Jogging is a cheap way to exercise that allows you to enjoy the great outdoors, but let’s be honest: it’s tiresome (in every sense of the word). If you are looking for something so fun it inspires you to push yourself (be that boxing or speed-eating Messina on the sofa), check out these snappy workouts.
Boxing should be first on your radar (and not just because of Conor McGregor and that suit). According to research from supplement brand Forza, boxing tops the list of workouts that burn the most calories. One hour in the ring can incinerate a whopping 800 calories.
What makes boxing such an effective way to exercise? It’s a workout that recruits the entire body, meaning it engages multiple muscle groups at once time. It also involves repeated bursts of intense activity, which effectively makes it an extreme form of interval training.
Squash clocked in second at 748 calories burned per hour, beating out other racquet sports because its rallies tend to last longer and there are fewer breaks between points. Players spend a high percentage of their time sprinting, striking, lunging, and twisting, which builds muscular strength, boosts endurance, and increases flexibility.
The top 10 workouts that burn the most calories are:
- Boxing (800/hr)
- Squash (748/hr)
- Rowing on a lake or river (740/hr)
- Road running at a fast or medium pace (700/hr)
- Swimming – front crawl or butterfly (680/hr)
- Rugby (614/hr)
- Football (612/hr)
- Road cycling at a fast pace (604/hr)
- Gym exercise – weights or cardio (590/hr)
- Running on a treadmill (580/hr)
There are also some, shall we say, creative activities you might never have considered incorporating into your fitness regime. Playing the piano burns 100 calories per hour and birdwatching (or, presumably, the act of standing still breathing) burns 101 calories in an hour. Meanwhile having sex will torch 200 calories per hour.
During sex you burn as much calories as running for 8 kilometers. Who the f*** runs 8 kilometers in 30 seconds?
— Bob Kostic (@causticbob) July 10, 2018
For those of us that are always late: good news. Running up stairs can burn almost 300 more calories than running on flat ground (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise), which works out to be 852 calories per hour.
More chill activities to consider are having a bath: 35 calories per hour and watching TV while standing up: 20 calories per hour. Unfortunately for most of us though, watching TV while on the sofa will lose you a grand total of 0 calories per hour…
If you’re looking to shed and shred as efficiently as possible, check out the coolest boxing gyms in Melbourne and Sydney.
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