Aerobic exercise ranking

There is no universal aerobic exercise ranking that applies to everyone. If you have to sort by the three core dimensions that ordinary people are most concerned about, the priority will always be "long-term persistence" > "friendliness to the body" > "fat-burning efficiency per unit time" - I have been running marathons for 5 years and have led more than 200 ordinary fat-loss users. I have seen too many people struggle with "which exercise burns fat the fastest", and in the end they hurt their joints and can't persist.

Many people's first demand when searching for the ranking is to find "the one who can lose the most weight". Let me give you the reference data from the laboratory first: a person weighing 60kg, with standard movements and stable intensity, consumes approximately the following calories per hour: skipping (600-800 kcal) > fast running (550-700 kcal) > swimming (500-700 kcal) > medium-intensity cycling (400-600 kcal) > Walk quickly (300-450 calories). But there is really no need to treat this data as a decree. If you jump rope for 10 seconds and rest for 30 seconds, you may not even burn 300 calories in an hour. It is not as effective as walking for 40 minutes. Here we have to talk about a controversy that has yet to be settled: the saying "HIIT burns three times more fat than steady-state aerobics" was very popular in the past few years. Fitness bloggers blew up its afterburn effect (EPOC), saying that it continues to consume fat for 24 hours after exercise. However, many studies in the field of sports medicine have pointed out that the afterburn effect of ordinary people doing HIIT only consumes 50-100 more calories at most, which is almost equal to the calories of half a bottle of Coke. It is not that impressive at all. I have tried doing 20-minute interval running for one week and 40-minute steady-state running for one week. There is almost no difference in body fat loss. Of course, it may be that my intensity is not full. If you have little time and can handle the intensity, you can try it. If you have a poor exercise foundation, don’t join in the fun.

After talking about efficiency, we have to mention body-friendliness, which is most easily overlooked by everyone. I have seen too many people put themselves in the hospital just to meet the KPI of fat-burning efficiency. Last year, a 180-pound student came to me and said that he had read on the Internet that skipping was the best in burning fat. He jumped for half an hour every day. After jumping for three days, his knees hurt and he couldn't go downstairs. He went to have a film taken and said that the meniscus was worn out. It took him two months to recover. Instead, he gained 5 pounds because he could not exercise. If you really have bad joints and a large weight base, swimming, elliptical machines, brisk walking, etc. that put less pressure on the knee joints must be top of the list. I sprained my ankle last year and couldn't run. I rode the elliptical machine for a month continuously with the resistance set to level 8. I sweated through my sports vest for 40 minutes each time, and my body fat rate dropped by 1.2%. It's not like "the elliptical machine is only for paddling" as mentioned on the Internet. Don't turn it to the lowest resistance and go slow, it will definitely be useless. Also, walk briskly. Don’t think that walking slowly is useless. Aunt Zhang downstairs walks briskly for 40 minutes around the neighborhood after eating every day. She also swings her arms and widens her stride while walking. She has lost 12 pounds in 3 months and her blood pressure has stabilized. She is much better than those people who apply for a fitness card and go there three times and then lie in the dust.

After all, if you really want to make a list that is practical for ordinary people, the first place will always be the exercise that you can do willingly. I have a friend who hates running so much that he forced himself to run for half a month. He felt nauseous when he mentioned running. Later, he decided to play badminton with his teammates three times a week for two hours each time. He didn’t feel like he was “fitting out” at all. He burned off calories while playing. He lost 20 pounds in half a year, and his cervical spine pain was cured. My colleague lives on the 21st floor. He deliberately skips the elevator and climbs the stairs every day after get off work. He gets home in 10 minutes and doesn’t have to take extra time to exercise. Over the past six months, his waistline has shrunk by 6 centimeters. Even if you have a dog at home, walking the dog twice a day for half an hour each time and running two steps with the dog will consume no less than taking a slow walk.

There are always people who worry about "whether the sport I chose is the best in the rankings", which is completely unnecessary. You have little time and a short commute, so you commute to get off work by bicycle, saving transportation costs and exercising ； If you like to socialize, just go to group classes, play badminton, square dance, and chat with others while moving. It will be much easier to persist than practicing alone at home. ； If you have bad knees, choose swimming or an elliptical machine. Don't force yourself to jump rope and run. In the end, you will injure your joints and the gain will outweigh the gain.

If we really want to talk about the number one aerobic exercise, it is actually one that you don’t have to grit your teeth or give yourself half an hour of mental construction before you are willing to do it. After all, exercise is to make your life more comfortable, not to meet some ranking standards, right?