Many fitness enthusiasts turn to road and treadmill running as their preferred method of burning calories. This high-intensity workout not only elevates your heart rate but also engages numerous muscle groups, ensuring a significant calorie burn both during and after the session. However, if you’re seeking variety or running isn’t feasible, consider incorporating these five standing exercises into your routine. They can potentially burn more calories than running, especially after the age of 50, and might even add a refreshing change to your fitness regimen!

“The downside of using running solely for calorie burning,” says Kevin Snodgrass, head trainer at Vivo, “is that the calorie burn halts once you stop running.” He adds, “Strength training, on the other hand, continues to burn calories during the workout and boosts your metabolic rate for up to 24 to 48 hours afterward, as your body recovers. Beyond caloric burn, strength training offers benefits like increased muscle mass, enhanced bone density, and improved cognitive function. When compared to running, strength training is often the better choice.”

Snodgrass advises focusing on full-body strength exercises that engage major muscle groups, such as the back, chest, glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

“The more muscles you activate and the heavier the weights you lift, the greater the calorie expenditure,” he notes.

“The more muscle recruited, and the heavier the weight being moved, the higher the calorie burn,” he says.

Perform the below exercises two times a week for beginners and three times a week for active, more advanced fitness enthusiasts.

Weighted Squats

Squats fire up large muscle groups—including the hamstrings, glutes, quads, and core—which helps rev up the calorie burn. Adding weights like dumbbells or kettlebells into the mix also gives your arms a stellar workout as well.

1. Begin by standing tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell, kettlebell, or weight plate in front of your chest. Snodgrass recommends choosing a weight that makes 8 reps feel challenging.
3. Bend at the knees and hips as you lower into a squat.
4. Use control to descend until your thighs assume a “sitting” position or lower.
5. Press through your heels to return to standing.
6. Perform 3 sets of 8 reps.

Weighted Deadlifts

Weighted deadlifts are an excellent choice to help strengthen your posterior chain while boosting flexibility and balance. It trains the hamstrings, glutes, back, arms, and core.

1. Begin by standing tall with your feet hip-width apart, holding a heavy dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs. Snodgrass recommends choosing a weight that makes 8 reps feel challenging.
2. Make sure your legs are mostly straight with just a slight bend in the knees.
3. Hinge at the hips to lower the dumbbells down your legs and toward the floor.
4. Keep your back flat and the dumbbells close to your body when lowering, feeling a solid stretch in the hamstrings.
5. Activate your glutes and hamstrings as you rise back up.
6. Perform the exercise for 3 sets of 8 reps.

Weighted Thrusters

“Weighted thrusters work the whole body. The thruster is a combo movement that starts with a squat and finishes with an overhead press,” Snodgrass explains. “From a standing position, [you’ll] hold two weights at your shoulders, squat to the height of a chair, then stand up. As you stand up, press the weights overhead, then bring them back to your shoulders and repeat.”

1. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-distance apart.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder level, palms facing inward. Snodgrass recommends using a light to moderate weight.
3. Bend your knees and press your hips back to lower into a squat.
4. Drive through your heels, exploding out of the squat as you extend your legs and press the dumbbells overhead in a smooth motion.
5. Lower the weights to shoulder height.
6. Return to a squat.
7. Complete 3 sets of 8 reps.

Weighted Lunge to Curl

The weighted lunge to bicep curl is an awesome total-body combo move that fires up the legs and arms. How to do it? You’ll hold two dumbbells at your sides, step back into a reverse lunge, lower, and then curl the weights up to your shoulders before rising back up.

1. Begin by standing tall, holding a dumbbell in each hand at your sides. Snodgrass recommends using a light to moderate weight.
2. Take a big step back with your right leg, dropping your right knee toward the floor.
3. Once you reach the bottom of the lunge, perform a bicep curl, bringing the weights up toward your shoulders.
4. Lower the dumbbells as you rise up.
5. Repeat on the left side.
6. Perform 3 sets of 8 reps on each leg.

Standing Bent-Over Back Rows

Standing bent-over rows engage the core, back, shoulders, and biceps. You’ll start by holding the dumbbells at your sides and hinging at the hips. From the bent-over position, you’ll then row the weights up toward your ribs before lowering.

1. Begin by standing tall with your feet hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in each hand in front of you. Snodgrass recommends choosing a weight that makes 8 reps feel challenging.
2. Hinge at the hips until your torso is parallel to the ground. Maintain a flat back and soft knees.
3. Allow the weights to lower with your arms completely extended.
4. Row the dumbbells up toward your torso.
5. Lower to the start position with control.
6. Perform 3 sets of 8 reps.