You may have heard that cardio is the best way to burn body flab, you may have also heard that cardio is way overrated. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The way many people do cardio is ineffective and the workouts they do are not those that will give them the best results. To lose fat with cardio you need to choose the most intense fat burning cardio workouts and to do them in the right way. In this article I want to share 3 of my favorite cardiovascular workouts that can help you to burn fat and drop pounds quickly.
Exercise #1 – Rowing
I love exercising with a rowing machine for a number of reasons:
- It isn’t just a cardiovascular workout but an upper body strength workout as well. You can tone your arms and back muscles with this workout.
- It is a high intensity workout so you burn lots of calories with it.
- I find that after I complete my strength training workout, the extra effort my upper body puts in while rowing gives my muscle additional stimulation.
Exercise #2 – Fast paced Stair climbing
This has recently become a favorite of mine, maybe because I’ve moved to an apartment on the 10th floor. I climb the stairs from the ground floor to my apartment, take the elevator down, and climb again. If you go fast and try to climb the stairs two at a time at least part of the way, you will find that this quickly tires your out and your legs will feel the strain and effort of the workout. I highly recommend stair climbing. Anyone who lives in a building should try it.
Exercise #3 – Running
Need I say more? Running is the ultimate cardio workout. You don’t need any special equipment to do this and it can burn a lot of calories and fat. I recommend doing intervals in which you change your pace every few minutes and to include some sprinting and uphill running in each of your workouts. You can get an awesome running workout in just 15-20 minutes if you push yourself hard.
Bonus exercise – Jumping rope
You don’t need more than a few minutes to feel how powerful this exercise is. Jumping rope works your lower and upper body and is quite intensive. If you have a big enough room or a terrace, you can even do his workout at home.
Do these 3 + 1 cardio exercises and you will get fast results.
