By Bob Greene

You have your favorite athletic shoes laced and your best feel-good workout outfit on. Now what? You know aerobic exercise is essential to lose weight and keep it off, but does it matter what you do? Any type of movement is better than nothing, but certain activity is definitely more effective than others.

What you choose depends on your personal interest, schedule, and current fitness level. Yet, it's best to select activities that cause you to support all or most of your own body weight. This challenges your body and helps to increase your metabolism, which causes you to burns more calories and ultimately lose more weight. Choosing the right activity also keeps you motivated to exercise, which helps you reap more physical benefits and progress from one activity level to the next. (Check out the Best Life Activity Scale to determine your current activity level.)

The good news: there's a lot to choose from. Below is a breakdown of the most effective aerobic activities from a weight loss perspective. Each has their own advantages so odds are you'll find several to your liking. It’s also best to perform more than one type of exercise every week. My advice: Choose two main activities that you perform regularly and a few alternate ones to mix in when your workouts feel routine, or if you can’t do your usual exercise.

Power Walking
A convenient and easy aerobic exercise that everyone should begin with. The odds of injuring yourself are quite low, it’s convenient (you can perform outside or on a treadmill) and can be highly aerobic if performed properly. (For more on power walking, check out click here.)

Jogging
It's a highly aerobic activity that can produce quicker weight loss results. Jogging may not be ideal for beginners or those who are quite overweight or have heart problems. Check with your physician before you begin a jogging routine. As your fitness improves, though, it’s a wonderful step up from Power Walking.

Aerobic Dancing
It seems every week gyms come out with some new low impact aerobic dance class. Most are hybrids that mix dancing with sport movements like kickboxing, martial arts, and yoga, while others are old-fashioned “move to the groove” dancing. Best of all: most are ideal for every fitness level.

Stair Climbing
Slightly different that stair stepping, stair climbing is performed on actual stairs like those found in your home on in a stadium. (No stairs around? Many gyms now have re-introduced escalator-like machines that mimic traditional stair climbing.) You may have to build up your endurance to perform stair climbing continuously for a minimum of 10 minutes. Going up is harder than going down, but you should maintain the same intensity in both directions.

The following exercises are not quite as aerobic as those above, but still offer solid workouts.

Stair Stepping
This exercise requires the use of a star-stepping machine where you legs move in an up and down motion like you're climbing stairs, but without having to take actual steps. It’s an ideal alternative to stair climbing for those with some physical limitations like tricky knees or low fitness levels as it places less stress on the body.

Elliptical Exercise
A combination between jogging and stair stepping, it’s an ideal replacement for those who have difficulty with weight-bearing exercises because it doesn't overly stress muscles and joints. For an all-around workout, use an elliptical exercise machine that simultaneously moves both your arms and legs.

Incline trainer
Incline trainers are hybrid machines that fall somewhere between stair stepping and walking. They look and act like a high-performance treadmill, but allows for up to 50 percent incline for high calorie burning in a shorter amount of time.

Spinning/Cycling
An exciting way to enjoy a group workout in a gym without having to worry about keeping up or following specific steps or routines. Just take a seat and start pedaling at your pace. Spinning is ideal for people of all fitness levels and those who have difficulty with fully weight-bearing exercises. Want some fresh air and sun? Get the same workout with regular outside cycling, just make sure to keep your legs moving and keep the coasting to a minimum.

Indoor Rowing
This is a fairly aerobic exercise that’s easy to learn and also conditions your arms and legs. It's ideal for all fitness levels although people with back or neck ailments should avoid.