Exercises That Burn the Most Calories – The Top 7 Home Exercises

by: Vu Nguyen

One of the most difficult things about exercise is not exercising itself. It's finding the time to exercise. You have work, family, friends, chores, and other obligations and often carving out time in your schedule to work out seems near impossible.

As much as you love doing bicep curls and tricep extensions, if you only have pockets of 10-20 minutes at a time, isolation (targeted) exercises just aren’t practical. As great as they are for toning your muscles, they aren’t the most efficient exercises you can do to fuel your calorie-burning furnace. As a simple rule of thumb, the more muscle groups that you use, the more calories you will burn.

We want to help you maximize the little time that you have to exercise so we've created a list of the top 7 exercises that burn the most calories.

Keep in mind of course that the number of calories you burn depends on several factors, including:

  • duration of exercise (how long you exercise for)
  • intensity (how hard you exercise)

 

#7 - Plank Jacks

How To Do Plank Jacks

  • start in high-plank position with hands directly below shoulders and straighten your arms; straighten your legs behind you
  • plant your toes on the floor to stabilize your lower body and ensure that your hips don't drop
  • jump your feet outward while maintaining body alignment
  • jump your feet back together
  • for the Walking Plank Jack Variation, alternate dropping to your elbows and coming back up onto your hands between jacks

 

#6 - Squats

Variation: Squats and Shoulder Presses

How To Do Squats

  • stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart; toes will point slightly outwards (away from the body)
  • push your hips backward and towards the ground as far as you feel comfortable (imagine sitting in a chair); as you do so, your upper body will hinge (bend) forward
  • keep your back straight and your chest high
  • press through your heels and come back to starting position
  • for the Squat and Presses Variation, press your arms high overhead as you come up from your squat and bring them back down as you drop into your squat

 

#5 - Alternating Back Lunges

How To Do Lunges

  • stand with your feet together, hips width apart
  • take a large step backward and plant the ball of your left foot; maintain hips width distance
  • lower your left knee until it's right above the ground; your right thigh will be parallel to the ground and your right knee should be directly above your right ankle
  • return to standing by pressing through your right foot and bringing your left leg back to starting position
  • repeat on the other side
  • for the Agility Jump Lunges Variation, from the basic lunge position, jumping and switch feet in mid-air

 

#4 - Push-Ups

Basic (Assistance Optional)

Variation: Push-Ups and Side Crunches (Assistance Optional)

How To Do Push-Ups

  • start in high-plank position (see #7)
  • engage your core, glutes, and hamstrings, and flatten your back so that your entire body is straight
  • keep your elbows at a 45 degree angle (halfway between straight to the side and down by your side), maintain a straight body, and lower yourself to the ground
  • press through your hands and come back up to starting position
  • for the Push-Ups and Side Crunches variation, as you drop to the ground, bring your left knee up toward your left elbow; repeat on the right on the next rep

 

 

#3 - Sprawls

How To Do Sprawls

  • start in standing position with feet hips width apart
  • drop into a squat and place your hands on the ground immediately in front of you
  • either jump your feet back or step your feet back one-by-one into high-plank position
  • in a controlled manner, jump your feet or sequentially step your feet back and stand up into starting position
  • for the Bear Sprawls variation, jump your feet or step your feet back (one-by-one) half way and then back to full plank position, and then complete your sprawl

 

#2 - Mountain Climbers

Variation: Alternating Mountain Climbers

How To Do Mountain Climbers

  • start in high-plank position (see #3 above)
  • engage your core and bring your knee forward towards your chest, keeping the toes of your left foot grounded
  • return your right leg to starting (high-plank) position and repeat on other side
  • for the Alternating Mountain Climbers variation, bring your knee forward toward the opposite elbow

 

And #1 - Burpees

How To Do Burpees

  • start in standing position with feet hips width apart
  • drop into a squat and place your hands on the ground immediately in front of you
  • either jump your feet back or sequentially step your feet back into high-plank position
  • in a controlled manner, lower your self to the ground (do a push-up)
  • as you come up from your push-up, in a controlled manner, jump your feet (or come up all the way from your push-up and sequentially step your feet back) and stand up into starting position
  • optional: jump and clap
  • for the Half Burpees variation, omit the push-ups

 

And there you have it, the top 7 exercises that burn the most calories. All of the exercises above were demonstrated on the Evolution Training System but you can do them without one; of course, it's more effective with one.

Especially because you're short on time, a High Intensity Interval Training Session (HIIT) will be the way to go. Go ahead and do any or all 7 of those calorie burning exercises.

Sample 12-Minute Calorie Burning Workout

  • 30 seconds of Squats
  • 30 seconds of Push-Ups
  • 60 seconds of Alternating Back Lunges
  • 30 seconds of Burpees
  • 30 seconds of Plank Jacks
  • 60-second Rest
  • Repeat 3x

 

Want to see more exercises you can do on the Evolution Training System? Click here.