According to many experts, running is one of the simplest and most efficient physical activities. There is no doubt that you can increase heart rate and make your body shred calories fast with this exercise. However, this is not the only effective exercise to lose weight. As a matter of fact, there are many of them that can help you eliminate calories and fat much faster and more efficient than running.
There is another good reason why you should try some a few other exercises for this purpose – running affects the work and condition of our knees. This high-impact exercise puts a lot of pressure on the knees, feet, and thighs. On top of that, running has the ability to burn up to 10 calories in one minute which is not impressive especially when we compare it to some other exercises.
We have created a list of ten exercises that are more efficient than running. With their help, you will lose weight and get fit in no time.
1. Fat Tire Biking
In case you didn’t know, fat tire biking is a specific type of physical activity that requires the use of a bicycle with unusually large tires. Weighty, difficult to handle tires serve as a substitution for regular bicycle tires. That’s why practitioners are able to burn even 1.500 calories in one hour or stunning 25 calories in one minute. This makes fat tire bicycling 2.5 times more effective than running and the best part is that your knees won’t feel a thing.
2. Cross-fit exercise
A standard cross-fit workout session consists of different exercises, but you don’t have to practice all these exercises in order to feel the health benefits. Perform brief research for popular cross-fit exercises and choose the ones that can be practiced in a group. Every exercise should be focused on specific muscle groups in order to get a complete body workout.
3. Burpees
Let’s get straight to the point – with the help of this exercise you will be able to burn between 12 and 14 calories a minute, but in order to achieve that you will need to do ten burpees every minute. If we compare this exercise to running or bicycle sprint, we will notice that they are much more efficient and boosting people’s metabolism, and finally helping them lose those extra pounds.
4. Bike sprints
As we have already mentioned, bicycle sprints may not be as efficient as burpees, but the good news is that they are excellent for individuals who are not very active. Bike sprints represent fast pedaling – so, all you need to do is to pedal as quickly as you can for one minute and after that slow down for a minute or two before continuing. Switch between a regular speed and sprinting speed for at least ten minutes.
5. Kettlebell swing
Now here’s one exercise that can be implemented in every fitness routine. It is good to know that these swings last just a few minutes and they can help people eliminate up to 20 calories in one minute. In addition, you can be out of shape and still perform these exercises without problems. They use the force of momentum.
6. Indoor rowing
This is an excellent workout for eliminating calories. An average individual can eliminate up to 375 calories in half an hour spent on this intense workout. Rowing is activating the muscles located in our arms and in this way you will be able to sculpt and strengthen the muscles in this area and in the shoulders.
7. Jumping rope
If you are looking for an exciting and medium to hard intensity exercise then jumping rope is the exercise that will suit you the best. In case you are able to perform about one hundred skips in one minute, you will be able to burn about 12-13 calories every 60 seconds. Jumping rope activates many more muscles compared to running and you will get a more complete workout.
8. Battle ropes
This is another exercise that will help practitioners burn significantly more calories compared to running. A scientific study conducted not while ago was making a comparison between the battle rope and other similar workouts and found out that battle ropes were the optimal exercise for complete consumption of oxygen.
9. Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a workout practice by many people and they know that this specific workout is more efficient than running. When you are involved in cross-country skiing you are using the same speed as when you are running. However, you burn more calories.
10. Jump squats
This is a very simple workout that eliminates a large number of calories. You will be able to burn 15 calories in just 20 seconds of an intense workout. This is an incredible amount of calorie loss in one minute.
One of the things that you should not forget is that you must incorporate several exercises into your workout routine. If you activate different muscle groups you’ll get better results. In the end, remember to allow some time for muscle recovery.