You may think that running is the key to weight loss, but it may not be as productive as you think. To lose weight, you have to be in a calorie deficit, which means burning more calories than you take in. While keeping this in mind, it’s important to know what workouts burn the most calories—especially what workouts can help you burn more calories at rest. We asked Ronnie Lubischer, CSCS, owner of Lubischer’s Burn and Blast Training, what workouts you should be doing to maximize calorie burn, especially if you don’t like running!
“The average American can run 9-10 minute mile splits, while beginners are usually in the 12-15 minute range. From a calorie burn standpoint, this is important to know as that means a runner running 10 minute miles over an hour burns about 600 calories (1 mile generally expends about 100 calories). Anything with slower splits yields an even smaller return on your caloric investment,” Lubischer says. “Add to this that running generally breaks down muscle tissue because it’s catabolic in nature, as well as the impact and wear and tear it puts on your joints and structural systems, the calories burned to time spent exercising just doesn’t seem to balance out to the average fitness participant’s goals of a high impact workout in a shorter frame of time.”
In other words, while you may think that the faster you run, the more calories you burn, it may actually not be as beneficial as you think. So what can you do instead? Lubischer recommends weight lifting as an incredibly helpful option for building strength and losing weight. “A properly programmed lift can expend just as many calories as a run (and more) with the added benefits of stronger and denser bones, increased muscle mass and strength, boosted metabolism,decreased body fat, increased joint stability, improved endurance, cardiovascular health, and better functional strength.” To put it concisely, lifting weights have all the same benefits of running, without the downsides of high impact related injury and exhaustion.
If you want to start lifting weights but are unsure to start, Lubischer shared an example of a balanced workout that will let you build strength and burn calories. “For the average gym goer, I recommend working larger, non competing systems together as supersetted workouts for an ultimate bang for your buck in the gym.” Something like this for instance:
Circuit 1
CNS stimulation/warm up using supersetted accessory exercises.
“On a leg/chest day for instance, I’d choose an anterior and posterior selectorized movement for legs (leg extensions and leg curls) and a push-up for chest with 3-5 sets of 15-25 reps to kick things off.”
Circuit 2
Working exercises
From there, I’d pair my normal squat day routine with a basic non-compound chest builder. For instance, BB back squats and machine or cable flies.
1x15 squat w 1x15-20 flies
1x12 squat w 15-20 flies
1x10 squat w 15-20 flies
1x8 squat w 15-20 flies
1 top set of max weight to failure squats w 15-20 flies
Circuits 3-4
Working sets
Next, I’d use the same methodology with my main chest movement and a non-compound leg movement: let’s say a bench press and leg press for my second working circuit.
“Depending on time, I’d do no more than four of these style circuits to close out my workout, though the two aforementioned could suffice for a great in and out pump!” Lubischer says. If you hate running, you don’t have to suffer through it just because it burns calories. As a matter of fact, there are workouts that are even more beneficial, and are lower impact, which reduces the risk of injury. Try lifting weights to get stronger, have more energy, and move forward with your weight loss goals!
