High calorie-burning exercises are one of the most effective ways to stay fit and energised. They help people lose weight and build strength. Research also suggests that burning calories can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, certain types of cancers, and type 2 diabetes.
Better exercises engage more muscle groups and increase the heart rate, helping burn calories faster. When a person starts exercising, the body first burns glycogen, and only after the glycogen reserves are depleted, does the body starts burning stored fat.
And so, if you are looking for information on which exercises burn more calories, keep reading. In this blog, we’ve discussed 10 high-calorie-burning exercises and the best practices to maximise fat burn.
High Calorie Burning Exercises You Should Try
All high-calorie-burning exercises have a few things in common. They engage multiple muscle groups, increase and maintain the heart rate, and challenge endurance and strength.
By including these exercises, which burn more calories in your workout routine, you will also be able to boost your metabolism, increase muscle and bone strength, and reduce stress.
Running or Jogging
Over 200 muscles and 6 to 7 major muscle groups are engaged during running and jogging. Although the number of calories burned by running depends on various factors, studies have shown that the average person burns about 10 to 16 calories every minute while running.
You could also try different running/jogging styles or variations to burn more calories. Two of the most popular ones that do not have terrain or equipment constraints are:
Tempo runs: Tempo running involves running at a pace faster than jogging but slower than sprinting. And you should be able to sustain it for 20 – 30 minutes or more.
Here’s an estimate of the number of calories burned during tempo running:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned per minute |
| 50 kg | ~9 to 10 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~10 to 11 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~11to 12 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~12to 13 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~13to 14 kcal/min |
Fartlek training: This type of running includes alternating fast and slow running. Fartlek training burns calories fast and is more intense than regular running. Start off by running a particular distance at a fast pace and then jog another fixed distance to recover and keep alternating between fast and slow pace.
Here are some details about the number of calories burned every minute with fartlek training:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned per minute |
| 50 kg | ~7 to 11 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~8 to 12 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~9 to 13 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~10 to 14 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~11 to 15 kcal/min |
Running or jogging routine:
- Beginner: 20 minutes per day with 3 to 4 days/week
- Intermediate: 30 minutes per day with 3 to 4 days/week
- Advanced: 40 – 60 minutes per day with 4 to 5 days/week
Note: Start with a duration that you are comfortable with and then gradually increase the time. You can also try variations to increase calorie expenditure within the same time.
Benefits:
- Burns 10 – 14 calories per minute
- Boosts cardiovascular health
- Effective in reducing fat
- No equipment needed
Jump Rope (Skipping)
If you are looking for exercises to burn calories but don’t always have enough space to run, you should try jumping rope. But if you are starting out, you should first become comfortable with the basic jump before moving onto the more advanced styles like double bounce, criss-cross, boxer step, and double under.
In case you want something more high intensity, try Tabata-style jump ropes which involves 20 seconds of jumping followed by 10 seconds of rest. And depending on your calorie-burning or fat-burning goals, adjust the intensity and rest.
Here’s a table to help you understand the approximate number of calories you can burn while jumping rope:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned (100 skips/ minute) | Calories burned (150 skips/ minute) |
| 50 kg | ~10 to 11 kcal/min | Up to 15 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~12 to 13 kcal/min | Up to 17 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~13 to 15 kcal/min | Up to 18 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~15 to 16 kcal/min | Up to 21 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~16 to 17 kcal/min | Up to 23 kcal/min |
Jump Rope (Skipping) routine:
- Beginner: 5 sets of 50 reps, 3 days per week
- Intermediate: 6 sets of 80 reps, 3 to 4 days per week
- Advanced: 8 to 10 sets of 120 reps, 4 to 5 days per week
Note: Start off by keeping track of the number of reps you can do comfortably. Then, gradually add more reps and sets. If you can do the basic jump easily, try to increase the difficulty level.
Benefits:
- Burns 10 – 17 calories per minute
- Enhances agility and stamina
- Easy to learn and practice daily
- Great as a fat-burning exercise
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
High-Intensity Interval Training or HIIT, is very popular. It’s effective in burning calories and fat. And the best part is that almost all exercises can have HIIT versions.
Another advantage of HIIT that makes it a great choice to burn calories and fat is the ‘afterburn effect’. It means that your body continues to burn fat even after you have finished your workout. The fat-burning effect can continue for the entire day as your body repairs muscle tissues.
To enjoy the calorie-burning benefits of HIIT, perform your exercise of choice with high intensity and then follow it up with a period of low intensity (50% intensity) exercise. Apart from helping burn calories, HIIT also improves cardiovascular health, stamina, endurance, and metabolism.
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) routine:
- Beginner: 5 sets of 50 reps, 3 days per week
- Intermediate: 6 sets of 80 reps, 3 to 4 days per week
- Advanced: 8 – 10 sets of 120 reps, 4 to 5 days per week
Benefits:
- Burns 11 – 18 calories per minute
- Builds lean muscle and endurance
- Perfect for short, busy workouts
- Boosts metabolism and burns fat all day
Cycling (Outdoor or Stationary)
Cycling primarily engages the lower body. Despite that, it is one of the top calorie-burning exercises. Cycling is also a great choice to burn calories, irrespective of whether you do it outdoors or indoors on a stationary equipment. However, compared to stationary cycling, outdoor cycling at the same intensity burns more calories. This is because of factors like varying terrain, resistance from wind, and the need to maintain balance in outdoor cycling.
Here’s a table on the calories you can burn while cycling:
| Body weight (kilo) | Calories burned (10-12 kmph) | Calories burned (16-19 kmph) | Calories burned (20+ kmph) |
| 50 kg | ~4 to 5 kcal/min | ~6 to 7 kcal/min | ~8 to 9 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~5 to 6 kcal/min | ~7 to 8 kcal/min | ~9 to 11 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~6 to 7 kcal/min | ~8 to 9 kcal/min | ~11 to 13 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~7 to 8 kcal/min | ~10 to 11 kcal/min | ~13 to 15 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~8 to 9 kcal/min | ~11 to 13 kcal/min | ~15 to 17 kcal/min |
Three of the most popular variations (stationary and outdoor) of cycling you can try to burn fat are:
Intensity cycling training: This involves alternating periods of high and low intensity cycling. This is especially effective in burning calories because of the alternating intensity of the workout.
Endurance rides: These are mainly long rides without too much variation in intensity. Although not as effective in burning fat as intensity training, endurance rides help build stamina and aerobic capacity while reducing calories.
Strength rides: Strength rides are a great option if you are looking to burn calories and build strength in your lower body. Strength rides involve cycling at higher resistance levels to burn fat and build muscles.
Cycling Routine:
- Beginner: 20 – 30 minutes, 3 days/week at a steady pace
- Intermediate: 30 – 45 minutes, 4 days/week with moderate intensity or intervals
- Advanced: 45 – 60 minutes, 5 days/week with varied speed/resistance or hill training
Note: Track your resistance and push yourself gradually. Use HIIT cycling or uphill sprints to burn more calories in less time.
Benefits:
- Burns 8 -14 calories per minute
- Strengthens the lower body and improves stamina
- Low impact on joints
- Great for endurance and fat loss
Swimming
Swimming works your entire body while being easy on your joints. Every stroke activates multiple muscle groups and burns calories, tones muscles, and increases lung capacity.
Swimming helps burn calories in a very different way when compared to other exercises. It helps burn fat through aerobic activity, muscle engagement, and water resistance. An average person can burn over 640 calories every hour with freestyle swimming.
It’s ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels.
Top 3 strokes that burn the most calories:
- Butterfly
- Freestyle (Front crawl)
- Breaststroke
Swimming Routine:
- Beginner: 20 minutes/session, 3 days/week (freestyle or breaststroke)
- Intermediate: 30 – 45 minutes/session, 4 days/week with stroke variations
- Advanced: 45 – 60 minutes/session, 5 days/week with interval laps and drills
Note: Focus on technique and breathing. Try alternating between fast and recovery laps for a HIIT-style swim to maximise.
Benefits:
- Burns 10 – 16 calories per minute
- Full-body muscle activation
- Improves cardiovascular and lung function
Here’s some information on the number of calories you can burn by swimming:
| Body weight (kg) | Butterfly (kcal/min) | Freestyle (kcal/min) | Breaststroke (kcal/min) |
| 50 kg | ~9 | ~7 | ~5.5 |
| 60 kg | ~11 | ~8 | ~6.6 |
| 70 kg | ~13 | ~9.8 | ~7 |
| 80 kg | ~15 | ~11 | ~8 |
| 90 kg | ~17 | ~12.6 | ~9.5 |
Burpees
Burpees are one of the most challenging bodyweight exercises with exceptional calorie-burning potential. This compound movement combines a squat, push-up, and explosive jump into one fluid sequence. These are full-body movements that burn calories fast. The average person burns over 15 calories per minute during continuous burpee performance.
The exercise requires strength, cardiovascular fitness, and coordination. Burpees are so effective that military organisations worldwide incorporate them into their training programs. The movement pattern mimics the real-world demands of getting down and up repeatedly.
To perform burpees, you don’t require any equipment. And it’s very easy to add it to any workout. Also, you can include different variations to this exercise to suit your calorie-burning goals.
Burpees Routine:
- Beginner: 3 sets of 10 reps, 3 days/week
- Intermediate: 4 – 5 sets of 12 – 15 reps, 4 days/week
- Advanced: 5 – 6 sets of 20 reps, 5 days/week or in Tabata format (20s on/10s rest)
Note: When starting out, prioritise form over speed. Add variations with push-ups or dumbbells for more resistance if you’re advanced.
Benefits:
- Burns 10 – 15 calories per minute
- Improves core, arms, and legs
- Great for quick home workouts
- Boosts endurance and speed
Here are details about the number of calories you can burn by doing burpees:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned per minute |
| 50 kg | ~7 to 8 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~9 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~10 to 11 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~11 to 12 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~13 to 14 kcal/min |
Kickboxing
Kickboxing workouts deliver exceptional calorie burn while teaching practical self-defence skills. It also helps in developing coordination and balance.
A typical kickboxing session burns 600 – 800 calories per hour through combinations of punches, kicks, and defensive movements. The constant motion keeps heart rates elevated throughout. Many enthusiasts report stress relief benefits from the powerful striking movements.
Kickboxing benefits:
- Develops functional strength with real-world applications
- Builds coordination between the upper and lower body
- Improves reaction time and reflexes
Beginners should focus on proper form before adding speed or power. Quality instruction and guidance are also crucial to prevent potential injury and ensure maximum effectiveness.
Here are a few details on the number of calories you can expect to burn every minute with kickboxing workouts:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned per minute |
| 50 kg | ~8.8 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~10.5 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~12.3 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~14 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~15.8 kcal/min |
Zumba or Dance Workouts
If you are looking for ways to burn calories indoors, Zumba and other dance-based workouts are something you should absolutely try. These workout sessions are enjoyable alternatives that don’t feel like traditional exercise. In one hour-long session, you can expect to burn 400 – 600 calories.
Zumba incorporate both high and low-impact movements that accommodate various fitness levels. The music element provides motivation and helps participants maintain pace. If you enjoy dancing, it’s very likely that you’ll find Zumba sessions more sustainable in the long term due to the fun factor.
Zumba Routine:
- Beginner: 25 – 30 minutes, 2 to 3 days/week
- Intermediate: 45 minutes, 3 to 4 days/week
- Advanced: 60 minutes or more, 5 days/week
Note: If you are a beginner, focus on learning basic moves before worrying about perfect execution because calorie burn will happen regardless of choreographic perfection.
Zumba workout benefits:
- Develops coordination and spatial awareness
- Improves mood through rhythmic movement and music
- Accommodates modifications for different fitness levels
Here’s a table on how many calories you can burn with Zumba sessions:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned per minute |
| 50 kg | ~7 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~8.4 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~9.8 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~11 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~12.6 kcal/min |
Stair Climbing
Stair climbing is another exercise that has remarkable calorie-burning efficiency. Along with fat loss, it also helps in building lower-body strength. This is one of those exercises that you can do at home without any equipment and still burn at least 300 calories per hour.
Stair climbing primarily targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. The vertical movement pattern creates greater resistance than level ground activities, and the stabilisation requirements also engage core muscles in your body.
Stair Climbing Routine:
- Beginner: 20 – 30 minutes per day, 2 days/week
- Intermediate: 40 minutes per day, 3 days/week
- Advanced: 50 – 60 minutes per day, 4 days/week
Note: Wear proper footwear as it will help provide necessary support for joint protection.
Advantages of stair climbing:
- Minimal time requirement for significant benefits
- Builds functional strength for everyday activities
- Improves bone density through controlled impact
Here’s a chart on how many calories you can burn with a stair climbing routine:
| Body weight (kg) | Calories burned per minute |
| 50 kg | ~7 kcal/min |
| 60 kg | ~9.2 kcal/min |
| 70 kg | ~10 kcal/min |
| 80 kg | ~12 kcal/min |
| 90 kg | ~14 kcal/min |
Rowing (Machine or Water)
Many fitness experts consider rowing the most complete exercise available. It is quite popular among those looking to burn calories and strengthen core muscles as it activates 86% of the body’s muscles.
A high-intensity rowing session burns about 10 to 16 calories every minute. The pulling pattern balances pushing movements from other common exercises.
This exercise develops impressive back strength and helps address common postural issues from sedentary lifestyles. The sliding seat on rowing machines enables full-body engagement without putting pressure on the joints.
Rowing Routine:
- Beginner: 20 minutes per day, 3 days/week
- Intermediate: 40 – 45 minutes per day, 4 days/week
- Advanced: 50 – 60 minutes per day, 5 days/week
Note: Form is very important, and so beginners should look for guided instruction. This will help prevent injuries and get the most out of each session.
Rowing benefits
- Burns 10 – 13 calories per minute
- Great for full-body engagement
- Lower risk of injury
- Enhances posture and endurance
Which Exercise Burns the Most Calories?
Running and HIIT consistently top the list of exercises that burn more calories during active participation. Compound movements utilising multiple large muscle groups create the greatest metabolic demand.
The body’s recovery requirements also generate significant post-exercise calorie burning. Studies have shown that a combination of sprint and HIIT can burn up to 900 calories per hour. This indicates that exercises combining both strength and cardiovascular elements maximise calorie expenditure. However, the intensity level ultimately matters more than the specific exercise selection.
To burn more calories, it would be best to combine several high-intensity options throughout the week. This strategy prevents adaptation plateaus and reduces injury risk.
Factors affecting calorie burn include:
- Individual body composition and weight
- Exercise intensity and duration
- Technical proficiency with the movement
- Fitness level and adaptation status
- Environmental factors like temperature and humidity
Here is a breakdown of the estimated number of calories burned for each of these exercises, along with their calorie burn efficiency rating.
| Exercise | Calories burned (kcal/min) | Efficiency rating |
| Running or Jogging | 10.8 to 16 | Extremely high |
| Jump Rope | 12 to 16.5 | Extremely high |
| HIIT | 10 to 15 | Extremely high |
| Cycling | 7 to 13 | High |
| Swimming | 6 to 16 | Extremely high |
| Burpees | 10 to 15 | High |
| Kickboxing | 8 to 12 | High |
| Zumba/Dance workouts | 6.5 to 10 | High |
| Stair Climbing | 8 to 11 | High |
| Rowing (Machine/Water) | 7 to 12 | High |
Best Practices to Maximise Fat Burn from Workouts
To maximise fat burn from workouts, combine cardiovascular exercises such as running, cycling, or swimming with strength training. While cardio elevates your heart rate and burns calories, strength training builds muscle, which increases your resting metabolic rate. This will allow you to burn more fat even at rest. Maintaining workout intensity is also crucial.
Consistency and progressive overload are also key to sustained fat loss. Try to work out for at least 150 – 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 – 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week and gradually increase workout duration, intensity, or resistance to increase calorie expenditure. Adequate recovery, including proper rest and sleep, supports muscle repair and hormonal balance, both of which are vital for effective fat loss. Overtraining can hinder progress and increase the risk of injury.
Also, it is important to support your workouts with balanced nutrition. Exercise alone is not enough for fat loss; a calorie-controlled diet focused on whole foods, adequate protein, and proper hydration creates the optimal environment for shedding fat.
Conclusion
High-calorie-burning exercises, when performed consistently, can be a great way to reach your fitness goals. Regular workout sessions offer benefits that are far greater than mere calorie expenditure.
These exercises improve cardiovascular health, build functional strength, and enhance overall quality of life.
Starting with modest expectations and gradually building intensity creates sustainable habits. This journey toward fitness thrives on consistency rather than perfection, so keep exercising regularly to progress towards long-term health goals.
More on high calorie burning exercises
What exercise burns the most calories?
The exercise that burns the most calories is running with HIIT. This mixed workout tops the calorie-burning charts. The highest calorie expenditure comes from activities using the largest muscle groups at maximum intensity. Sprint intervals can also burn up to 18 calories per minute during maximum effort phases.
How can I burn 1,000 calories a day?
To burn 1,000 extra calories daily, combine several activities. A morning 45-minute run (500 calories) paired with an evening strength training session (300 calories) provides a solid foundation. Adding active transportation like cycling commuting (200 calories) completes the target. This approach requires a significant time commitment and proper recovery strategies, including nutrition and sleep.
What 30-minute exercise burns the most calories?
HIIT workouts burn a lot of calories within 30-minute timeframes. A properly structured compound session should include exercises like burpees, mountain climbers, and kettlebell swings. Research shows these workouts can burn 300 to 450 calories within 30 minutes. The metabolic activities resulting from these exercises continue burning calories for hours after the workout sessions through excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.
Can I burn 500 calories in 30 minutes?
Yes, burning 500 calories in 30 minutes is possible for individuals with developed fitness capacities. Elite runners maintain paces burning 500+ calories per half hour. Rowing sprints and assault bike intervals similarly achieve this threshold for conditioned athletes. Average fitness enthusiasts typically require 45 to 60 minutes to reach this calorie expenditure level through high-intensity exercises.
