From team sports to long-forgotten playground games, here are three activities that will give your calories a run for their money.

If you’re looking to lose weight through exercise but hate pounding away on a treadmill for hours on end, then you’re in luck, as it turns out you can actually exercise more efficiently with a fun activity! The important caveat to note is that exercise alone may not actually help much in losing weight. Other factors such as your diet, height and weight also play a part.

There are many sports out there that promise both entertainment and fat-burning potential. Here are our three favourites:

Squash

Competitive sports consistently perform better when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight. A fun and relatively easy-to-learn option is squash, which can burn between 700 and 1,000 calories in an hour (depending on your body weight). This strenuous two- or four-person game really gets your blood pumping as you hurl yourself vigorously around the enclosed court, bending, lunging, jumping and twisting to get one up on your opponent. According to the ActiveSG website, sports is slowly regaining popularity in Singapore.

Jump rope

If you’ve recently picked up a skipping rope then bravo! This traditional childhood favourite is making a comeback as a gruelling fat-busting workout that can burn up nearly 750 calories an hour. As well as working out your legs, it’s physically demanding on your arms, shoulders and bottom. Plus, you can have fun remembering all those moves from school: the crossover, the double jump, the slalom…it’s a full-blown workout. If you want to learn more, the Jump Rope Federation of Singapore offers introductory sessions to the sport.

Rollerblading

Here’s another high-school activity that time forgot: inline skating. It’s definitely more of a niche sport in Singapore among adults, but don’t let that stop you if you want to burn around 750 calories an hour. There are several places in Singapore that offer lessons for adults, and some even have company deals so you can rope in your colleagues for that extra motivational boost. Once you know your stuff, there are meet-ups for urban skating that happen weekly around the city.

There’s too much time pressure on our lives nowadays to devote hours to an activity that’s not giving you the results you desire. So if you’re all about burning those calories then choose your sport wisely — make fitness fun!

Keeping fit is just one aspect of protecting yourself from life’s unforeseen circumstances. In the event of hospitalisation, PRUShield can help you.

Disclaimer:

The information in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of Prudential Assurance Company Singapore Pte. Ltd. Certain information in this article may be taken from external sources, which we consider reliable. We do not represent that this information is accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as such.

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