone density, it’s also a low-impact exercise, so it’s not hard on your knees, hips or ankles. Walking at a brisk pace in 45-minute sessions five days a week would be enough for a previously sedentary person to see results after about a month. A 175-lb. person burns almost 400 calories in an hour of brisk outdoor walking.
Running
Running is the progression from walking or jogging. It burns a lot more calories in the same amount of time. As you become fitter through running, you can increase your pace and burn even more calories. It’s harder on your knees, especially if you only have surfaces like asphalt or concrete to run on. Treadmill running is also an effective way to lose weight, but it’s easier than running outside because the machine’s belt propels you along. Over the course of an hour, a 175-lb. person burns about 1,000 calories running between 7 mph and 8 mph.
Cycling
Cycling, like walking and running, is a workout that allows you to progress by continually increasing your overall speed and building strength against headwind and on hills. It’s a good way to lose pounds if you’re more than a little overweight because it’s not a weight-bearing exercise, so it strengthens the muscles around your knee joints as you drop excess weight. Indoor cycling options include exercise bikes or placing your own bike on a trainer. Outside, a 175-lb. person may burn about 950 calories while averaging 17 mph for one hour. The same person would burn about 630 calories during an hour of averaging about 14 mph.
Circuit Training
Circuit training is a fast-paced strength training workout. Rather than just working your upper body one day and your lower body the next, circuit training has you performing sets of exercises that target your entire body in a single session, with minimal rest between sets. One workout may incorporate dumbbells, calisthenics, weight machines, ball exercises and Plyometrics, or explosive jumps. These workouts are generally shorter because they’re more intense. A 175-lb. person performing a moderately-intense, 45-minute circuit could burn at least 475 calories.
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing burns a lot of calories and could be a major part of your weight-loss program if you enjoy doing it. Ascending requires you to use your entire body in a constant effort. Even when you stop moving, your muscles are engaged to keep you in place. It’s a full-body workout, which is one reason it burns a high number of calories. Like circuit training, you can also strengthen and tone your muscles. If you increase your climbing speed, you’ll get your heart rate up and burn even more calories. During an hour of rock climbing, a 175-lb. person burns approximately 875 calories.
References
- “Optimum Performance Training for the Health and Fitness Professional”; National Academy of Sports Medicine; 2004
- A Calorie Calculator: Calories Burned Calculator
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise For Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour
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