4. Weight-Bearing Cardio Workouts
Another way to burn more calories is to participate in activities that are weight-bearing and involve more muscle fibers. Typical Weight-bearing activities include:
- Walking
- Running
- Stairclimbing
- Tennis
- Soccer
- Step-aerobics
- Kickboxing
- Dancing
- Hiking
When you engage in weight-bearing exercises, gravity works against you which requires your body to work harder and, thus, expend more energy. Similarly, activities that involve the entire body (like cross-country skiing) will usually burn more calories than activities that use fewer muscle groups (like cycling or doing a bicep curl). You can also add hills or incline to your cardio workouts...walking or running up an incline will require your body to expend more energy than flat terrain. For more, check out 5 Ways to Add Intensity.
Does this mean that non-weight-bearing exercises like swimming or cycling are useless? Not at all. While you'll typically expend fewer calories during those types of activities, there are some benefits - not as much repetitive stress on the joints and longer workouts because your body can better tolerate that kind of training.
When choosing activities, don't feel like you have to pick the hardest one. Instead, start with an activity you like and go from there. You can always add other cross-training activities over time, which is a great way to work the body in different ways and protect you from injuries. The best exercise is the one you enjoy the most...that's the one you'll do more often and work harder at.
For workout ideas, check out this list of Cardio Workouts for all levels of exercisers.
Sources:
La Forge, Ralph. "Exercise Determinants of Weight Loss." ACE Certified News: August/September 2006. 18 Mar. 2007.
Next Page: Don't Overcompensate for your Workouts
