Knowing what the best kind of cardio is can make or break your fat burning mission. If you start doing regular boring old cardio your body will soon adapt to it and you will plateau very fast.

How much body fat you want to lose is irrelevant, if you want to start burning body fat, you must use some sort of cardiovascular exercise. The most common cardio workouts are things such as running, cycling and swimming. These can be great at burning fat, but if you have a selection of a few workouts that you choose from, your body will not adapt to the one workout, therefore your results will come around a lot faster.

Here are some of my favorite fat busting alternatives ever:

Box Jumping

This might sound kind of lame, but that must be because you have never tried it! Set up a box or just find a ledge that is about 30cm off the ground. Stand directly opposite it and with both feet on the ground, jump up onto the ledge, and then back down. Repeat this a set number of times and you will see what I mean. After a few rounds it gets very grueling and your legs will burn! Great fat burner.

Free Weight Sessions

Strictly speaking, these are not cardio – but I don’t speak strictly. One of my favorite free weight workouts to really get me sweating is the dumbbell squat. This is where you hold the dumbbells up on either side of your head, then you squat down like you are doing a normal squat. Then you use your legs to drive yourself back up again, then once at the top, press the dumbbells up like you would for a military press, straight up in the air, and straight back down again. Then start over and repeat for as many reps as you choose.

Do you want to learn more about losing belly fat?

Cardiovascular exercise is just another word for getting the heart going through activity. Running, competing in sports, using the stationary or even mobile bicycling just rock. Increasing the heart rate through exercise is the single healthiest thing a person can do. Sustaining it at the same level increases the strength of the heart.

The simple fact is, the heart is responsive to this. It gains strength and allows – even more importantly – blood to flow at a good rate. Increased blood flow means more oxygen to the body’s hungry organs and muscles. This in turn makes one stronger and insures a longer and healthier life. There is another benefit which probably looms over them all. Cardiovascular exercise burns fat at a rate nothing else can. In terms of the tools available for losing excess poundage, this is the king. And not only does it reduce fat, it simply enlivens our bodies anyway.

So what methods do we choose for such a life-enhancing thing? How many ways are there and from what list do I choose my own best regimen? Obviously, people are different. For many, competing in sports is a great method. It also engages in the competitive instincts many people have. Basketball, tennis, soccer – the list is long. These sports combine the joy of competing with the benefit of conditioning. Sports with substantially less aerobic expenditure are games like ping pong, bowling, even slow-pitch softball. Nevertheless, they do border on the edge of cardio vascular effort and they all do have their moments. Indeed, if nothing else, these sports certainly tone muscles and reflexes in their own ways.

Running and bicycling seem to be two of the most common regimes for cardio vascular workouts. Naturally, running also contains the virtue of being absolutely free of charge. It can also take place pretty much anywhere and at any time. Biking is another enterprise with many upsides, including leg work and toning those muscles. I should also mention that hiking is a superb source of cardio vascular work. Hiking also brings the additional benefit of choosing the environment. There are many wonderful places to hike with friends or even alone. Like running, you just can’t beat the price!

These days workout facilities abound which are far more cardio-centered concerning workouts. Step programs, jazzercize, dancercize are splendid ways to advance cardio strength. Most facilities even provide coaches who can fit a regimen with your body type and history. Good cardio coaches will understand the state of development from the user end and prescribe appropriate programs. It’s what they specialize in.

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The first thing you should do is add cardio intervals in to your workouts

Cardio intervals or if you like short fast burst in between a slower and steadier pace are much more effective at helping you lose weight. This is a much better way to exercise to lose weight, because when you add intervals into your cardio exercise, you are forcing your muscles to work harder without the adequate oxygen, this knows as anaerobic conditioning.

This process helps your muscles burn more fuel and perform better and can even help fire up your metabolism. The more interval training that you add to your cardio workouts that more fat you will burn as a result.

Add strength training exercises and workout with weights to your weekly routine. The best way to lose excess pounds with exercise is to use a strong foundation of exercise and workouts. The most effective way to build muscle is to use free weights. When you train with weights, the calorie burning effect is not as important as the lean muscle that you build.

You have no need to worry about bulking up with weight training as this requires a lot of very intense training and a very high calorie intake; this is not something that most people are genetically capable of. The more muscle that you have, the more calories that you will burn naturally, and this will help you slim down faster.

Go high intensity with your workouts.

Interval style training is not just for your cardio workouts. You can also use this method for your circuit workouts; you will get the same after burning and belly fat burning effect that you will get from interval cardio also with circuit training.

The added benefit of using high intensity training in your circuit workouts is that it will cut the down the time on your workouts and save you time. For best results try interval training (HIIT) this alternates working out at your max with short recovery periods.

Consider exercise in the morning for the greater fat burning effect.

Many studies have shown that people that exercise first thing in the morning will burn more calories during their workouts than exercise later in the day. One of the reasons behind this and that you will normally have more energy in the morning, thus be able to train harder and more intense.

If you do cardio exercise very first thing in the morning before breakfast, you will only burn fat calories, as your body will turn the fat stores for fuel, as there in carbohydrate fuel to burn because you have not had a meal.

Early morning workouts also provide a good strategy for people that live hectic lifestyles and do not have much time for exercise.

If you find it hard to find time for regular exercise in the evening after your work day has finished, then early morning exercise is a great option. If you are trying to primarily burn more fat whilst maintaining as much muscle mass as possible then early morning cardio workouts before breakfast are a very good option for the potential of more fat burning that you get from morning cardio.

The best way to go about morning exercise is to find something that you enjoy doing and something that does not take a lot of planning. Consistency is one of the most important things when it comes to weight loss. The workouts that will work best for you use the one that you keep up with.

A god option is to find an exercise that does not feel like traditional exercise such as a dance class, hiking, or some other kind of outdoor sports activity that will be more fun and enjoyable than a normal gym routine. For the best results you should mix up your training, so you do both gym workouts, and also class based exercise in groups.

When you are putting together a workout program that has the purpose of building muscle you will also need to include some sort of cardio exercise within that program. Of course a lot of people think of endless hours of jogging on a track as a way of cardio exercise but it doesn’t have to be that way. A lot of people think that you have to work extremely hard on a stairmaster, elliptical or treadmill in order to get the right cardio exercise. But that doesn’t have to be the case – it’s not so much working hard but working smart. Smart cardio can also be called fasted steady state cardio.

Fasted steady state cardio is a low intensity type of cardio and it will consist of briskly walking and usually done on an empty stomach. They can last from 30 minutes to an hour and usually done in the morning. This can be done on a treadmill, the track or somewhere else outside.

The reason why it is best to do this in the morning is because this is when our body’s insulin levels are lower and this is what tries to protect the fat in our bodies and if you do this in the morning it is far easier to combat the fat without the interference of the insulin.

Even though there is a lot of talk about high intensity vs low intensity and the burning of calories, remember that this is just part of your overall training program and you should worry more about high intensity when you are lifting weights. Besides you can lose more fat at the lower intensity levels than you would with higher intensity which may burn off more calories, it’s the fat that you want to be dealing with when it comes to the cardio exercise.

Another thing is that the low intensity is far gentler on your joints. When you do high intensity such as jogging your joints are being abused immensely by the force of the jogging and hitting the ground that you are running on. If you are also starting your workout because you are overweight, the low intensity is far better because if you do high intensity you are also adding the extra weight to the joints and this will add additional strain on your joints and could cause a lot of damage. The low intensity is not only good for the joints but the heart will benefit as well.

Like anything new, make sure that you check with your doctor to make sure that you are healthy enough to take on both your weight lifting and your cardio exercises. You may have to start with the low intensity cardio and then move onto the weights after you are in a little better shape.

LISS cardio is the exercise you need to get shredded! I’m sure you all have heard of HIIT cardio: High Intensity Interval Training. Well LISS is the opposite end of the spectrum: Low Intensity Steady State.

You may be asking yourself why you would want to do LISS cardio. The answer is simple! To preserve that lean muscle mass you have worked so hard to develop!! This type of cardio essentially bypasses the body using carbohydrates as fuel and instead uses fat.

1) The key to LISS cardio is to keep your heart rate between 65% and 75% of your maximum and to make sure the session last no longer than one hour. Of course you can do more than one session in a day but do not do them consecutively.

2) Examples of LISS cardio:

a. Take your dog for a walk! Perfect LISS cardio for you and great cardio for your dog! It’s a win-win for both of you!

b. Ride a stationary bike at 65 RPM

3) Do not eat anything before you do your cardio! I personally like to do mine right after I wake up and/or immediately after a resistance training workout. Your body will have already used its glycogen stores and long as the intensity is low it will immediately start using fat as energy!

You don’t always have to be jumping, kicking, punching, sweating buckets in order to burn fat. If we use a little bit of science, have faith and try something new you will be pleasantly surprised at the results. I recall when I started using LISS: it was like doing nothing. Fast forward several weeks and I achieved the best conditioning of my life!

It is little things like LISS cardio that will help you get that lean, ripped look you have been working so hard to achieve.

Let me ask you a question – Do you want better cardio? Or do you want to be able to ride harder, faster and longer on the trail? Think these two goals are the same thing? Perhaps not…

One of the toughest things I face when bringing new and improved training concepts to the mountain biking world is trying to work around the large amount of confusion that surround certain terms. For example, when you use the terms “aerobic training” and “cardio training” interchangeably then my call to avoid excessive aerobic training seems odd.

Once I explain that aerobic training is just a specific type of cardio training and there are other ways to work on your cardio then my suggestions make more sense.   I’ve recently realized that it is time for me to take on two new terms that need clarification on their real meaning – cardio training and endurance training. In most people’s books these two terms mean the same thing but once you understand the difference between them you’ll start to see the impact it has on your training approach.   Cardio training is any exercise that increases your heart rate, gets you breathing heavier and directly increases the strength of your cardiovascular system (heart, lungs, blood vessels). This type of training can consist of a variety of things, from short interval to long base mile workouts. Cardio training focuses specifically on improving your measurable markers of cardio capacity. While an important part of specific endurance training it is only part of the picture, though.  

Endurance training refers specifically to any training that allows you to “endure” longer on the trail. In other words, any type of training that results in you riding harder, faster and longer on your bike is endurance training. Endurance is also very specific to what and how you ride – technical east coast cross country riding requires different specific endurance than bombing some SoCal downhill runs.   As I’ve mentioned in my presentations of the MTB Performance Wheel, cardio training is only one of eight training components that affect your specific endurance on the trail. I also include Bike & Equipment Set up as a “spoke” on the MTB Performance Wheel but since it is not a true training component I am not including it on this list:  

1. Strength

2. Power

3. Mobility

4. Cardio

5. Nutrition/ Supplements

6. Recovery

7. Mindset

8. Technical Skills  

As you can see, mountain bike endurance training requires a much broader view of training than simply focusing on the cardio component. However, this is not the approach that mountain bikers have been taught. Because of the influence that road riding has had on our sport we have been told that working on cardio IS working on specific endurance and the other 7 training components are deemphasized or forgotten altogether.  

This view that increased VO2Max or other markers of cardio endurance will automatically equal better specific endurance on the trail has had a very heavy influence on how mountain bikers in every discipline have approached training. From the advice given to newbies (if you want to get better then just ride your bike more) to the advice given to world champs (base miles are needed in the off season) it is readily apparent that the cardio training mindset has taken over our sport.   Here is the problem with this approach, though – the fact is that there is much more to mountain bike specific endurance on the trail than cardio capacity. Let me give you two examples to illustrate my point…

First, consider what happened to Lance Armstrong when he ventured off his road bike. Lance is widely considered to be one of the greatest endurance athletes in history, boasting a VO2Max that is among the highest ever recorded. His domination of the Tour de France speaks to his otherworldly cardio capacity, yet when he trained for and ran a marathon he got beaten. He did not get beaten by one or two world class runners, either – he got beaten by a lot of “regular” people. If cardio capacity was the biggest determining factor in sport specific endurance then why didn’t he do better?  

Second, consider the opposite story of Mark Weir. Known around the world as one of the premier endurance riders in our sport Mark had his VO2Max tested and found out that it was rather ordinary. In fact, rumor has it he was told by the docs performing the test that based on his results he would never be a great endurance athlete. Instead of accepting it Mark went on with his dream and the rest is history. If cardio capacity is the biggest determining factor for mountain bike endurance then why is Mark able to excel despite his relatively low test results?   The reason that Lance can’t dominate every endurance sport he competes in and that Mark can kick the tails of riders with better “cardio” is because much more goes into mountain bike specific endurance than one over emphasized component. Your strength levels, technical skills, nutrition and everything else I listed above goes into it as well. The real trick to consistent returns on your training time is to identify the weakest of those eight training components and focus on it. While counterintuitive at times, the only way to strengthen a chain is to work on the weakest link – anything else will not result in a stronger chain.  

The reason that it is important for us separate these terms is because it will have a major impact on your training paradigm. Remember that you do not want better cardio; you want to be able to ride faster, harder and longer on your bike. These are two different goals and need to be looked at as such. As long as your paradigm is influenced by the notion that unless you are emphasizing cardio training then you aren’t working on your mountain bike specific endurance you will struggle to fully understand what it takes to be the best mountain bike rider you can.

First off, Let me state that I think High Intensity Interval Training or HIT is actually a very good tool for losing weight and to burn fat, as a change-up to steady, lower intensity cardio workouts. HIT kicks your metabolism up a notch, keeps it there and can burn your body into a fat burning furnace.

That said, the concern for me is whether or not it is the best way, or even a smart option for beginners to use.

Let’s get on the same sheet of music first and define a beginner. A beginner for me is somebody who has less than three months training (or even 6 months for some). A beginner is not just an person who’s out of shape, by no means been in shape, or tend not to even know what shape is. A beginner is somebody who’s structurally weak, or underdeveloped, inside and out.

For example, the leg muscle consists of some 26 muscle groups from foot to groin. You’ll discover some 17 muscle groups inside the hip joint area that also includes the glutes. For the beginner they’re all weak or undeveloped.

Here’s the challenge – when a beginner starts a walk-jog-run program, it is the larger muscle groups that engage and strengthen initially. None of the weaker, supporting muscle really come into play until the bigger muscles weaken or tire. That’s as it ought to be – to my untrained, and not fitness certified eye.

HIT short circuits all that.

But again, before we go any further, let’s speak briefly about HIT for those new to this.

HIT is as just as it sounds. It is high intensity physical exercise carried out at intervals. You go “all out” and exert “max effort” for a brief time span. Let’s say that brief time span is 30 seconds, just to pick a number out of the air. You then either rest or do actually low intensity workout for 30 seconds or 60 seconds. That’s 1 set. You repeat for 8 or 10 occasions.

Straightforward, is it not.

In theory, you could use this method on any given physical exercise, be it upper body, lower body, running, cycling, boxing, etc. In practice, I think it works best with sprints.

Let me explain.

As I see it; you have got to go from 0 to 100mph in 1 second. That eliminates all weight lifting exercises, stepper exercises, rowing machines, and so on. Lifting by definition is impossible put out max effort on the very first 1st rep and each single rep for 30 seconds. The initial segment of the lifting will always be easier than the last segment.

Rowing machines and steppers just do not to respond quickly enough or adequately enough. Stationary bikes are the exception. You can go 0 to 100mph in 1 second but sprints are superior, as I will discuss shortly.

Hitting a heavy bag is doable but your arm muscles, frontal delts, pecs to a degree, and your abs are not the main movers like your legs and hips are.

And cycling on the road is just not practical to my mind. After cycling like a madman for 30 to 45 seconds, your legs will be entirely shot, lungs heaving, and gasping for each and every single ounce of oxygen in the atmosphere – how do you remain on your bike, let alone repeat the cycle? And where do you come across a stretch of road with length sufficient to do a full 10 sets without being run over by a truck?

Sprints work given that you can find a location to sprint all out for 30 or 45 seconds. You do it at park, at your nearby school track, an empty street or a parking lot. Sprints work given that that you can go from 0 to max in 1 seconds and keep going. Beyond your legs, gluts, and hips; you also pump your arms like crazy, unlike say on a stationary bike. You indirectly work your core muscles, your shoulders, your arms, and even your cheek muscles (on your face).

At the end of the sprint, your lungs will be on fire and you’d rather collapse than continue walking or trotting the rest portion of the set. You ought to have depleted everything you have. Sounds great, right – it better, since you need to repeat this cycle 8 or 10 times. Still sounding great? Somebody wrote that the next day, your legs will be tired. Your legs will likely be much more than just tired.

HIT’s value is that you will continue to burn calories effectively, in fact, well after the session is over. Contrast that to the more traditional aerobic workouts where your calorie burning generally stops after your slow, steady cardio session ends.

So, then HIT ought to be the method to go to, correct. You burn calories continuously and it sounds like the whole session only takes 10 to 15 minutes to completely.

Not so fast, hold on…

For an individual who has been training or was an athlete at one point, HIT may be an outstanding alternative. But for a beginner, I contend a beginner’s body is just not prepared to cope with the tension and “pain” of performing HIT. In reality, a beginner is substantially more likely to injure herself inside the 1st training session than anything else.

Go back to the quantity of muscles inside the legs and hips. Now add all of the core and upper physique muscles that get recruited into this all out sprint, and you have a great deal of potentially weak muscles pushed to maximum exertion with no notice. You have a situation ripe for pulled and strained muscles.

Once that occurs, all progress goes to not just no progress, but reverse progress.

Even on a stationary bike, you call forth all of the secondary leg muscles that usually aren’t worked too much to maximum exertion. It holds the precise same potential for injury.

Losing weight and burning fat shouldn’t have to involve courting injury just to burn some more calories. And as Lyle McDonald observed, HIT positive aspects appear to drop after three weeks or so, whereas slow, steady cardio just keeps moving on; not unlike the turtle that just plows forward.

I have performed interval training since my 110yd dash days on the high school track team and on the football team. I did my time with heavy bag in the Army. I can attest to how effective interval training has been in getting me into shape. I can also attest to the pulled muscles and injuries.

The competition we have now is with ourselves. And while any training session is potential dangerous and open to injury; we need to minimize it as much as we can, especially when there are other options available.

For beginner, HIT is not the best cardio option for burning fat.

Unless you genuinely feel you able to, then by all means, give it a go.

Cardiovascular activities (or, “aerobic exercise”) is a physical exercise that is designed to promote respiratory circulation through the cardiovascular system. Cardiovascular activities sustain an elevation of heart rate to 60 to 85 percent of its maximum rate, for prolonged periods of time, which increases the level of oxygen-rich blood to the muscles used performing such exercises. This type of exercise, along with resistance training and a healthy diet, is one of the most important components of excessive weight-loss and/or managing one’s weight.

The word “aerobic” literally means “with oxygen” and thus, oxygen plays a key role in cardiovascular activities. The filtration of oxygen actually helps one to burn calories during these cardio exercises. Proper filtration of oxygen effectively increases metabolism. Shallow, diminished breaths of air do to process effectively. Deeper, paced breathing can aid in burning 140% more calories while engaging in cardiovascular exercises, than while engaging in exercises of less physical exertion. Therefore, aerobic exercise is beneficial to those who must lose an excessive amount of weight.

Exercise promotes calories to burn not only when exercising, but throughout the duration of the day and night. Muscle-building, too, helps to burn more calories. When your body isn’t burning calories, it is storing calories as fat. This is what creates weight-gain and leads to many healthy problems, such as obesity and many different obesity-related diseases. Cardiovascular exercises are very beneficial to people who have massive amounts of weight to lose, as aerobics promotes deeper breathing and extended durations of movement of the body.

Cardiovascular exercises will not only promote weight-loss, but will also help to strengthen your heart and lungs. More efficient lung capacity will, in turn, allow you to breath more deeply and burn even more calories per hour. Cardiovascular wellness is imperative to combating the onset of heart disease or obesity. Aerobics also helps to strengthen muscle and increase bone mass.

There are many types of cardiovascular exercises, such as running, jogging, kick-boxing, dancing and even power-walking, swimming or jump-roping. These exercises speed the rate of one’s heart and promote proper deep breathing which heightens the metabolic rate and proper functioning of the body. Cardiovascular exercises also help to release endorphins in your brain, which promote feelings of happiness and joy, which may improve the well-being of those suffering from depression and anxiety disorders. The release of endorphins can also become a sort of addiction, physiologically encouraging one to continue exercising simply to feel that rush of sheer bliss, over and over again. It is essential to utilize cardiovascular exercises regularly, and not to engage in these activities sporadically. For optimal weight loss results, one must actively engage in such exercises often.

The required amount of cardiovascular exercises needed to promote weight-loss, is a minimum of 30 minutes a session, three times a week. However, the more cardiovascular exercises you perform, the more calories you’ll burn. Most experts agree that a person engaging in strenuous exercise should let his or her muscles rest for 48 hours between work-out sessions. However, cardio work-outs tend to become non-productive, as our bodies tend to become used to certain exercises. The more cardio you actively engage, the more resilient to common exercises and efficient your body becomes. Because of this, it is important to alternate between various types of cardio, as well as include resistance training into your work-out regime. It is also important to add resistance training to your regime, as overtime, cardio exercises may strip muscle of your body. Muscle helps to burn calories, and is an important aspect of having a healthy body. Be sure to alternate between cardio and muscle-toning. As you lose weight through diet and exercise, it is important to tone through weight-training not only to ensure proper growth and health of muscles, but because skin may become lose as the pounds drop.

Despite which exercises you perform, weight loss occurs as long as you create a calorie deficit, which much easier to attain with cardiovascular activities. Although an extended period of cardiovascular activities is often recommended for optimal weight-loss, you do not need to work out for 30 to 45 minute-durations. Rather, if you have excess weight to lose, suspend your cardiovascular exercises throughout the day. Try a low-intensity power-walk for 20 minutes in the morning, and going swimming for 15 minutes in the evening. The following work-out session, resistance train in the morning and leave your cardio exercise for later in the evening. Keeping your body guessing which exercises are to be utilized is what will help maintain a steady weight-loss. Cardiovascular exercises are crucial for optimal health of one’s body, as well as acceleration of weight loss.

Whether you need to lose excess amounts of weight, or you’re just needing to become more healthy; cardiovascular exercises are much beneficial to one’s overall health, appearance and emotional well-being. Cardiovascular exercises, as well as a well-balanced diet and muscle-promoting activities are essential and fun ways for you to trim down, feel better, and achieve your goals.

It’s time to add some fun and games to your workout with some cardio and agility drills. These are great fat and calorie burning activities. Always consider your physical activity a dynamic and not static process. Make it a game. Think variety. Incorporate your environment into your workout. Though these drills call for the use of cones, you could use stones or even trees and bushes or chairs to run around.

Backpedal/Sprint Drill (Staggered Cones).

Six cones will be needed for this drill. Place one cone as the starting point and the other five are placed like spokes in a wheel at different lengths (10 to 20 yards) from the starting cone and each of them about five yards apart. Each of the five cones will be placed at the 10, 12, 1 and 2 o’clock positions. Sprint to the 10 o’clock cone and backpedal back to the starting cone. Do this with each cone in the “spoke” until all are completed.

Zigzag Sprint Drill With Cones.

Using six cones, stagger them in such a way that you will have to zigzag around each of them in order. This is a sprinting drill. Each cone should be about 5 yards apart. You will sprint around each cone until you have zigzagged through all the cones and then back again. The cones will be placed in two rows.

Box Drill With Cones.

Using four cones form a box on your lawn. The cones can be about 25 yards apart although you may vary that distance as you like. You are standing at the first cone. You will sprint to the second cone. You will perform a lateral or sideways move to the third cone. You will back pedal to the fourth cone. You will sprint back to the first cone. Please note that you can simply just sprint to each cone or you can mix and match your own moves between each of the cones.

Suicides.

This is a simple drill with a high cardio impact. Place one cone as the starting point and the other cone anywhere from 20 to 50 yards out. Sprint out and back, out and back, out and back, and so forth. I think you get the point. You can simply make this one a timed event with everyone at their own pace. When performing this as a group the great benefit is that no one really ever falls behind. As a matter of fact, you really can’t tell who’s ahead and who’s behind. Regardless of fitness level, all team members will enjoy a great cardio blast with this drill. I’m sure you’ll notice the fatigue very quickly on this one.

Forward-Back-Left-Right.

This can be done in a group with a group leader guide or by yourself. The guide leader will call the signals randomly to change direction. Don’t run into any trees or fall in a ditch going backwards! The commands are simple: forward, back, left, right. The commands FORWARD and BACK simply mean to run forward and backward. The commands LEFT and RIGHT mean run sideways to the left and to the right. This is lots of fun and a great way to work on the agility and the lower body. How long? As long as the guide leader is yelling out commands. The leader can either face the group and give hand signals as well or he or she can join in with the group and shout out the commands.

Run Forrest Run!

I’m sure most of you have seen the movie “Forrest Gump.” Once Forrest started running, he didn’t know when to stop. For most of us out there, it’s more like not knowing when to start. I had to specifically mention running. What I mean is anything that leaves the realm of simply walking. Keep in mind that running (jogging) is a great way to work the heart, lungs, butt, hips, thighs, quads, hamstrings and much more.

Learn To Throttle Your Running Pace.

Before ever stopping, try throttling it down to a slower running or jogging pace first. This works on two things: your mental strength and it keeps you on the run. Unless you are sprinting, your upper body should be relaxed and only your legs and lungs should be working. No feet dragging or pavement pounding is permitted unless you have a sudden urge to hear me say, “Drop and give me twenty!” Foot dragging or scraping or foot pounding is a recipe for injuries to connective tissue in your lower body. Your stride and your body mechanics should be smooth. You land on your heels and roll across your foot. You’re not really going to be thinking about this when you run. Just check yourself every now and then for smooth, efficient running mechanics.

Your breathing – as with all exercises – should be natural and should not be heard, and the mouth should not be making some unnatural forms that you’ve seen in some of those workout videos or in the gym. You’re getting some of the Health Colonel’s philosophy about breathing.

20 years or so ago, if you were searching for a way to lose weight, you would most likely have been directed to get on the treadmill or the elliptical machine for 30 minutes at a minimum. This would have been considered sound advice and a sure way to get those unwanted pounds off. Those were the days in which cardio workouts reigned supreme as the one true way to lose weight.

In recent years, this point of view has been challenged. Some trainers even go as fat as create programs which include no trace of the sort of cardio workouts that we know. They claim that it is simply a waste of time to do cardio, at least the way it has been done in the past.

Which of these two points of view is correct? Is cardio good for fat loss or is it merely a waste of your valuable time?

The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle.

The basic rule of weight loss is that when you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight. It’s that simple. The more active you are, the more calories you burn so your overall calorie deficit can become bigger.

Cardio is an activity. When you perform a cardio workout you burn more calories than you would have done in an inactive state. So, cardio is good for fat loss because it does generate an increase in the amount of calories that you burn.

However, it is not the ultimate solution to weight loss that it was thought to be. There are other ways to train which may provide better and faster results.

The first of such methods is known as HIIT, or interval training. This is a form of cardio, but it is very different from the way most people do it. When you do intervals you do not spend an hour on a treadmill or a recumbent bike, exercising at a medium but steady pace.

When you do intervals you change your pace in short intervals, moving from high intensity to low. This has been shown to produce faster fat loss results than traditional cardio.

The second method is strength training. This is something that a lot of people, women in particular shy away from. This is unfortunate because weight lifting is excellent for fat loss as it boosts your metabolism.

The best way to get rid of excess body fat is to combine cardio with strength training. This is how you will achieve the quickest results.