Working out is an integral part of good health. A healthy diet, exercise, and plenty of water are the key ingredients to fitness. Which exercises are the very best for burning the most calories and as a result, seeing the fastest results?

Well, it's not quite that simple. Calories get burned based on a how hard you exercise, your weight, and your level of fitness. You need to burn off 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. If we reduce our caloric intake and add exercise, we've touched on the optimum way to lose weight. Combine a good aerobic workout and regular strength training and you've got a fabulous calorie burning exercise plan.

As we exercises, our muscles burn calories. The longer we exercise, the more calories we burn. A simple equation, really. The best part is that our bodies continue to burn calories even after we stop exercising. So if we workout for an hour, our bodies continue burning calories for up to 24 hours. That's quite a gift!

Calories burned with daily activities

Regular activities burn calories too. This is a great thing for someone who wants to ramp up their caloric burning with daily chores. How does daily work stack up against a regular workout on the treadmill? The following is a list of average calories burned per hour of activity for a 150-pound person.

Playing with kids - 281-352
Moderate cleaning - 246
Gardening - 352
Mowing the lawn - 387
Pushing a stroller - 176
Shoveling snow - 422
Scrubbing the floor by hand - 387

Daily activities don't provide enough exercise for optimum health. Women especially need concentrated impact exercise to strengthen bones to prevent osteoporosis. In fact, many of us should be devoting specific time to exercise each day simple for stress reduction and peace of mind. And many of us don't.

Most effective calorie burning exercises

There are certain exercises that are more effective at burning calories because they use more muscle groups and require more energy. The following is a list including a wide variety on indoor and outdoor methods of exercising listed from most calories burned to least. Again, you are seeing an average calories-burned figure for a 150-pound person exercising for 1 hour.

1. Running (8 mph) - 950
2. Handball - 844
3. Swimming laps (vigorous effort) - 704
4. Rowing (vigorous effort) - 669
5. Cross country skiing (moderate effort) - 563
6. Circuit training - 563
7. Tennis - 493
8. Jogging - 493
9. Aerobics (general/moderate effort) - 422
10. Treadmill - 422

If your workout routine isn't on this list, don't fret. Your daily effort directly effects how many calories you burn with your regular exercise routine. Remember that old adage "the more your put into it, the more you get out?" It works the same with exercise. Our biggest quest is to increase the rate at which we burn calories. We do this with regular and consistent workouts.

So what's a person to do?

Every person should be exercising within his or her own capabilities. Make sure that when you ramp up your exercise routine that you aren't choosing an activity that is beyond your fitness level. Your exercise routine should be tailored to "you." Injury will waylay the very best laid fitness plans.

There are many exercise calorie calculators available on the Internet. Give one a try. Plug in an activity, your weight and the amount of time exercised. These calculators give you an accurate indication of the calories burned. This is an excellent tool to let you know if you need to increase the intensity level, your effort, or the length of your workout.