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What Exercise Burns The Most Calories?

At it’s very basic level whether you gain weight or you lose it comes down to calories in versus calories out. Here at Fit Desk Jockey we even built a pretty nifty calorie calculator that can help you figure out how many calories you should be consuming daily to reach your fitness goals. Relatively minimal changes, for example 100 to 500 calories per day, have the power to change your body and your life in amazing ways. Believe that!

Consistency is key.

One of my favorite fitness quotes to live by is from Will Brink of Bodybuilding Revealed, “Total calories dictate how much you lose or gain, and macro nutrient types and ratios dictate what you lose or gain.” That is to say that losing weight can be as easy as eating less, but losing weight can also mean losing muscle, which is typically not a result for which most people are looking. While you’re eating less you still need to be sure that your getting the nutrients that your body needs to perform at its optimum level. Think quality over quantity.

“Ah, crap I ate an entire bag of chips again.”

It’s important to remember that it’s virtually impossible to exercise your way out of a crappy diet (believe me I’ve tried more than once). That being said, unless one of your goals is to become the next fitness model, a little slip up once in awhile is not the death of your fitness goals and dreams.

Unless you’re AMAZINGLY committed, chances are you’re going to have those days when you allow yourself to indulge a little more than you should, call them holidays, parties, or just Tuesday evening after a particularly rough day at the office. It’s those days that often leave you scrambling the next morning for the best exercise to burn off the excess and get back on your fitness track.

But what exercises are the best calorie burners?

There are several variables, or factors that play a role in how many calories you’ll burn with any given exercise.

The four basic variables are:

  1. Your weight
  2. The activity you select
  3. The duration of your selected activity
  4. The intensity at which you perform this activity

Below is a graphic showing the amount of calories you’ll burn for some of the most common exercises.

A List of Exercises That Burn The Most Calories

For me there’s nothing like a good Spin class to burn off a crap load of calories, but I’ve recently started to add more running to my workouts too, with the intention of completing my first half marathon this summer.

So what’s your favorite calorie torching weapon (exercise) of choice? Leave it in the comments section below and burn on!

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