Lets face it….. These days it seems as though you have to opt within various forms of cardio. More often than not people will limit themselves to one style of cardio training. They will either do high intensity interval training, sustained cardio, circuits or no cardio at all. This is outrageous because each form has different benefits. The last thing you want to do is limit yourself.
Now lets take a look at the diverse groups of cardio practitioners:
Bodybuilders feel as though fast paced cardio burns muscle tissue so they stick with low intensity cardio on an empty stomach to burn fat.
Low intensity cardio productivly uses fat as a primary fuel source which is ideal. The problem with this method is that because the intensity is so low you burn comparatively few calories even when exercising for lengthy periods of time.
Traditional Cardio Junkies just do sustained cardio at a more rapid pace for 20, 30, or 45 minutes consecutive at hopes to burn off any extra calories they ate that day.
This kind of training burns more calories than low intensity cardio but most of the calories burned are from carbohydrates. After a cardio workout in this style your body wants to replenish all of the depleted carbohydrates. As a result your body biologically craves sugar. This is why most people that do this sort of cardio never lose extra fat. They burn 400+ calories or so only to eat it all back.
Interval Training Fanatics swear by high intensity interval training as the only acceptable form of cardio. They percieve lower intensity cardio as an utter waist of time.
This type of training is very strong at boosting your metabolic rate, increasing your bodies natural fat burning hormones and flushing your bodies fat cells into your bloodstream. The only hindrance is that if this type of training is not followed by extra exercise all of those fat cells that were released into the bloodstream go right back into the fat deposits.
So What is the Ultimate Fat Burning Workout you ask?
The Ultimate Fat Burning Workout would look something like this:
WARM-UP: five to ten minutes of jump rope, light cardio or dynamic exercises
HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING on a treadmill, recumbent bike, rower, or stair-mill: 12-20 minutes of short periods of intense exercise combined with longer periods of rest
LOW INTENSITY CARDIO: 20-30 minutes of slow and steady cardio such as walking on a treadmill at 4mph with a 3 degree incline.
How does it work?
The intense exerise forces your body into a fat burning state. Most people call it a day here and let the released fat cells crawl right back into your bodies fat deposits. Not us. Were going to perform additional low intensity exercise to burn off a ton of fat since were already in a fat burning state.
Interval Workout Options: These are just a few options. Feel free to experiment with your own work to rest ratio’s.
1. 30 seconds of exercise combined with 90 seconds of rest x 8 times
2. 30 seconds work / 60 seconds rest x 10 = 15 minutes
3. 30 seconds work / 30 seconds rest x 12 = 12 minutes
4. 60 seconds work / 120 seconds rest x 5 = 15 minutes
5. 60 seconds work / 90 seconds rest x 6 = 15 minutes
6. 60 seconds work / 60 seconds rest x 7 = 14 minutes
Workout Notes:
Don’t eat any food within 3 hours before the workout for maximum fat burning By going into your workout in a fasted state your body is going to utilize fat as a primary fuel source.
Avoid eating any food for atleast 1 hour after your workout. The high intensity intervals boost your bodies natural fat burning hormones (HGH). Once you put food in your body your insulin levels increase and your HGH drops.
If performing intervals on a treadmill with less than 60 seconds rest than put your feet on the sides of the treadmill durning the resting portion. It will take too long to adjust speed.
For the intervals only use a machine that you can really push yourself on.
For the low intensity cardio you can use any cardio machine you fancy.
Greg O’Gallagher is a top fitness coach and male model. He is busy running his popular fitness blog, Kinobody Fitness Systems which is dedicated towards helping guys achieve the body of their dreams.