Aerobics or Spinning?

So it's back to the workout club. The added weight is starting to bother you again. Spinners walk by with spinning shoes in tow. A few groups are headed to the step aerobic area hoping to burn off several hundred calories today. The treadmill crowd, a very dedicated bunch in general, is headed over to the elliptical or treadmill to do the exact same routine they have done for weeks and months at a time. Their workouts hardly differ from day to day. What makes sense? Who has the right answer to losing weight?



Truly, they all do. Burning calories is burning calories whether you are walking, running, doing aerobics, spinning, etc. But, some exercises are definitely more efficient at burning calories than others. Due to exertion for starters, but the nature of the exercise has a lot to do with how efficient you burn calories.



The human body is very intelligent. It gets used to routine after a while. The elliptical riders doing the same speed and the same length of time every day start to see diminishing returns. Their body gets used to the routine and adjusts. They either need to start doing interval Training or start another exercise altogether.



Weight lifters have the same issues. If you leg press on the same machine with the same repetitions and do it routinely 3 times every week, you will plateau. The only way to get past that is to start different types of exercises that work that muscle group. Create muscle confusion.



Back to the original question however - which exercise provides the greatest benefits. Purely looking at calories burned each hour, here are several exercises and the calories they burn: Gardening - 295, Racquetball - 630, Running - 810, Shopping - 270, Sitting doing nothing - 75, Sleeping - 75, Basketball - 710, Cycling - 450, Spinning - 780, Dance - 710, Jump Rope - 740, Cross Country Skiing - 640, Soccer - 645, Volleyball - 250.

This list certainly isn't all inclusive of everything you can do. It also isn't supposed to apply to everyone. It should give you a general idea of how different activities compare to each other.



One of the activities with the highest hourly rate of burning calories is spinning. Overall, your best choice is spinning. Spinning allows you accurate control of your heart rate and good spinning instructors vary the workouts from day to day so your body will not see routine and start compensating.



Step aerobics are excellent in terms of calories burned each hour. In fact, step aerobics compare to spinning in terms of purely looking at calories burned each hour. Where spinning separates itself is the accurate heart rate control you can attain in a spinning class. Training in different heart rate zones enables you to tailor your routine to meet your specific goals. Some heart rate zones burn more calories from fat while other heart rate zones burn more carbohydrates. Spinning allows you to target these zones accurately.



Nearly every hard core workout fanatic will tell you spinning enables them to lose the extra pounds that were previously impossible. Spinning shoes and a heart rate monitor are all you need. You should be able to get decent shoes for around $80 and a heart rate monitor at a similar price.



Try spinning. The benefits are amazing. As with any exercise routine, failing to go regularly is where most people fail. It is easy and fun to get hooked on spinning.

John P is the contributor to a site dedicated to information concerning spinning shoes and all things spinning, The site covers all topics related to Spinning. http://www.healthandspinning.com can help you get familiar with spinning and discusses many other topics related to spinning.