Your weekend workout options: Hiking along a trail in the great outdoors while catching up with your BFF or slogging along on a creaky treadmill for yet another run at the gym. You know what to do here.

But, if you’ve considered hiking more of a leisurely activity than a kick-ass workout, you should know that hitting the trails is a worthwhile sweat sesh for your weight-loss plan.

“Hiking is actually considered by many experts to be better for fat burn than other forms of cardiovascular exercise,” says Chuck Pelitera, M.D., C.S.C.S., and assistant professor of kinesiology at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Our bodies are better at using stored fat for energy with activities of high duration and low intensity.

Plus, when you head out on the trail, you’ll have to head back. There’s no hitting the stop button when you want to quit, says Doug Barsanti, C.S.C.S. and owner of ReInvention Fitness in Santa Cruz, California.

Sold? Perfect. Now take a hike with these trainer-approved tips to help you burn more calories.