All movement is good movement. If you love an exercise, it’s doing something positive for your body and mind. That said, not every workout that feels challenging actually burns a ton of calories. Some popular activities shine in flexibility, balance, or stress relief—but they don’t exactly torch energy the way many people assume.
If your goal is calorie burn (or fat loss), it helps to know which exercises quietly underdeliver—and how to tweak or replace them without losing the benefits you enjoy.
Here are seven exercises people often overestimate for calorie burn, plus smarter swaps to level things up.
Yoga
Yoga is excellent for improving flexibility, posture, balance, and stress levels, but most traditional yoga styles are performed at a slow to moderate pace. Because the focus is on controlled movement, breathing, and alignment rather than elevating the heart rate, calorie burn tends to be modest. On average, traditional yoga burns about 180 to 250 calories per hour. If calorie burn is your goal, faster-paced options like power yoga, Bikram yoga, or yoga-cardio hybrids are better choices. You can also add light weights or kettlebells to a mobility flow to increase intensity while keeping the balance and core benefits.
Pilates
Pilates is known for strengthening the core, improving posture, and enhancing spinal stability. However, many mat-based or light reformer classes involve low-load, controlled movements that don’t significantly raise heart rate. As a result, most Pilates sessions burn around 170 to 250 calories per hour. To boost calorie burn, try dynamic reformer Pilates circuits or add short cardio intervals—such as jump rope or high knees—between sets. This approach preserves Pilates’ strength and alignment focus while increasing overall energy expenditure.
Tai Chi
Tai Chi features slow, flowing movements that improve balance, coordination, flexibility, and mind-body awareness. Its gentle, low-impact nature makes it ideal for older adults or people recovering from injury, but it doesn’t demand much cardiovascular effort. Tai Chi typically burns about 200 to 275 calories per hour. If you’re aiming for higher calorie burn while staying joint-friendly, low-impact aerobic dance or light kickboxing are great alternatives that keep movement continuous and the heart rate elevated.
Walking
Walking is one of the most accessible forms of exercise and supports joint health, circulation, and mood. However, when done at a steady pace on flat ground, it burns fewer calories than many people expect—roughly 200 to 300 calories per hour. To increase calorie burn without giving up walking, try incline walking or hiking. Even a moderate incline can significantly increase energy expenditure, with uphill walking burning closer to 450 to 500 calories per hour.
Elliptical
Elliptical workouts often feel tough, but unless resistance, speed, or incline are increased, the machine can limit how hard your body actually works. At a moderate effort, elliptical training burns about 350 to 450 calories per hour. While it’s excellent for cardiovascular fitness and joint health, calorie burn improves when you increase resistance, add interval training, or actively push and pull the handles to engage your upper body and recruit more muscle groups.
Barre
Barre classes are fantastic for improving stability, posture, and muscular endurance, especially in smaller stabilizing muscles. However, because they rely heavily on light weights and isometric holds, they don’t significantly challenge large muscle groups that drive calorie burn. Most barre classes burn around 200 to 300 calories per hour. A better option for higher calorie burn is a barre-strength hybrid that incorporates dumbbells, cables, or heavier resistance, giving you a more complete full-body workout and greater afterburn.
Casual Pickleball or Tennis
Pickleball and tennis are fun, social, and involve multidirectional movement, but casual play often includes frequent rest periods, water breaks, and downtime between points. Because of this, calorie burn is lower than expected—usually around 160 to 200 calories per hour during relaxed play. For a more consistent calorie burn with a social element, rucking is a great alternative. Walking with a weighted backpack keeps the heart rate elevated while still allowing conversation and group participation.
None of these exercises are “bad”—they’re just better at different things. Yoga, Pilates, walking, and barre are excellent for mobility, strength, and long-term health. If calorie burn is your priority, the key is increasing intensity, resistance, or sustained effort. With a few smart swaps or simple tweaks, you can keep the workouts you enjoy while getting more bang for your sweat.
