Trying to find time to exercise during the fall and winter holidays–between parties, shopping, entertaining and work–is no easy task. But you still need to inferno workout, just smarter. Here are 5 intense inferno workouts that will make sure you burn at least 600 to 1,000 calories per session so you get maximum results in minimum time.
All of these inferno-level calorie burning workouts feature cardio intervals that use your body weight to melt fat and tone muscle. So whether you’re exercising at the gym, outdoors or at home you’ll be sweaty, out of breath, and sore (if you’re doing it right!). Want to monitor how many calories you’re blasting away? Get a calorie tracker like Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, or my favorite the BodyMedia Arm Band. You’ll love to hate these workouts, but I promise you’ll love your body afterwards!
1- The StairMaster
For 30 years the StairMaster has been the toughest machine workout at the gym. For example, you’d have to run at least 7 miles per hour on a treadmill for a full hour to get the same calorie burn as just 1 mile per hour on the StairMaster in the same amount of time.
I recommend a shorter workout: Spend about 20 minutes on the machine using the interval setting for hard work, then active recovery. After that, you can stretch and get on with your day. It’s a great booty-boost and core workout with big calorie burn. If you have more time, do 10 minute intervals on the steps, then add in multitasking functional workouts with weights for a total body blast. The best part? Stairmaster now has an at-home version that’s shorter, quiet, and portable! It’s called the SM3.
2- Small group training at the gym
Small group trainings like CrossFit/UXF and Orange Theory Fitness feel like a training course for natural disasters or the end of the world. Seriously, if you can make it through these classes, you can probably make it out of a catastrophic event! Even the locations look different than your average gym with TV monitors, green turf, obstacle courses and more.
Calorie burn? No problem. The warm-up to these small group trainings is as intense as most fitness class workouts. Plyometric jumping moves, TRX body weight exercises, obstacle courses, coupled with rowing, running, weights, push-ups, tire rolls, box jumps, and competition with yourself (not just others) make the difference. You keep track of your heart rate or reps and as the sets continue, you try to top your best effort from the set before. You’ll sweat, you’ll cry—and you’ll be an athlete.
3- Bootcamps/Tough Mudder
Speaking of disaster preparedness, crawling on your belly through mud, leaping over haystacks, scaling walls, and wading through water will make you forget you’re working out. The calories tick away without you noticing them or the clock when you get your friends and go outside for some down-and-dirty fun.
Check out the newest mud runs in your area, and train for them in a local boot camp. Between burpees, sprints and long-held planks, you’ll hurt too good to notice that your body flab turned to fab.
4- Beachbody home fitness programs
The BeachBody fitness programs will burn off mega calories and really whip you into shape. P90X works one muscle group in a session, so if you have time to work out most days each week, this will burn and chisel everything. If you’re in good shape and don’t have 6 days to focus on one body part, Insanity adds plyometrics to get you a full-body workout and leave you gasping for air before you get ten minutes in! Guys and girls love these videos; just be sure to listen to your body and back off if you need to.
Turbofire is more aerobic and kickboxing-centric with lots of plyometric jumps and “fire drills” to fire up your metabolism. Times of each workout vary, and you get several DVDs with each box set. Get ready to see changes in your body and energy level when doing these routines!
Trainer tip:
If you’re recovering from an injury or just starting out a workout routine, you can’t aim for the biggest calorie burn workouts because you’ll risk injury, fainting, throwing up, or worse. Getting tough takes time. The more you work at it, the more calories you will burn.
I saw a great quote once that said “Working out first makes you feel like dying, then you feel reborn!” Calorie burn is just an added benefit to looking good and feeling more alive than ever.
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