The Best Exercises That Let You Eat More

The process of getting in shape requires a careful balance of healthy eating practices and regular exercise. If you're trying to lose weight, you'll need to eat fewer calories than you burn. This usually means eating less, but if you're committed to avoiding dieting, you'll need to stick with exercises that burn lots of calories.

  1. Burning More Calories

    • No matter what exercise routine you adopt, you'll burn more calories if you stick with it longer and exercise daily or almost daily. Revving up the intensity of your exercise -- by running faster, doing more reps, lifting heavier weights or using more challenging weight equipment -- will also burn more calories. Exercise is intense when it leaves you breathless and makes it challenging to talk. Less intense exercises burn fewer calories and generally mean it's pretty easy to carry on a conversation and catch your breath.

    Cardiovascular Exercise

    • Cardiovascular exercises burn more calories than targeted training such as situps or pullups. This is because cardiovascular exercise engages large groups of muscles, working all or much of your body and increasing your heart rate. Try intense cardiovascular exercises such as running, jumping rope at a fast clip, swimming laps, an aerobics class or cardio-based dance class.

    Interval Training

    • Interval training combines strength training with intense cardiovascular exercise, and can even help boost your metabolism. With interval training, you'll alternate between bursts of very intense exercise and more moderate exercise. For example, if you're a jogger, you might sprint at full speed for a minute, then slow to a moderate jog for another minute. Continue alternating between the two paces for the duration of your routine.

    Circuit Training

    • Circuit training pairs cardiovascular exercise with strength training, and the rapid changes between exercise incorporate some of the metabolic benefits of interval training. You'll do a circuit of cardio for a few minutes, followed by a circuit of two to three strength training routines such as bench presses or pullups. Then you'll return to cardio, this time using a different cardiovascular exercise. You can add as many circuits as you want, and more circuits of activity will result in more calories burned.