What Exercise Burns the Most Calories?
If you are looking to use exercise to help burn calories, then you have come to the right place. There are many great exercises or sports you can use, but we have done the research for you to help you understand what exercise burns the most calories.
Before we get into the detail, it is important to note that the exact number of calories you burn with any type of exercise depends on a few variables, including:
- Duration
- Intensity
- Your current weight
- The environment in which you exercise
To give you a fair representation, we look at each exercise and sport from a ‘calories burnt per hour’ perspective and split this out into a range of starting weights so you can consider the calorie burn closest to your personal circumstances.
We also assume the same level of ‘average’ intensity for each sport. If you work yourself harder you will burn more calories, if you are lazy with it you will burn less.
The Exercises that Burn the Most Calories
(SCROLL TABLE ACROSS ON MOBILE)
Table shows estimated number of calories burned per hour for constant exercise.
Exercise | Your Bodyweight | ||||
60kg (132lbs) | 70kg (154lbs) | 80kg (176lbs) | 90kg (198lbs) | 100kg (220lbs) | |
Cross Fit | 738 | 861 | 984 | 1107 | 1230 |
High Intensity Training | 720 | 840 | 960 | 1080 | 1200 |
Running (10 minute mile) | 718 | 838 | 957 | 1077 | 1197 |
Jump Rope (100 jumps p/m) | 712 | 831 | 949 | 1068 | 1187 |
Squash (Raquetball) | 702 | 819 | 936 | 1053 | 1170 |
Soccer (full pitch) | 674 | 786 | 899 | 1011 | 1123 |
Kickboxing | 620 | 723 | 827 | 930 | 1033 |
Tennis (singles) | 614 | 716 | 819 | 921 | 1023 |
American Football | 610 | 712 | 813 | 915 | 1017 |
Basketball (full court) | 580 | 677 | 773 | 870 | 967 |
Climbing Stairs (60 p/m) | 578 | 674 | 771 | 867 | 963 |
Swimming | 542 | 632 | 723 | 813 | 903 |
Circuit Training | 540 | 630 | 720 | 810 | 900 |
Jumping Jacks | 538 | 628 | 717 | 807 | 897 |
Cycling (6 minute mile) | 505 | 589 | 673 | 758 | 842 |
Calisthenics | 502 | 586 | 669 | 753 | 837 |
Rowing Machine (150 watts) | 480 | 560 | 640 | 720 | 800 |
Hiking | 476 | 555 | 635 | 714 | 793 |
Push Ups | 420 | 490 | 560 | 630 | 700 |
Jogging (15 minute mile) | 404 | 471 | 539 | 606 | 673 |
Squats | 402 | 469 | 536 | 603 | 670 |
Which Exercise Should You Use to Burn Calories?
The answer to this is not as simple as picking the top of the list in the table above. There are a number of factors that will affect how many calories you lose in reality. These include:
- How feasible each exercise is for you
- Whether you have access to these activities
- How long you can maintain each exercise for
- How much you enjoy each exercise
- The environment that you exercise under (heat/humidity etc.)
It is unlikely for example that you will be able to maintain jump rope, climbing stairs or push ups non-stop for 1 hour, however you may be able to run or play soccer for an hour, particularly if this is an activity that you enjoy.
So how do you decide which exercise to use to burn calories? Well first of all, doing any of these exercises is better than not doing any. Being active on a consistent basis is the key to burning calories in the long run, particularly if used for weight management.
Our recommendation when picking an exercise is to go with the ones that you enjoy the most. It’s healthy to have a variety so you don’t need to stick to just one.
Variety will stop you getting bored and you keep your body on its toes. Try taking up at least two or three and ideally make sufficient time for them each week.
Enjoyment is more likely to lead to consistency and team activities also give you social benefits, the importance of which shouldn’t be underestimated.
Resources for Each Calorie Burning Exercise
We like to make things easier for you, so we have put together a list of resources for most of the listed exercise and sports that might be useful for you to know.
CrossFit Resources
For information about Cross Fit and help finding an affiliate visit this site.
For a good video introduction to CrossFit follow this link
For Cross fit inspiration check out Rich Froning and Sam Briggs
HIIT Training Resources
To understand exactly what HIIT training is visit here and also this wiki page
Try testing yourself with this brutal HIIT ladder workout
For high intensity inspiration and workouts take a look at hittburn
Running Resources
For a wealth of information about running, visit Runners World
For forums, training logs and information about races visit Fetch Everyone
A great online magazine is Ultra Running
For running challenges and competitions take a look at Konkura
For running inspiration look at instarunners
Jump Rope Resources
For a great beginner’s video follow this link
For jump rope inspiration check out officialjumpropedudes
To see what advanced jump rope can look like then check this video out
Squash Resources
The official site of the World Squash Federation is worldsquash.org
To find your local squash league visit squashleagues.org
For the Professional Squash Association and the PSA World Tour its psaworldtour.com and for inspiration check out their Instagram page psaworldtour
Football (soccer) Resources
For global information on the world of football, start with FIFA’s website
To play amateur soccer in the UAE, join a club or to book a pitch the best site is dubaifootball.com
To help hone your football skills look at this 5 basic football skills to learn video
You are spoilt for choice for football inspiration, but one of our favorite football Instagram pages is soccerbible.
You also can’t go wrong with the Instagram profile’s of Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi
Kickboxing Resources
The global governing body for kickboxing is WAKO
For information about kickboxing in UAE start with the Muay Thai and kickboxing federation
For a video on the basic principles of kickboxing follow this kickboxing video link
For a great kickboxing workout, watch this 30 minute cardio kickboxing workout video
For kickboxing inspiration check out glorykickboxing
Tennis Resources
The global governing body is the International Tennis Federation
The official site of men’s professional tennis is atptour.com
To look for tennis partners, leagues and tournaments look at globaltennisnetwork.com
Watch this great beginner’s tennis video
For inspiration from a tennis legend look at Roger Federer’s Instagram
American Football Resources
The governing body for American Football is IFAF
The professional league is the NFL
For a beginner’s guide to the rules of American Football you can look at this American Football video
To play American Football in the UAE, start by visiting the website of the Emirates American Football League
For inspiration visit the Instagram profiles of Tom Brady and Odell Beckham Jr
Basketball Resources
The world governing body for basketball is FIBA
The national league in the US is the NBA
For basketball in the UAE visit basketballhubdubai.com
For a great video on beginner’s basketball drills, follow this basketball video link
For inspiration take a look at the Instagram pages of Hoops Nation and LeBron James
Stair Climbing Resources
For a popular stairs workouts, look at this savage stair workout video
Also try the workout on this stair workout video
A website that is dedicated to stair climbing is teamstariclimb.com
Swimming Resources
The global governing body for swimming is FINA
For swimming in the UAE look at the UAE Swimming Federation
You can find a good video for tips to improve your swimming on this swimming video link
For swimming inspiration check out Swimming World Mag and MySwimPro
Circuit Training Resources
For information about exactly what circuit training is, visit the circuit training wiki page
To get you started, check out this example 20 minute circuit workout
For inspiration and ideas look at thedesailifestyle and curtiswilliams17
Jumping Jacks Resources
For a quick video that shows the correct technique to perform jumping jack look at this jumping jacks video
Here is another jumping jacks video with tips from a physiotherapist
Cycling Resources
The world governing body of cycling is the UCI
You can find information about the UAE National Road Cycling Championship here
This is the site for the first UAE world cycling team
For a list of cycling tracks in the UAE visit this page on the RTA website
This is a video to help you avoid common cycling mistakes
For inspiration, take a look at behindhandlebars
Calisthenics Resources
For a wealth of information look at the World Calisthenics Organization
Another great calisthenics organization is the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation
A good place for learning calisthenics in Dubai is the Gravity Calisthenics Gym
For great workout videos and inspiration look at the Calisthenic Kingz website and also the calisthenicsking Instagram page
Rowing Machine Resources
For information about indoor rowing check out this page on worldrowing.com
To buy a rowing machine in the UAE you can look at Aerofit and Active Fitness Store
Follow this link for a video on how to use a rowing machine
Here is a great beginners rowing workout video
Hiking Resources
A great all-round hiking resource is AllTrails
Here is a link to 5 hiking trails to try in the UAE
This is a useful list of essentials you should take for hiking
For great hiking inspiration, check out hikingbangers Instagram
Push Up Resources
Watch this video to learn how to do the perfect push up
To learn 30 different types of push ups watch this video on 30 push up variations
For more inspirations, check out madbarz on Instagram
Squats Resources
For great beginner’s advice watch this video on how to do a squat correctly
Here is a solid leg workout without weights
If you are more interested in squatting with weights then watch this video on how to squat with perfect technique
Another alternative is this video on how to squat properly
We hope you have found this post on what exercise burns the most calories helpful. For a holistic view on wellness you can also visit our main wellness blog which is full of more information and resources.
As always, we welcome your comments and questions using our box below.