Best Strength Exercises to Burn More Calories

The thinking used to be that in order to get an effective workout, you needed to focus on a lot of cardio. This was a great way to get the work done and burn some serious calories—but in recent years there is a much stronger emphasis on strength training. This is not just a type of activity that is meant for bodybuilders, as lifting weights and taking on some good strength exercises can help you to burn more calories than any other option out there. Hard to believe for some, but there is proof that this is where you need to be spending more time.

Strength training exercises help to naturally and effectively boost your metabolism. This helps to burn calories really efficiently throughout your workout—but it also helps you to burn calories even hours after you finish working out as well. The metabolism is working efficiently and you are burning more muscle, which burns calories on its own. So though you may have spent a lot of time performing cardio exercises, they can only take you so far. Strength exercises are where it’s at for a long-term and truly efficient calorie burning system!

There are some strength exercises that tend to burn more calories than others. In most instances they help to shape the body and incorporate some cardio while also working a couple of different muscle groups at the same time. This is how to transform your body in a whole new way!

Lunges with Shoulder Press: You’re working the upper and lower body at the same time in one movement. You want to be sure to practice proper form on the lunge so that the knee never goes over the toe. Once you master the lunge, adding in a shoulder press helps to amp up the calorie-burning. You will feel this all over and if you perform enough reps or sets you also get in a nice cardio component as you move through these.

Squats with Bicep Curls: Another good upper and lower body burner, this works much in the same way but you get different muscles into the act. You want to be sure you sit back behind you as you squat and then mix in the bicep curls with each movement. You get a great way to burn more calories and to work two important parts of the body at the same time.

Push Ups: You get a serious upper body calorie burner here, as you get the shoulders, triceps, and even biceps in on the act. You also get the back involved, and it does take some leg strength to hold yourself up if you perform a classic push up. You can also mix it up and try different variations such as diamond or inverted push ups. These are the perfect strength and cardio exercise that should always be part of your routine.

Tricep Kickbacks with Balance Leg: Triceps are a tough area to tone, but this movement really targets the common area of fat. If you practice balancing on one leg as you move through the tricep kickback, then you not only burn more calories but you also get upper and lower body involved. You can support yourself by holding lightly onto a stability ball or just try it on its own, but either way you will get some great calorie-burning in and love what it does for your body in the process!