Who hasn’t been faced with the question of which sport is the best for losing weight? We will tell you how many kcal the respective type of training consumes and what you use to burn the most calories.
We Germans are lazy. We sit in the office, we sit in the car, we sit on the train – and we also mostly sit at home. Our body actually wants to move. And he must too. At the turn of the year, many make the resolution: “This year I’ll do more sport!” Because the holidays are noticeable with additional belly or hip fat. Losing weight is the order of the day. And exercise burns the most calories . But which training is the most effective? Jogging, zumba or aerobics? We’ll tell you.
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What are calories?
Put simply, you can think of the body as an oven. Calories are the wood thrown on the fire, the energy we need to breathe and move is the heat from combustion. If too much wood is thrown into the stove, the fire burns brightly and heats up more than is necessary in the room. It usually helps to open the window to cool down. However, our body has no window to get rid of excess energy. The “too much” is stored as fat and appears as “waist gold” or “raccoon belly”.
Anyone who wants to lose weight should know that only with a negative energy balance can the fat on the hips melt away. This means the body needs to take in fewer calories than it uses. But what are calories? Behind this is actually an almost outdated unit of measurement of heat theory. One calorie is the energy required to heat one milliliter of water from 14.5 to 15.5 degrees Celsius.
How does the body burn calories?
For the human body, the unit of measurement is important when burning fat. This is a permanent process. Here the body gets the energy from the food, which is then needed for the movement of muscles, heat regulation of the body, mental activity and many other things. Here, too, colloquialism often speaks of calories, but the specification of the energy requirement is scientifically determined in kilocalories (Kcal) or (more recently) in joules (J). One kilocalorie corresponds to 4.1868 kilojoules, one joule is the equivalent of 0.239 calories.
However, energy is also required for generating energy. The body also puts in some effort to break down food and convert fats, proteins and carbohydrates into energy. The remaining energy is called the “physiological calorific value” . The information on the packaging of food therefore describes the energy that is ultimately made available to the body from this food. For example, one gram of fat provides nine calories, one gram of protein and one gram of carbohydrate each four calories, and one gram of alcohol provides seven calories. To put it simply, “burning calories” is nothing more than the consumption of energy.
Why exercise is so important to lose weight
So if you want to lose weight, you have two options: eat fewer calories or use up more through exercise. Experts always advise against a short-term diet, and the unpopular yo-yo effect often strikes afterwards. Option two therefore makes more sense. Sports! You burn calories both during and after the training session: Trained and larger muscles consume significantly more calories even when at rest.
Sport makes you smart and happy
During a training session, the brain gets significantly more oxygen and releases the hormone ACTH. This so-called creative hormone lowers blood pressure and improves mental performance and concentration. Sport also makes you happy, because the happiness hormone serotonin is also increasingly sent into the body during training. And last but not least, sport also makes you attractive. The well-trained body comes with fresh and smooth skin and increased radiance. Exercise also boosts libido, lowers cholesterol, prevents diabetes and strokes, and so on. The list is almost endless.
Calorie consumption: Which type of training consumes how many calories?
But which sport is right for everyone? Those who have the choice are spoiled for choice and not every training session burns the same number of calories. Consumption also depends on other factors such as height, weight, age and training intensity. Therefore, the following information is a guideline that may vary from person to person. Here are our top ten:
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), eg Tabata : up to 700 kcal/hour
- Jogging: up to 540 kcal/hour
- Strength training: up to 480 kcal/hour
- Tae Bo: up to 460 kcal/hour
- Nordic walking: up to 440 kcal/hour
- Swimming: up to 435 kcal/hour
- Cycling: up to 410 kcal/hour
- Inline skating: up to 408 kcal/hour
- Cross-country skiing: up to 300 kcal/hour
- Zumba: up to 280 kcal/hour
Undisputedly at the top of the list is high-intensity interval training – often abbreviated to HIIT. You burn by far the most calories with intensive intervals, such as those used in tabata or circuit training. The reason is simple: short, high-intensity loads throw our body out of balance – it has to adapt quickly. As a result, our muscle activity, breathing rate and heart rate increase. All of this burns large amounts of calories. In particular, the use of large muscle groups , such as thighs and buttocks, leads to a large calorie consumption.
But even jogging uses up a few calories. Anyone who puts on the running shoes not only does something for the cardiovascular system and gains endurance, but also burns an enormous number of calories. A 39-year-old test person weighing 60 kilograms and 1.70 meters tall made it to 547 kilocalories per hour in a measurement in Cologne. However, jogging is only suitable for people with healthy joints . If you don’t want to or can’t run, you should swim or cycle.
Tae-Bo made it onto the list because it burns a lot of calories during intense training. Because the training with the boxing elements includes, among other things, intensive arm movements. Simple walking is out these days. Those who reach for Nordic walking sticks achieve a higher pace and also use more energy. Inline skating is also comparable. In addition to fitness, coordination is also trained here.
Insider tip: jumping rope
There are numerous other sports that burn more or fewer calories. But they are all impossible to list in just one article. Nevertheless, one insider tip should be revealed at the end: jumping rope. What was fun in childhood can, when used correctly, burn up to 420 kilocalories in one hour in adulthood. A good skipping rope is also cheap and easy to use. Here you will find a high-quality rope with ball bearings or a very well rated, light skipping rope for Crossfit & Co.