Are all burned calories equal?

annahiven

So, I'm about six months into my fitness journey. I've got probably another 5-8 lbs to lose, and in truth, it is getting challenging.

I have done mostly cardio so far, and my heart has gotten pretty strong, I guess. I have a very difficult time getting my heart rate up to burn calories now. If I spend 30 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical or exercise bike, I am lucky if i can burn 225 calories.

On the other hand, if I do just a little bit of calisthenics training, I can burn that same amount of calories in half the time. The issue is, I don't like it at all. By comparison, I find cardio to be a great stress relief and I enjoy doing it.

So if 15 minutes of strength/calisthenics training burns the same amount of calories as 30 minutes of cardio, is there really a difference in how it will effect my weight loss?

How much muscle would I really gain from pushups, crunches, lunges, etc (I do them weighted sometimes, I'm not a complete wuss)? I don't want to alternate and do something I hate, unless I know there is a bigger payoff.