While dieting can help you lose weight, exercise can speed up the process to burn more fat and calories. There are many activities that can burn 300 to 500 calories per half-hour workout, giving you a wide range of exercise choices. Since the more calories burned, the more weight you can lose, the best cardio exercises offer the most calories burned per half-hour based on information from Harvard Medical School's health publication, ShapeFit online and MayoClinic.com.
Gym Exercises
High-impact step aerobics ranks high in calorie burn using between 300 and 444 calories depending on your weight -- the more you weigh the more you burn. But if you don't like classes, the elliptical trainer can burn 270 to 400 calories, according to Harvard's online exercise/calorie guide, or the stationary bike burns 250 to 500 calories during a half-hour workout, according to ShapeFit. The amount of calories you burn depends much on the resistance you set the equipment on and the amount of effort your exert.
Outdoor Exercises
Many gym exercises can be done outside as well including jogging and running, which burn 240 to 733 calories per 30-minute workout depending on your weight and speed. Rollerblading is easier on the joints than running, but burns as many as 200 to 300 calories every half-hour, according to Harvard's health publication website. Bicycling between 16 and 19 mph can burn 360 to 533 calories during a 30-minute ride, according to Harvard's online guide.
Sports
Working out can be more fun when it's a game. Many sports burn a large number of calories because they involve interval training; alternating high and low intensity work. Racquetball burns 300 to 444 calories, according to Harvard's online guide, while singles tennis burns 210 to 311 calories per half-hour game. Harvard also notes that playing basketball for 30 minutes can burn 240 to 355 calories.
Play
Many recreational activities involve cardiovascular exercise. Hiking and backpacking can burn more than 200 calories every half-hour. Rock climbing also builds muscle and burns up to 488 calories per half-hour of ascending, according to Harvard's online guide. For winter enthusiasts, ice skating burns 210 to 311 calories and cross-country skiing burns up to 266 calories per 30 minutes of activity, according to Harvard online.
