An Effective Cardio Workout That Torches Body Fat

An Effective Cardio Workout That Torches Body Fat
The Traditional Cardio Workout Programs

There are two main cardio workouts that most aerobic exercise is based around...low intensity and high intensity. The more popular of the two for burning body fat is the low intensity version, since it has been proven that a higher percentage of calories burned come from body fat than high intensity cardio workouts.

Although low intensity cardio is effective at burning calories directly from body fat, high intensity cardio burns many more total calories. One method for losing body fat is to burn more total calories throughout the day than what is eaten...high intensity cardio is much more effective at accomplishing this. So we have dilemma choosing between the two approaches. Let's look into this.

The Popular Low Intensity Cardio Workout

Low intensity cardio is the most popular form of cardio and is pushed by many personal trainers. Low intensity cardio works at targeting body fat and that is why it is recommended by many personal trainers. University studies have proven low intensity cardio uses fat calories instead of burning muscle carbohydrate calories for energy. If the body burns fat for energy, you will lose body fat. It just makes sense.

Pick cardio equiptment that has a built in heart rate monitor. You want to do this to insure that you hit the ideal intensity level. It will take about 10 minutes to reach your target heart rate and at that point you will want to stay in that zone for about 30 minutes.

The High Intensity Cardio Workout

This is a less utilized form of cardio. High intensity training involves pushing past your pain threshold a bit, so fewer people choose this route. This cardio method can give great results in burning body fat if done properly. The total calories burned in high intensity cardio are greater than low intensity cardio. Some of those calories come from your body fat and some come from glycogen (carbohydrates stores within your muscles).

When you burn more calories in your cardio workout than what you consume, you create a calorie deficit. If you burn a more calories during the day than what you eat in food, you will lose weight.

The Limitations of the 2 Types of Cardio Workouts

It takes about 10 minutes to get your heart rate into the fat burning zone, with the low intensity cardio workout. It is great once you reach this point, but those first 10 minutes or so are kind of a waste of time.

Very few people have the pain tolerance to push hard for more than 10-15 minutes. This is the challenge with high intensity cardio...it is miserable after 15 minutes!

A Great Cardio Workout That Combines Both Levels of Intensity

Since the first 10 minutes of a low intensity cardio workout is unproductive, you are going to start out at a high intensity level. You will burn a ton of total calories for the first 10 minutes now, instead of wasting that time. After 10 minutes, you will back down to low intensity level and now you will burn a ton of body fat. The best of both worlds!

Find a treadmill or exercise bike and set it at a high level. Push yourself really hard for 10-15 minutes. Once you are really working up a sweat, switch to a low intensity and keep it there for 20-30 minutes. This will burn calories and create a calorie deficit as well as burning body fat during the workout. I maintain an 8% body fat percentage year round using this cardio approach.

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