Burn More than Running

When you want to get in shape, no doubt you think about lacing up your sneaks and pounding the pavement. You may have heard that the average person torches 100 calories per mile out there, so it seems like an effective way to shed fat fast. And it is—don't get us wrong. But there’s one little problem with banging out mile after mile…your body is programmed to get better at it. If you run three to four days per week at the same pace on the same terrain, there’s not a lot of physical stimulation to your body, so it adapts and gets comfortable. More than that, there are just other workouts that lend themselves to an even better burn, and come with bonus benefits, too.

Upper body and lower body exercises done at high levels of intensity with sufficient rest are a superior way to burn calories and improve aerobic conditioning. Want a quickie routine to try? Do eight to 12 reps of the following in this order: pushups, box jumps, pullups, and lunges.

One of the reasons you’ll hear trainers constantly tout the benefits of strength training is because it will increase muscle mass, keep your metabolism up, and improve a little thing called after burn, or the number of calories your body burns in the 24 to 48 hours after exercise. Running might actually burn more calories in the moment, but strength training will burn more calories over the long term, One of the best ways to achieve this after-burn effect is to constantly mix up your workout throughout the week, he says. To boost fat loss, he recommends strength training three times a week, doing one day of sprints or a cardio class, and another day or two of a steady-state running. This will tap into different energy processes of your body, which will change how your body reacts and recovers. That’s how you get the after burn.