When you are working out at home, you probably do not have access to the expensive machines that occupy the cardio rooms of commercial gyms. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t get a good fat burning workout in.
In this article, I’ll reveal the 15 best exercises that burn the most fat at home.
Burpees
The burpee is an old school bodyweight exercise that is perhaps the best calorie burning calisthenic exercise you can do. This exercise is actually a combination of a squat, kick back, push up and tuck jump – no wonder it scorches the calories!
To perform the burpee, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Then drop down to the push up position, kicking your feet back. Immediately draw them back in and then explode back up into the air to return to the start position.
You will burn about 10 calories for every minute that you do burpees.
Mountain Climbers
The mountain climber is another bodyweight move that burns a lot of calories. This is also an effective core exercise, especially targeting the intercostals and obliques. To perform the mountain climber get down on all fours and begin a floor sprint on the spot where you alternately bring your knees up to your elbows and back.
A 130-pound person will burn between 650 and 700 calories in an hour of mountain climbers. That’s about the same rate as you’d burn when doing burpees.
Jumping Rope
When it comes to getting a great calorie burning cardio workout at home it is pretty hard to go past the humble skipping rope. As well as scorching your stored body fat, jumping rope will also build strength and muscle mass in your calves, quads, shoulders and forearms. Your balance and coordination, along with your agility will also improve when you regularly jump rope.
Jumping rope will allow you to burn between 15 and 20 calories in one minute depending on the intensity of your workout. This is an excellent form of exercise to integrate with resistance training or bodyweight exercises such as push ups. Simply do 30 seconds of fast paced skipping after every set of your resistance workout.
Frog Jumps
Frog Jumps is a plyometric bodyweight exercise that will improve your agility and balance / coordination while also burning off body fat and improving your cardiovascular system. To perform frog jumps, stand in front of a box. Hinge your hips as you load for the jump then explode up and over the box. Spin in the air to land facing the box on the other side. Immediately repeat to return to the side you began on. Keep going in a continuous fluid manner to complete your rep count.
In 1 minute of continuous frog jumps, you will burn around 11 calories.
Tuck Jumps
Tuck Jumps are similar to frog jumps, except that you are jumping directly into the air while bringing your knees up to your chest as you explode into the air. You should hold your hands at chest level and aim to touch your knees to your hands at the top of the jump. Do your reps in hot potato fashion, going as fast as you can.
You can’t keep going with tuck jumps for a whole lot of time before you run out of puff. I recommend doing them in 30 second spurts and interspersing them with sets of weight training or bodyweight exercises.
If you were to do tuck jumps for 1 minute in a row (good luck with that!), you will burn off around 15 calories.
HIIT Sprints
High Intensity sprint training is a great way to torch calories, while also bringing on the afterburn effect to boost your metabolism. To perform HIIT sprints, simply get yourself down to a field and perform hard out 20 second sprints, interspersed by 10 second rest periods.
A 1 minute HIIT sprint session will burn around 12 calories.
High Knees
High knees is a variation of jogging on the spot that involves bringing your knees up as high as you can while running as fast as you possibly can. It provides you with all the fat burning and cardio benefits of running without having to go outside.
A sixty second high knees jogging on the spot sessions will burn around 11-13 calories depending on how much you weigh.
Lunge Jumps
Lunge jumps are a combination between the dynamic resistance exercise lunges and plyometric jumps. This is an exercise that should be alternated between legs in a quick, fluid manner. To perform lunge jumps, start in a lunge position with your left leg back and down so that it is a few inches off the floor. Now jump directly into the air as you switch leg position to bring your left leg forward and your right leg back. Continue for 30-60 seconds without a break.
Performing lunge jumps for 60 seconds will burn between 10-13 calories, depending on how much you weigh.
Speed Step Ups
Step Ups are a very good plyometric exercise for the lower body that will develop strength in the glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves while also burning lots of calories. When you do step ups in a rapid motion you will burn the most calories from the exercise. The higher the box that you step up onto, the more intense the exercise you will be.
When you do fast steps for a minute, you will burn 10-12 calories.
Side to Side Jumps
Side to side jumps involve jumping over a step up box while standing side on to it. Jump and land with both feet together and keep moving in a quick movement fashion. Bend your knees and try to get as high as you possibly can.
Doing side to side jumps for sixty seconds will burn through 10-12 calories depending on what your weight is.
The Sprawl
The Sprawl is an even more intense version of the Burpee that will torch mega calories. This is also an excellent calisthenics exercise to work your muscles and get your heart pumping to make you fitter.
To do the sprawl exercise, stand with your feet hip width apart. Now squat down and put your hands on the floor. Now kick your feet back to full extension and lower down into the bottom of a push up position. Now rise back up to the top push up position and then jump your feet forward to the outsides of your hands. Finally, jump back to the start position.
If you were to do the sprawl exercise for sixty seconds you will burn about 13 calories.
Rowing
Of all the cardio equipment investments for your home gym, I recommend the rowing machine as the best overall for fat burning, cardio fitness and muscle strength. The rowing machine does the best job of any cardio machine of working the muscles in your upper body, especially the back, shoulders and biceps.
The best type of rowing machine to burn calories is an air resistance machine which allows for variable resistance where the intensity of the workout depends on the speed of your row.
A 60 second workout on the rowing machine will burn off around 9-13 calories depending on how much you weigh and how fast you are rowing.
you may also want to read best rowing machine workout for weight loss.
Jumping Jacks
Jumping Jacks is an old school exercise that works just as well as many fancier options when it comes to burning fat calories. To perform the jumping jack simply stand with your feet together and hands at your sides. Now simultaneously jump your feet out as wide as possible and bring your hands overhead to clap above you. Immediately reverse the action to return to the start position. Continue this back and forth motion as fast as you can for the stipulated length of time or rep count.
One minute’s worth of jumping jacks will burn around 10 calories.
Squat Jumps
Squat jumps combine bodyweight squats and plyometric jumps to get your calorie burn up. To perform it, do a bodyweight squat, then explode up into the air as high as possible, bringing your knees up to max level.
If you were to do 60 seconds worth of squat jumps, you would burn around 10 calories.
Plank Jacks
Get down in the normal plank position with your feet together. Now jump your feet apart. Reverse and repeat for the required length of time. Do this for a minute and you will burn around 8-10 calories depending on how much you weigh.
Wrap Up
You now have 15 fantastic exercises that you can do at home. Choose two or three and combine them into a 20-30 minute fast paced workout to burn off several hundred calories. Do this 3-4 times per week and you will be on track to meet your weight loss goals.
you may also want to read Top 3 Total Body Workouts That Quickly Burns Fat.
