Four Ways To Burn More Calories In Less Time

Face it: if you want to lose weight, you need to exercise regularly. As in, several times a week. Not overeating, and eating the correct kinds of foods is a start, but it is only half the plan for any effective weight loss program. The other half is getting your body in motion. If you have been lax about that, it may be that you have difficulty finding time to fit in an exercise routine. Or you may have heard that you must complete an entire routine in thirty straight minutes, or it “doesn’t count.”

As for the latter point, anything you do that works your muscles and gets your heart rate up at least a little does count. But the fact is, you can burn more calories in less time than what is typically recommended for a work out. You simply have to get a little creative, and go beyond a simple walk around the neighborhood.

Following are four ways that you can burn more calories, even if your busy schedule makes exercise difficult.

1. Jump rope.

When you jump rope, you burn about 11 calories per minute. That’s three times more than walking about three miles per hour. In other words, you can burn as many calories jumping rope in one third the time. Of course, jumping rope is a lot more intensive than walking – or even jogging – and so it will take you probably a few weeks and a lot of persistence to be able to jump rope for a reasonable period of time.

2. Run up and down stairs.

Especially, when you go up the stairs at the quickest pace possible, you are burning more calories than with many other kinds of exercise because of the effort to push your body uphill. A great side benefit to this exercise is that it will trim and strengthen your thighs. If you don’t believe me, go up and down a flight of stairs for a few minutes and tell me you don’t have a burn in your thighs!

3. Strength training.

Strength training can be done in several different ways. You can do the old-fashioned weight-lifting, perform weight-less exercises by pushing, for example, your hands against each other, or you can do resistance stretching exercises such as what Bob Cooley teaches in his book, The Genius of Flexibility. The beauty of strength training – and why it is a vital part of any healthy weight loss program – is that it keeps your metabolism higher for longer periods than aerobic exercise, allowing you to burn more calories even after the exercise time is finished.

4. Go as fast as you can for one minute.

Whatever exercise you choose – walking, running, swimming, biking, etc. – every three to five minutes or so of the routine, go as fast as you can for an entire minute. Go from walking to sprinting; pedal as hard as you can; swim like a shark is after you. Then go back to the regular speed, and repeat. Like strength training, this boosts your metabolism for hours, and also burns more calories than if you had stayed at the same speed.

Finding time to exercise isn’t rocket science. Ten minutes two to three times a day of any of the above ideas will help you to lose weight, increase your energy levels, and feel better overall.