For example, downhill skiing burns fewer calories an hour than touch football (672), high impact aerobics (588), wheel-chair basketball (546) and moving from one residence to another (588).^† But it does burn more calories than operating a snow blower (378), hatha yoga (336) and watching TV (95). According to Fit Resource, downhill skiing burns 504 calories an hour which exactly matches the expenditures of shoveling snow by hand and water skiing.

So which activity is the best choice if you want to burn as many calories as possible for each hour of expended effort? You can choose from two: Running and bicycling. According to Fit Resource, running six minute miles and biking 20 miles per hour each expend 1386 calories per hour. What if you're a slow poke? Running twelve minute miles results in a 672 calorie burn, less than half the expenditure of six minute miles, but still more than downhill skiing.

But I'll take downhill skiing over running for the purpose of total caloric expenditure. I can ski for an entire day (8*504=4032) while I could only sustain a run of eight minute miles for a little more than an hour (1.25*1050=1312.5). Unless of course the mercury climbs over 95^oF, then I'm not going to run at all. Instead I'll be staying inside--in air conditioning--and waiting for snow...

† Since I'm personally closer to 175 than to 150 I used that column for all hourly caloric expenditures. Fit Resource explains how you can recalculate these numbers to match your exact weight.