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:

1. 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.
2. It is a high intensity workout so you burn lots of calories with it.
3. 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.

Cardio workouts, especially for the aged, prove to be the best alternative workout. No weights, no straining of the body parts, no unnecessary strain-related injuries or broken bones or dislocated joints – overall, it’s an overall solution for an elderly person’s health and well being. Also recommended for overly overweight people, since too much of fat is inversely proportional to large muscle masses. To make that muscle visible, nothing burns fat better initially than a good cardio workout.

But a busy lifestyle being the chief barrier between urge and possibility, most of us do not find sufficient time to walk down to the gym. Even if they do, the travelling means is the car or any other motorized vehicle that kills the very basic idea of a workout. Walking to the gym makes the quads work and thus, produces the testosterone, a natural fat burner; however, that must not stand as a barrier now since a good cardio workout can be obtained if a person gets hold of instructional videos. These are what the industry calls the Workout DVDs and a treadmill is the only equipment (not necessarily a motorized one) that you’ll require to go with it. Brisk, jog or run, flat, inclined or declined – it’s solely upon your discretion; even the angle at which you want. Add to it a stationary bike and paddle away the extra flab. Just like the treadmill, the bike has several user-selected options to choose from to control the amount of pressure you would like to apply on it.

Remember the childhood days at the park? Yes, it’s the jump rope being discussed now; it is the least expensive workout equipment that you’ll ever find. A 20 to 30 minutes schedule with the jump rope gives you full body exercise for both muscle toning and fat burn and if added with a step workout (not the fancy stuff but heavy duty ones) equipment, your recipe for a tasty fat-burn pie will be complete. But then again, remember that you need to eat it too, to see any result showing up.

If you want to lose weight fast, then you have to do some exercises. One good exercise that helps you keep fit is cardio exercise. It also helps keep your heart from certain diseases. These exercise are very easy and can be fun to do too.

One good choice of cardio exercise is swimming. Swimming is good especially done with a group of people and can be done with old people as well.

People with joint problems can easily jump into this kind of exercise because the water does not put stress on their joints and would rather relax it. This makes swimming very ideal for people way above their age.

Older people can also enjoy other forms of exercise other than swimming like walking. Walking tends to exercise both the muscles of the legs and the muscles of the heart. They may not be able to burn calories like that of swimming but they are good for maintaining the fitness of the body.

Jogging can be a fun activity for the entire family. Jogging helps improve the overall fitness and can be another way to improve muscles and tone them. It is a great way to burn calories fast. Though good for the body, it is not advisable for everybody to go jogging since it puts too much stress in the body.

And since jogging is not for everybody, it is better that you try out biking instead. Biking does not put too much stress to the body like jogging. Biking can also be fun especially if you ride around the neighborhood. It is also a good transportation option if you are living near your workplace.

For people who enjoy socializing while doing cardio exercises, sports like basketball can be a good choice. Try out sports like basketball to help tone your lower body as well as enhance the muscles of the heart.

Another option is tennis. It works the upper body which also works the heart, Tennis is a good cardio exercise and sport. It increases the heart rate and improves cardiovascular health.

There are a lot more exercises that help keep your heart healthy.

Cardio workouts are one among most commonly taken option to reduce the lose belly fat. The reason is simple – these workouts are quite effective in order to burn the overall body fat. There are several forms of cardio workouts that one can opt from. Based on the research & studies conducted worldwide, given below are the three best alternatives among the cardio workouts in order to get rid of the belly fat in a short span of time:

1. Interval Training

While, the traditional way of cardio workouts essentially requires you to burn at least 400 calories in a single workout session, the interval training requires lesser time invested. To compare the span of time among the two, the traditional plan takes 40 minutes and interval training might only take as low as 4 minutes a day.

For some of us, interval training might not sound as a true cardio but it is proved with several studies that this means of weight loss indeed helps you achieve your goal. The key format is to do a regular warm-up followed by alternate sessions of hard & easy exercises. The workout ends up with a relaxing cool down.

For instance a 20 minutes workout in the interval training starts with a 5 minutes warm-up. Then you must do some hard exercises for one minute. These must be done at around 10 – 20% harder pace as compared to the normal intensity. Next 1 minute you decrease the pace of the exercises. The cycle of the hard & easy exercises continues for around 5 times. You end up with a 3 minutes cool-down session.

2. Tabata Protocol

Tabata Protocol is devised in a study conducted in Japan. In this sort of session, you initialize with the quick & easy body-weight exercises, like Jumping Jacks. Next, you must alternate amidst the 3 lower-body & 3 upper-body body-weight exercises. In this session you can take up squats, lunges, push-ups, pulling exercises such as rows & chinups, ab exercises for total body such as mountain climbers, etc. At the end, you take up 8 exercise circuits that must be some tough total body exercises such as jumps, running in the place, burpees, etc.

3. Kettlebell Workouts

For those who wish to think out of the box this is a fairly good option. The high rep kettlebell swings & snatches make your heart pound & make you sweat like anything! One might also choose to do this workout with the dumbbells.

Hi everyone, I’m Jeffrey Rollins and I’d like to share my views about the all important cardio vs muscle building exercises dilemma and can they really help each other. How should you spend your time exercising and does cardio fitness really help to improve muscle gain and tone?

Well, IMHO there’s a strict connection between aerobics and the way your muscles look. I’ll try and explain why in this article. It’s no secret that if you place all your efforts in running, swimming, tennis, basketball or any other cardio induced workout your body will get slimmer and look more fit. The real question is: “how do you increase your muscle mass while keeping a tight and fit physic?”.

Muscles build up on proteins. So eating a lot of proteins is mandatory when you are trying to build up muscles. However, no matter how hard you workout at the gym, no matter how many reps you do, your body will store some of the proteins it needs as fat because it does not burn as much calories when performing anaerobic exercises as it does when performing aerobic exercises.

But, if you combine a lot of aerobic exercises in your routine, you will burn a lot of calories and your body will turn to proteins as a source of energy. The same proteins you need to build up your muscles, or worse the same proteins which are already in your muscles which will now be broken down and will deter your muscle’s growth.

Note – Fat is the last source of energy the body turns to when looking for calories to burn. So after carbohydrates, your proteins are at risk.

So how can you gain muscle, while not looking fat, having great muscle tone and bulk up further? The answer is to keep a mediate cardio routine with an extensive anaerobic bodybuilding program. And yes, then cardio and aerobics actually can help in putting on extra muscle and gaining weight the right way. Why? because cardio workouts actually elevate your heart rate and increase blood flow. Your blood being the conduit of food and energy to your body simply performs better, allowing for required energy and proteins to reach their final destination faster and better.

Yes – Cardio can help you gain muscle faster, but it’s important to find the right balance between cardio and anaerobic workouts.

It’s important to note!!! Every body, your literal body, acts differently to working out. It’s crucial to consult your fitness instructor and your family doctor about any significant lifestyle changes you are about to make.

When it’s time to start exercising, you may be wondering what is the best cardio workout for burning fat. If you do your research, you’ll see that every cardio machine on the market claims to be the best. You may never find the answer to which machine gives the best workout, since every person is different and has different cardio needs. When you’re ready to begin working out, the best choice is to choose a workout that you actually enjoy.

When you enjoy your workout, you’re most likely to stick with it for the longterm. Consistency with any cardio workout is the best way to lead a healthy lifestyle. The degree to which a cardio workout burns fat depends on the intensity of the exercise.

Cardio exercise beginners should choose low intensity workouts. Low intensity workouts will help you to workout longer, building your endurance. After time, you may begin to increase the intensity of your workouts. Increasing the intensity will help you to burn more fat in a shorter period of time. The best cardio workouts alternate bursts of high intensity with periods of moderate intensity. A better workout will get you to your weight loss goals faster!

As far as exercise equipment goes, treadmills are consistently rated number one; they are available in every price range and are a common staple in a family’s home. A treadmill workout will help you to burn calories, lose weight, and achieve your goals. Varying your workout is the key to preventing boredom on the treadmill, and alternating running and walking can give you the best cardio workout.

For those who need a low impact workout, elliptical exercise equipment is a great choice. An elliptical machine provides a great cardiovascular workout without impact on your joints. Again, varying your intensity will give you the best workout from your elliptical trainer.

If traditional exercise equipment bores you, then spinning may be the perfect workout for you. Spinning is anything but boring, and is a popular form of fitness. A spinning workout will get your heart racing as you pedal to upbeat music. You will work up a sweat, so it’s important to stay hydrated and keep your heart rate in check by wearing a heart rate monitor.

As you can see, there is no single machine that will give the absolute best cardio workout. No matter what method you choose, keep your workout entertaining, and you’ll be more likely to stick with it!

Dragging yourself onto a treadmill and sweating it out by running on the spot leaves a lot to be desired. What if your weight loss cardio workout could be fun? What if you could maximize your workout so that you spend less timing sweating it out on a treadmill, and more time doing the things you want to do? Well the truth is, with the right guidance, it can be done!

Cardio exercise doesn’t always mean running on a treadmill! Pick an activity you enjoy.

The first thing you need to know about any weight loss cardio workout is that you need include activities that you enjoy. The biggest problem that people face is loss of motivation when they don’t see results immediately. But if you choose something you enjoy doing, and do it more often, you’re much more likely to stick to your routine, melt the fat away, sculpt and tone your body.

Here are some cardiovascular exercise activities you could try:

• How bout a swim? If you like swimming, then go with that. Go for a swim 2 to 3 times a week. Increase the intensity of your work out i.e. more laps.
• Jump rope? You can do a lot of neat stuff with a jump rope. The world’s best boxers use this method. What more, if you have kids, you can include them in your cardiovascular routine. You can make up lots of little games to keep yourselves entertained, I know my kids love this! Who can jump faster, who can jump backwards, can you skip with the rope crossed over? Let your imagination run wild!
• Enjoy nature? Then drive to the beach and go for a jog along the beach. How about a jog on the beach as the sun sets? If there’s no beach nearby, then maybe you can jog around parks or any other place of your choice.
• Do you have a bike that’s gathering dust in the garage? You could give that a try and use it to explore your neighborhood. If your friends don’t live too far, maybe ride your bike when you visit, instead of driving your car.
• Enjoy the company of others? Get an exercise buddy, or join and aerobics class.

Hopefully these suggestions will get your creative juices flowing!

Interval training for maximum results

Interval training will allow you to reap the benefits of cardio training. It involves high intensity cardiovascular exercise for a few minutes then a very low intensity recovery period for a minute or so. For example, you could sprint past the next 2 or 3 lamp posts and walk slowly to the next lamp post. The beauty is, you can do this with any type of cardiovascular exercise.

Minimize the cumbersome equipment

You can have a fantastic weight loss cardio workout with minimal equipment. Most people are bombarded with advertising for latest exercise gadgets. While some of these are great, some do nothing and some even increase your chances of injury. The other problem of course is that some people buy the equipment and never use it. If you find yourself in this situation, here is a tip:

Sell or give away all but one of your pieces of exercise equipment. Make sure the one you leave is the your favorite one. Use the extra money to buy something that will add to the particular activity you’ve opted for. For example, if you’re left with a jump rope, or treadmill, then by yourself some cool running shoes. Or if you’ve decided to take up swimming, then buy yourself some good swim wear that you feel really good in.

Monitoring your heart rate can help you achieve optimum results

It’s important to consider your heart rate during your weight loss cardio workout. The easiest and least time consuming way to do this is to try and speak half way through your workout. If you’re too winded to say a sentence, then you need to take it down a notch, you’re over doing it. But if it’s too easy, then you need to up the anti a little.

Be sure to get the right guidance, starting from scratch by yourself, adds to the frustration that can come with weight loss. It also increases the likelihood of giving up. A weight loss cardio workout need not bring you boredom. Spice it up by picking activities you enjoy. If you get bored with that, pick something else. It’s as easy as that.

If you are wanting to learn about the most intense cardio workout for serious fitness then you have got to take the time to learn and implement the use of kettlebell circuits into your fitness program. Kettlebell training alone is one high intensity cardio and strength workout that is quick to get your attention if you have never experienced it before. Kettlebell circuits are even harder because they implement the combined use of many kettlebell lifts one after the other without rest.

The only cardio workouts that will give you any significant physical benefit have to involve high intensity. As a strength and conditioning professional I can think of no better high intensity cardio workout than the kettlebell. With this device you can train your entire body to be mobile, flexible, strong, powerful, and overall better conditioned than with the use of anything else! When I talk about cardio I am talking about going beyond the weak effort of aerobics. Forget about taking a stroll around the block. For real hard hitting results you have got to get your heart pumping hard and fast. Kettlebell circuits are a means of getting this done in a hurry. Even by implementing the most basic 3 or 4 kettlebell lifts in a row you stand to get a high intensity cardio exercise session that is sure to take your breath away and give you the strongest heart you have ever had. You see even basic lifts such as swings, snatches, cleans, and jerks offer a tremendous workout by having you incorporate hundreds of your muscles at one time in order to handle and tame the kettlebell throughout each individual movement. Once you give these exercises a try you will never go back to the “old aerobics” that you were so used to doing before. Not only will you gain an unbelievable cardiovascular workout, but you will soon have the rock hard lean muscle mass to follow. Forget about so-called high intensity walking my friend, especially if you are ready to take on the iron bell.

Kettlebell lifts involve the proper application of technique just like any other form of strength and resistance training. In order for you to benefit take the time to learn the proper form that is involved with the basic lifts. Once you do this your workouts will soar. Remember that anyone can train hard, but only the best train smart my friend!

To achieve optimum health, you need to establish healthy habits in three areas. Professionals refer to these as the legs of a three-legged stool and they include nutrition, muscle development, and cardiovascular, or heart, health. These top five cardio workouts for women will help you tackle one leg of that stool.

Cardio workouts exercise your heart and improve the flow of oxygen throughout the body. Women who exercise their hearts through cardio routines have a better chance of fighting heart disease than those who don’t. The good news is that there’s sure to be some form of aerobic exercise that appeals to each woman. The top five choices are:

1. Circuit resistance training – using both hand weights or other resistance based training while moving quickly from one set of exercises to another.
2. Jumping rope – certainly not a low impact workout but so very effective at getting that heart pumping harder.
3. Running – a great exercise for outdoors or indoors on a treadmill.
4. Kickboxing or some form of Dance – remember when Tae Bo was all the rage? There was a really good reason. It’s fun, unique and has great cardio benefits.
5. Hiking – take the walk outdoors and up and down a few trails and you’ll not only be working your heart but also improving the strength in a number of muscle groups.

According to the American Heart Associations most recent statistics on cardiovascular disease, CVD was responsible for 1 of every 2.9 deaths in the United States during 2006. That’s an astounding figure. Women can fight that trend by incorporating a regular cardio workout in their exercise regimen now.

While the routines listed above may provide exceptional benefits, any form of exercise that gets your arms pumping and your legs moving consistently and raises your heart rate counts as cardio exercise. Doing housework quickly, pushing a stroller for a fast-paced walk, or doing laps in the pool all have positive effects.

Take the time today to find cardio workouts for women that appeal to you, your lifestyle, and your abilities and begin a regular routine. Learn more about nutrition if diet has been a challenge for you. Gather your notes in a notebook, read the advice of experts in the field of fitness and health and build a plan for yourself. There’s no time like the present.

There is a finite number of Aqua Bootcamp Exercises one can use in an Aqua Bootcamp class. That is, you have to account for the age of the people in the class, their ability to swim, and familiarity of aqua exercises. Regardless of these issues, there are several aqua bootcamp exercises everyone can perform.

One of my favorite aqua bootcamp cardio stations is utilizing the noodle.

• Sit on the noodle like it is a horse and keep your feet off the floor=suspend in the water.
• Extend the right leg out i n front.
• The left leg will just hang out behind you.
• Hold onto the front of the noodle.
• Dig your right heel into the water, using only the right leg and kick to travel forward, from the side of the pool to the rope (or other predetermined destination).
• When you get to the rope, turn around, switch legs,using only the left leg.
• Dig the left heel into the water and kick back to the side of the pool.

Depending how much time is left, they can go back and forth for 2 minutes. Or using the same one leg only concept, kick around in a circle with one leg, and switch to the other leg to circle in the opposite direction.

Perhaps another cardio station idea is:

• Do Jump Shots/Shoot Hoops for 30 seconds.
• Froggers for 30 seconds.
• Tuck Jumps for 30 seconds
• Finishing with Tuck Jumps.

Another aqua bootcamp exercise is a cardio station utilizing dumbbells:

• Cross Country Ski legs (going back and forth), feet on the floor.
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
• Extend the arms out to the sides of your body, palms face forward while holding the dumbbells.
• While your legs are CC Ski, the arms with dumbbells will “clap” or come together in front of your body and return opening the arms again out to the side, and repeat. Do this for 30 seconds.

The next 30 seconds:

• Cross Country Ski holding the dumbbells and have your feet suspended/feet off the floor.

When the first minute is over still using the dumbbells. The next 30 seconds will be:

• Do Jumping Jack Legs (in and out to the side, feet on the floor).
• Bring the arms in front, palms face down holding the dumbbells.
• As your legs move in and out, the arms will swing back and forth.

To be followed by the final 30 seconds of:

• Suspended Jumping Jacks with dumbbells.

Each one of these cardio stations are followed by a 2 minute toning station. Here are a few of the aqua bootcamp exercises I use for toning.

• Lay on your stomach.
• Hold onto the pool’s edge.
• Legs are extended straight out behind you.
• Kick the legs behind you.
• Use the whole leg to kick, not just from the knee, or just the feet, the entire leg kicks up and down.
• Do this for 1 minute.

For the next minute:

• Grab a noodle.
• Roll over onto your back.
• Lay on your back with the noodle around you and under your arm pits.
• Extend the body out long.
• Keeping the legs straight, scissor kick the legs, alternating the top leg.

Great toning exercise for your quads and hamstrings, plus the adductors and abductors.

Another one of my favorite toning aqua bootcamp exercises is for the chest and abdominals.

• Grab a noodle.
• Hold the noodle shoulder width apart with an overhand grip.
• Kick your legs out behind you so your are laying on your stomach.
• As you exhale, straighten your arms while pushing the noodle straight down from your chest.
• Inhale and pull the noodle back to the chest.
• Repeat 12 times.
• The last time, hold the noodle straight down, and do tiny pulses pushing it down.
• Pulse 16 times and repeat for 1 minute.

For the next toning minute at this toning station:

• Use the same noodle.
• Continue to lay on your stomach.
• Arms are extended straight down holding the noodle.
• Keep the noodle stationary.
• Pull your belly button to your spine and inhale.
• As you exhale, bring the knees to the noodle.
• Then kick the legs straight back.
• Repeat this exercise for 1 minute.

Using a kick board gives great resistance and offers excellent toning!

• Grab a kick board.
• Hold the kick board at each end horizontally. (Not like you are going to use it for kicking).
• Place the kick board in the water vertically, as you hold each end.
• Place 1 leg in front of the other. Tummy tight. Shoulders back.
• Exhale and push the kick board forward (away ).
• Inhale and pull it toward you.
• Keep repeating for 1 minute.

For the next minute continue using the kick board:

• Place the kick board horizontally on top of the water.
• Place both hands on top of the kick board.
• One leg is in front of the other. Tummy tight. Shoulders back.
• Exhale and push the kick board straight down.
• As you inhale, control the kick board as is rises to the surface.
• Repeat pushing the kick board into the water and controlling the rise.
• Do not lean into the kick board to lower it! Stand up tall and keep the upper body erect!

Now you have several aqua bootcamp exercises. You can incorporate these 3 cardio and toning exercises in to your Aqua Bootcamp Class or perhaps sprinkle them into a regular aqua workout. My next article will be explaining a suspended workout even if you have a shallower pool.