So the questions is, with so many workout options and classes out there to choose from (along with gym membership prices that never seem to go down), what classes are the most effective at maximizing your calorie burn and giving you the most bang for your buck?

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The amount of calories that you burn doing any given type of exercise is dependent on several factors: age, sex and weight, along with the duration and intensity of the workout. This can leave a pretty wide range when trying to find out how many calories you can burn taking a class at your local gym. Read on to find a list of the most common and popular exercise classes out there along with their calorie-blasting spectrum.

This class is always a favorite among group exercise aficionados. Expect to burn between 400 to 600 calories an hour. To get yourself burning calories at the high end of the range or above, find ways to increase the intensity, such as using a higher step and/or adding hand weights.

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Spinning

Spinning is another highly-popular form of group exercise, and another one where calorie counts are widely varied. Working at a relatively -low intensity, you can burn around 300 calories an hour. However, as you increase the intensity, you'll increase your calorie burn. Adding bursts of speed and using high resistance can help you burn up to 800 calories in an hour. It's certainly not for the faint of heart, but is one of the best classes for burning loads of calories.

Kickboxing

An easy-to-find, high-calorie burning class is kickboxing. For one hour of kickboxing, you can expect to burn between 550 and 850 calories. You can up the intensity by adding light hand weights to your punches and jabs.

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Yoga

There are many different types of yoga, and depending on the one you choose, you can end up with wildly different amounts of calories burned. Most yoga classes that you come across at your local gym are Hatha yoga, which translates to about 175 calories burned per hour. However, Bikram yoga classes pack on the intensity and can get you burning up to 600 calories an hour. While not common at local gyms, most yoga studios offer the class.

Pilates is another popular exercise class, and for good reason. Intermediate level Pilates classes can help you burn 300 to 400 calories an hour, while advanced Pilates can help you burn 400 to 500 calories an hour.
While these ranges listed above can give you a general idea of how many calories you can burn doing these exercises, the best, and most accurate, way to measure it is by investing in a heart rate monitor that also measures calorie expenditure. {relatedarticles}That way you can find what works best for you and what intensity you need to work at to hit your calorie-burning goals.