Even if you’re a serious runner, you don’t spend all your time running, especially during the offseason. This is the time we can all benefit from trying some other exercises.
“Let’s face it, [training] three to six days per week, for eight to 10 months can get monotonous, and at the end of a long season, the mind and body might both need a break,” says Andrew Kalley, USAT Level II coach, seven-time Team USA Triathlon World Championship Qualifier, and master trainer at Chelsea Piers in New York City. “Changing modalities can give the mind and body the change of pace they crave, while ensuring you don’t lose all the fitness you work so hard to build up during the season.”
Because running incorporates both cardio and strength, if you want to be a strong runner, you need to have great cardiovascular endurance and have a solid strength training The Benefits of Taking a Break from Running Luke Lombardo, certified endurance coach and master trainer at Lagree Fitness in Santa Monica, California. The offseason becomes all about maintaining your fitness in order to prep for the following season.
To do that, we’ve rounded up some of the best calorie-burning exercises that will get your heart pumping and improve both your aerobic and anaerobic endurance.
(Note: Calorie burn here is estimated for a 125-pound person and a 185-pound person, according to guidelines from Best Running Shoes 2025. The more you weigh, the more calories you tend to burn on any particular task—but a lot of other factors come into play, too, so this isn’t an exact science, but more like a general guideline.)
Best Calorie-Burning Exercises for Runners
Jumping Rope
Calorie burn: 600-888 calories/hour
“Jumping rope builds the calves, helps with coordination, and increases bone density,” says Park. Start slow with just a few minutes at a time, then build up from there.
Up the burn: Instead of jumping for long periods of time, Park says to try doing shorter bursts, such as 30 seconds of intense jumping followed by 30 seconds of easy jumping. “This will increase your heart rate and help you burn more,” he says.
Sprinting Stairs
Calorie burn: 639-946 calories/hour
“Stair sprints build total leg strength, increase bone density, and help improve your overall running mechanics,” explains Park. Sprinting stairs will be extra beneficial for those who have to run up steep hills midrace.
Up the burn: Do a shorter burst of around seven seconds of work followed by rest, suggests Park. “You will get the strength and power, and recover much faster than longer—think 30-plus seconds—of work.”
Kettlebell Circuit
Calorie burn: 360-532 calories/hour
Kettlebell workouts are one of Park’s favorite exercise types, but the proper form and technique needs to learned first and foremost in order to prevent injury. “Once you’re proficient, kettlebells build power, strength, coordination, and improve aerobic fitness,” he says.
Up the burn: Try a fluid circuit that flows from one movement to the next. “Keep the reps sharp and powerful,” insists Park. “If you cannot hold form, always stop and reset.”
Boxing
Calorie burn: 540-800 calories/hour
Boxing helps greatly increase cardiovascular endurance (which is important for runners), explains Lombardo. You’ll also benefit from focusing on your upper-body strength and endurance.
Up the burn: Mix up the duration of your rounds, suggests Park. “Do two- to three-minute rounds with shorter powerful rounds of 20 seconds to one minute,” he says.
HIIT
Calorie burn: 240-355 calories/30 minutes
Updated: Jan 23, 2019 10:20 AM EST, HIIT training is one of the best ways to maintain some high end work that you would normally be doing on the track during the season, says Park.
Up the burn: Timing changes everything. “Mix up times, sometimes doing short and powerful five- to seven-second bursts of all-out effort, intertwined with longer one to two minute bursts,” says Park. “This keeps the body guessing and working.”
Rowing
Calorie burn: 420-622 calories/hour (at a moderate pace)
The rowing stroke itself forces you to work your pulling muscles, explains Park. “Overall, this exercise can help you maintain better posture,” he says.
Up the burn: Think of it as row sprints versus longer, more consistent segments. “Mix in short powerful seven- to 10-second bursts and longer, lower-end, aerobic rounds,” says Park.
Battle Ropes
Calorie burn: 285-421 calories/hour
Battle ropes combine strength and endurance into one exercise. “If done correctly, battle ropes help build good posture, and they work the much neglected pulling muscles of runners,” says Park.
Up the burn: “I like to keep these 30 seconds and under in circuits,” says Park. “Most people lose form after 30 seconds of going hard, so go hard, stop, rest, reset, and then go again.”
Elliptical
Calorie burn: 540-800 calories/hour
“The elliptical is a great alternative if a runner is injured and can’t ride,” explains Park. “The exercise improves posture if done correctly, and is a similar motion to running, so it translates well.”
Up the burn: Just as you would on a run, perform intervals. One structure to try a 2:1 ratio of work and recovery. After a warmup, go hard for two minutes then recover for one minute. Repeat. This can be scaled up (four minutes of hard effort with two minutes of recovery) or down (one minute of all-out effort, 30 seconds recovery).
Swimming
Calorie burn: 600-888 (swimming vigorously)
“Not only does swimming work the entire body, but it’s also a low impact way to get a good deal of strength and deep intrinsic core strength work in,” explains Lombardo. If you’re dealing with injury, the pool is one of the best places to rehab without losing your cardio fitness.
Up the burn: Instead of using swimming for steady state cardio, try an interval workout. “Do 100- to 200-meter repeats with 30 to 60 seconds of recovery in between,” suggests Lombardo.
Ski Erg
Calorie burn: 285-422 calories/30 minutes
This machine uses the entire posterior chain of muscles, requires coordination and forces the linking of the entire body,” says Park. “It’s one of my favorite forms of cardio exercise.”
Up the burn: Do both short all-out, 80- to 100-meter efforts, mixed in with longer aerobic segments, suggests Park.
Amy Schlinger is a health and fitness writer and editor based in New York City whose work has appeared in Men’s Health, Women’s Health, The New York Post, Self, Shape, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and more; The National Academy for Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) is extremely passionate about healthy living and can often be found strength training at the gym when she isn’t interviewing trainers, doctors, medical professionals, nutritionists, or pro athletes for stories.
