Exercise is important for a variety of reasons—it can minimize stress, promote cardiovascular health, strengthen the immune system, build strong bones, and help you feel energized. Of course, there is another benefit to fitness—maintaining a healthy weight.

But a little exercise doesn’t guarantee weight loss. It’s all about creating a calorie deficit. In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Believe it or not, more exercise does not always equal more weight loss. If weight loss is your goal, it’s important to find the right type of exercise—the kind that blasts calories.

High-Intensity Workouts
High-intensity workouts are challenging. They elevate your heart rate and make you sweat. They also burn a lot more calories than a lower intensity workout.

High-intensity training is not an everyday activity because the body needs time to recover; however, most of us don’t use high-intensity training enough. It’s easy to fall into a low-intensity fitness rut and suddenly realize that we’re going for the same, slow jog day after day. That jog will lift your spirits and keep your heart healthy, but it won’t do a lot to create a calorie deficit.

If you want to shed unwanted pounds, consider adding one or two high-intensity workouts to your weekly exercise regimen. Here are a few ways to blast those calories:

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT): If you really want to ramp up the intensity and blast the calories, then give HIIT a try. Yvette offers a HIIT clinic every month. Expect strength conditioning, cardio intervals, plyometric exercises, compound exercises and much more. You’ll have fun, blast calories, and get lean!

Boot Camp: Yes, boot camp is as challenging as it sounds—which is great news for creating a calorie deficit. Join Eric for boot camp and you’ll experience a high-intensity workout packed with push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, agility drills, running, jumping, kettlebells, and more.

Zumba: Who said fitness needs to be boring? Join Casey on Monday and Wednesday mornings for an hour of action-packed Latin dance moves that will have you sweating and grooving to the rhythm. Zumba incorporates interval training, resistance moves, and dance for a fun and challenging workout. Expect to burn about 500 calories as you let the rhythm move you.

Jump rope: No time for a class or a clinic? Channel your playground days. Remember how much fun you had jumping rope during recess? Little did you know back then that it was a calorie blaster. Have you picked up a jump rope lately? You may be surprised at how challenging it is. Jumping rope burns about 780 calories an hour—that’s 130 calories in just ten minutes. So grab a rope and start jumping—maybe between sets in the weight room. You’ll burn a massive amount of calories.