Kettlebell snatches sit at the top of the calorie-per-minute rankings. An ACE-sponsored study at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, clocked all-out snatches at roughly 20 calories a minute. That matches the energy cost of running a six-minute mile.
The study, led by exercise physiologist John Porcari, Ph.D., put ten trained volunteers through a 20-minute session that alternated 15 seconds of snatches with 15 seconds of rest. Heart rate ran at 86 to 99 percent of maximum.
"A person can easily burn several hundred calories in a brief period of time using these iron orbs, which makes them appealing to those looking for time-efficient results," said Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D., ACE's chief science officer, in the study announcement.
Where the 20-calorie figure comes from
The number is a sum of two measurements. Direct oxygen uptake during the snatch protocol showed about 13.6 calories a minute from aerobic work.
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Blood lactate testing added roughly 6.6 calories a minute from anaerobic effort, for a total of about 20.2. Few workouts pull energy from both systems at that rate.
Tabata circuits come next
A separate ACE-commissioned Tabata study, also led by Porcari, tested a circuit of push-ups, split squats, box jumps, burpees, jumping rope and jumping jacks.
Sixteen fit volunteers, ages 20 to 47, burned between 240 and 360 calories per session, roughly 12 to 18 calories a minute. Heart rate averaged 86 percent of maximum.
"An effective cardiovascular and muscular-conditioning program can be accomplished in a short period of time, but only if the level of intensity is extremely high," Bryant said of the finding.
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Well-designed HIIT circuits tend to land in the same band. A CrossFit "Cindy" workout tested by Porcari's team clocked around 13 calories a minute, according to TIME magazine's coverage of the research.
Running still holds its own
Running rarely tops the per-minute chart, but it remains the calorie burner most people can actually sustain.
A 175-pound runner at a 10-minute-mile pace burns about 400 calories in 30 minutes, or roughly 13 calories a minute. A 115-pound runner at the same pace burns about 260, closer to 9 a minute.
"When you look at the literature, running tends to burn more calories than other modalities," Porcari told TIME.
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What moves the number
Body weight is the biggest lever. A heavier person burns more per minute at the same intensity, a lighter person less.
Fitness and skill matter, too. Most people cannot sustain the snatch pace measured in the ACE study, and only trained lifters can approach it safely.
Muscle mass under load also drives the total. Workouts that combine upper and lower body work at high intensity, such as snatches, burpees, box jumps and hard rowing, pull the most energy from the body per minute.
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This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.