If you’re participating in steady cardio, running is the best exercise for burning calories and thus helping you to lose fat. However, if you instead incorporate running into an interval workout, you will burn even more. To lose fat, you’ve got to burn more calories than you consume, so the more calories your workout burns, the better. How many calories your workout will end up burning, no matter what exercise you’re doing, is partly dependent on the intensity at which you perform that particular activity.
Calories Burned Running
How fast you run and how much you weigh will impact the number of calories you burn. According to MayoClinic.com, if a 160-pound person runs for 30 minutes at 5 mph, he will burn about 303 calories. If he picks up the pace and runs at 8 mph, he will burn about 430 calories during a 30-minute workout. A 200-pound person running at 5 mph will burn about 378 calories in 30 minutes and about 537 calories if running at 8 mph.
Interval Training
Interval training burns more calories than running. While most running workouts involve keeping a steady pace at a moderate intensity throughout your entire session, interval training involves bouts of high-intensity activity followed by rest or low-intensity activity. For example, sprint all out for 60 to 90 seconds and then rest for 60 to 90 seconds. Continue in this manner until you’ve completed four to six sets of sprints. If you don’t want to sprint, you can do any type of exercise for the high intensity bout, such as jump rope or burpees. You can even incorporate the interval structure on a stationary cardio machine such as biking or riding an elliptical machine.
Fat-Loss Benefits of Interval Training
According to Bodybuilding.com, because you’re working out at a higher intensity when doing interval workouts, you’re burning an overall greater number of calories. As demonstrated in the calories burned when running, the harder and more intense you work out, the more calories you burn. If 8 mph is your sprinting speed, you’re burning more calories than if you kept a steady pace at 5 mph. In addition, interval training causes an increase in metabolic rate for hours after you’re done with your workout. The higher-intensity exercises force your body to have to do more to recover, including restoring glycogen and repairing damaged muscle tissue. Therefore, an interval workout burns more overall calories than a steady run.
Jumping Rope
If you prefer to participate in steady, moderate-intensity cardio, but want to do something other than running, you can also get a quality calorie-burning workout with a jump rope. According to MayoClinic.com’s calorie calculator, jumping rope burns the same number of calories as running. American Athlete Mag adds that jumping rope is lower impact than running and thus can be better for those who are worried about damage to their ankles, knees, hips and back from running.
Calories Burned Running
How fast you run and how much you weigh will impact the number of calories you burn. According to MayoClinic.com, if a 160-pound person runs for 30 minutes at 5 mph, he will burn about 303 calories. If he picks up the pace and runs at 8 mph, he will burn about 430 calories during a 30-minute workout. A 200-pound person running at 5 mph will burn about 378 calories in 30 minutes and about 537 calories if running at 8 mph.
Interval Training
Interval training burns more calories than running. While most running workouts involve keeping a steady pace at a moderate intensity throughout your entire session, interval training involves bouts of high-intensity activity followed by rest or low-intensity activity. For example, sprint all out for 60 to 90 seconds and then rest for 60 to 90 seconds. Continue in this manner until you’ve completed four to six sets of sprints. If you don’t want to sprint, you can do any type of exercise for the high intensity bout, such as jump rope or burpees. You can even incorporate the interval structure on a stationary cardio machine such as biking or riding an elliptical machine.
Fat-Loss Benefits of Interval Training
According to Bodybuilding.com, because you’re working out at a higher intensity when doing interval workouts, you’re burning an overall greater number of calories. As demonstrated in the calories burned when running, the harder and more intense you work out, the more calories you burn. If 8 mph is your sprinting speed, you’re burning more calories than if you kept a steady pace at 5 mph. In addition, interval training causes an increase in metabolic rate for hours after you’re done with your workout. The higher-intensity exercises force your body to have to do more to recover, including restoring glycogen and repairing damaged muscle tissue. Therefore, an interval workout burns more overall calories than a steady run.
Jumping Rope
If you prefer to participate in steady, moderate-intensity cardio, but want to do something other than running, you can also get a quality calorie-burning workout with a jump rope. According to MayoClinic.com’s calorie calculator, jumping rope burns the same number of calories as running. American Athlete Mag adds that jumping rope is lower impact than running and thus can be better for those who are worried about damage to their ankles, knees, hips and back from running.