EXERCISE FOR FUN: MOST CALORIE-BURNING SPORTS YOU CAN TRY ON YOUR OWN

Dieting and exercising in itself can be quite grueling, especially if you’re doing it without the supervision of a fitness professional. At the same time, admit it, it can be very boring! it’s no wonder many people have chosen to engage in activities and fun sports to lose weight than hit the gym and stick to doing the same old exercise routine over and over again.
We have nothing against gym buffs and those who prefer to seek assistance from exercise equipment but, if you’re like us who would just rather add some excitement and healthy competition into the mix, sometimes doing sports is really the best option! So if you find that you’re agreeing with us, you might as well choose to get into some of the most calorie-burning sports activities we know. We’ve listed them below and you’ll find that you can enjoy them even without a partner and lose at least 400 calories after just an hour! Definitely worth our time, if you ask us. After all, the best kind of exercise is the kind that you enjoy!

SWIMMING

This is definitely one of the best kind of sports that gets your heart rate up and works your arms, legs, glutes and core, therefore making you burn more calories. Depending on your weight, you could lose anywhere from 400-600 calories just by swimming freestyle at moderate speed. Not only that, all those deep-breathing exercises and arm laps develop shoulder and chest muscles. No wonder swimmers have larger torsos than most athletes. (Just Google Michael Phelps!) Our favorite thing about swimming is that, as long as you know how to stay afloat and do a couple of laps for fun, you can already do it on your own. Just do even 4 laps in an Olympic sized swimming pool even at your own slow pace and you could lose hundreds of calories! But if you don’t have real experience in the water, you can even just get swimming lessons — the training will already help you do some cardio exercise and keep your lifeguard from getting an anxiety attack!

SPRINTING

It’s been recommended for adults to spend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity — or any exercise that improves cardio by breathing — and sprinting (or even just brisk walking) can definitely cover that. Running improves your leg muscles, gets your heart and blood moving, and makes you sweat like crazy. The best part? It doesn’t require training! Simply get into your running gear (real running shoes, please) and head to your nearest park. You can even just run along your sidewalk and burn as much as 250 calories just by doing it for an hour. Unlike with swimming, you’re sure to get drenched in your own sweat, but that’s exactlywhat you’d want if you intend on losing as much weight as possible. If that doesn’t melt your body fat fast, you need to check with your doctor!

PARKOUR

This sport was actually developed from military obstacle course training, so you know that it requires a lot of bodily effort. It involves running, climbing, swinging, jumping, rolling and other movements that can bring you from one place to another in complex environments without any assistive equipment. As you may imagine, it makes a great full-body cardio workout! However, you may need some training to do the safe and correct way. Make sure you contact someone you know who does parkour, or you can probably find someone at your local gym. Training and learning the tricks for beginners might require a small fee, but it’s nothing compared to the assurance that you won’t easily get hurt. After all, once you get the hang of it, you might be climbing up and down your (and your neighbors‘) roof in no time! (Just promise us you won’t be climbing into someone’s backyard, or else you might be suspected as a burglar! The thrill might be a great workout, but you definitely wouldn’t want to get behind bars!)

GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics is really more than just tumbling, doing back handsprings and flipping on bars. This sport requires real training and discipline, therefore it may not be possible to do it without a trainer — unless you’ve already done it when you were a lot younger! Moreover, this is a sport that requires a lot of energy even for seemingly limited actions. This is because it usually requires you to carry your entire body and obviously gets your heart rate up. Imagine just getting your back flips right, that alone can get you breathless in no time! And yet feeling breathless during exercises (as long as it doesn’t happen while you’re supposedly at rest) is exactly one of the things that you need in order to burn calories. During just an hour of gymnastics workout, a regular 120-pound person can lose as much as 230 pounds! A heavier person would lose more, so a 160-pound person could lose as much as 310 calories during the same one hour workout. Think about it, you also get to improve your posture and strengthen your leg, arm and core muscles!

CYCLING

Much like sprinting, this sport gets you moving — literally! Except, it seemingly requires less effort on your body. It’s your legs and calves that get beat up in this sport but it’s still very effective in making you use up a lot of your energy and get rid of those unwanted calories. It doesn’t require any training, too! You just have to get a good quality bicycle made specifically for cycling and choose a safe area for it. Picking an area that has uneven surfaces is a plus, because those hills would give you random opportunities to exert more effort throughout an hour of cycling. Allot at least a weekend for it and it can make improve your body and your heart.