Cardio Queen Syndrome

By now you are well aware that increased activity burns calories and fat. Exercise is essential to your health and well being, but could you be taking part in too much of a good thing? The old adage, more is not always better, is a good rule to live by.

When it comes to fat loss, you need to be in tune with your body and learn how to listen to it. The idea behind fat loss is to manipulate the body often. As long as you are a step ahead of your body's actions, you will be on top of the fat loss game.

What exactly does that mean? How do you stay a step ahead of your body? Let's explore this concept a little further.

Megan is an e-client of mine. When she began her fat loss endeavor she started cardio six days a week for forty-five minutes and saw great results in a matter of weeks. Her new cardio program was exhilarating. It pumped her up mentally and physically and gave her a newfound energy she hadn't felt in years.
It wasn't long before she extended her forty-five minute ritual to an entire hour for six days a week. With the extended time, she saw even more results. She was delighted.

Eventually, the daily hour cardio chore was wearing on her. Her changes ceased, she was constantly fatigued, and began to hate cardio with an intense passion.

To combat the plateau, she added yet...more cardio on top of fatigue and hatred for exercise. Her grueling hour sessions turned into an hour and fifteen minutes to even longer, an hour and a half.

Nothing is more aggravating than putting all your time and effort into something that takes you no where.
Her fat loss results stalled dead in their tracks and even seemed to reverse. How could something once so productive now be destroying her weight loss efforts?

What may surprise you is that excess cardio can be counterproductive. Any cardio or weight training session lasting over a continuous hour does more harm than good.

Keep Cardio Productive
Cardio is heart healthy and it's a great exercise, but if your goal with cardio is to burn fat, you need to take it with a stride and make it fat burning productive.

I come across many ladies who are quite active. This is all fine and dandy, but when they are active and top that with teaching spinning classes, kickboxing, high energy videos, and general cardio machines, this can be a recipe for disaster, setting your further back than when you started.

Don't go overboard with cardio. Keep it simple, yet effective.

Cardio Intensity
Cardio intensity is a factor to keep fat burning beneficial. This does not mean to do an all out killer cardio routine that leaves you crawling from the gym in a near death status, but to simply shake things up a bit to force the body to respond.

A good way to master cardio is with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There are many variations of HIIT and my favorite is the 2/2 ratio.

Example of 2/2 Ratio HIIT
Minutes 1-2 - Warm up
Minutes 3-4 - Low intensity
Minutes 5-6 - High intensity
Minutes 7-8 - Low intensity
Minutes 9-10 - High Intensity
Minutes 11-12 - Low intensity
Minutes 13-14 - High intensity
Minutes 15-16 - Low intensity
Minutes 17-18 - High Intensity
Minutes 19-20 - Low intensity
Minutes 21-22 - Cool down
With HIIT, your body never falls in a rut because you are constantly changing the intensity to prevent cardio adaptation.

Progressive Cardio
Another successful cardio tactic to use is Progressive Cardio. Your body can adapt to anything in a short amount of time and Progressive Cardio can stop adaptation before it occurs. Progressive Cardio is simply increasing your cardio each week by either the numbers of day or the amount of time to invite change and prevent staleness, provided you don't overdo it.

Example of Progressive Cardio
Week 1 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes
Week 2 - 4 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 3 - 5 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 4 - 5 times a week for 30 minutes
You will notice how each week is a step advanced from the previous. This is how you make cardio work in your favor to burn fat.

Adopt Weight Training
Have you even seen someone in the gym doing endless hours of cardio and still look soft and unfit? That is because she is lacking lean muscle, which is built from weight training and excessive cardio burns muscle.
Weight training builds lean muscle mass. The more muscle you add to your frame, the less you need to rely on cardio. Muscle is metabolically active and allows you to burn more calories at rest and at play. Of course, this does not mean to kick cardio to the curve, but having a balance of both in your program will keep things interesting and will give much better body transformation results.

Summary
Once you understand how you can manipulate cardio, you will be able to master the fat burning game. Realize that you don't need three or four different cardio methods stacked on top of one another. Just use cardio wisely and you will have the advantage. Remember, cardio is a fat loss tool, not the determining factor.

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988. She embarked on weight training to overcome an eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa in its early stages. She overcame the eating disorder, received her personal training certificate, competed in many local bodybuilding contests, and qualified for Nationals. Since then she’s went on to write six e-books (weight loss, female bodybuilding, contest preparation, leg training, figure/fitness secrets, and cellulite removal). She writes articles for several fitness websites, as well as her own, www.theelitephysique.com, and also distributes a monthly e-newsletter. She has a very active and lively forum, filled with positive and supportive people with informative content. Karen’s sole goal is to educate others and help them apply that knowledge.

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Maximum Cardio

Depending on your goals and body type, different amounts of cardio may be required. A lean "hard-gainer" trying to add mass may benefit from only one or two cardiovascular sessions per week. On the other hand, someone like myself who is extremely prone to storing fat and sensitive to carbohydrates may require 3 or more sessions in order to maintain peak physique. Since you can only get better at a particular exercise by performing it, those interested in running marathons or participating in endurance events such as a triathlon must increase their frequency of cardio in order to prepare for the event.

MAXIM 1: Your body type and goal for training will dictate the type, frequency, and length of your cardio
When your goal for cardio is general health, you have a few decisions to make about what type of cardio you will perform. Many people enjoy taking long, slow runs. Enjoying cardio is important, so if you find an enjoyable method of cardio, there is no reason why you should discard it. The same decision should

influence your choice for timing. Many people claim that you must perform cardio first thing in the morning and/or on an empty stomach to see maximal benefit. I disagree. If you have trouble waking up or putting a full effort into morning cardio, and will get a much more vigorous workout in the evening, then why not do it then? Perform cardio when you feel the best, when you are ready and know you will stick with it and give it 100%.

MAXIM 2: Find cardio that you enjoy, and do it when you feel you have the most energy
There are many styles of cardio. There is some debate about what cardio is best for you. People preach about training in the "zone" of a particular heart rate for maximum fat burning benefit. While it is true that your body will utilize more fat for energy during this period, this is not the entire picture. Moderate cardio means your body will recover quickly - your heart rate will return to normal within a short period. Intense cardio, which elevates your heart rate beyond the "zone", may not burn as much fat during the exercise, but your body will take longer to recover. Your body must process waste and your heart rate will remain elevated for hours after the bout of exercise. You will burn more calories throughout the day, and therefore you will receive a superior benefit.

To better understand this, let's consider a situation where you burn 200 calories during exercise. You have a choice: you might burn those calories walking at a brisk pace and reading a book, and it will take you 1 hour. Or, you might burn those calories performing short sprints followed by periods of moderate jogging, and you will burn those calories in 20 minutes. While the "hour" cardio kept you in the "zone" for fat burning, guess what? The 20-minute cardio elevated your heart rate and took you into an anaerobic zone where your body accumulated an "oxygen debt" - a need for oxygen and fat burning to help flush waste from your system and recover from the intense exercise. So during a 24-hour window, you will burn MORE than the 200 calories, and therefore be closer to your fat loss goal.

While there is no hard, scientific evidence to support this next maxim, I truly believe in it. I have witnessed this not only in my own transformation, but also with countless others as well.

MAXIM 3: The less time it takes to burn the same amount of calories, the more calories you will expend later that day

This maxim may seem confusing, but it's very simple. It means that if you are going to burn 200 calories, when you burn that 200 calories in 20 minutes instead of 1 hour, your metabolism will increase throughout the day and you'll end up burning MORE than 200 hours when that day is done. This is why high intensity interval cardio, like that recommended in David Greenwalt's book, The Leanness Lifestyle or the "20-Minute Aerobic Solution(TM)" which is recommended by Bill Phillips in Body-for-LIFE(TM) is so effective - it burns the most amount of fat in the shortest period of time

Just because high intensity cardio may burn more calories doesn't make it superior to moderate cardio except with respect to calories burned. There is some evidence that you may improve your cardiovascular health more quickly with high intensity cardio, but this is no reason to discard your long runs. If you have a busy schedule and wish you fit 3 short, 20-minute sessions, then intensity is the way to go. If, however, you truly enjoy your long bike ride or jog on the weekends, then go ahead and do it - you will still be improving your health and burning calories, and if it is something that you enjoy, you will stick with it! Remember, too, that if you are training for a marathon, all of the 20-minute high intensity cardio in the world will not prepare you fully to run 20+ miles. You must perform the moderate, long duration cardio to prepare your body for the event.

This leads us to another maxim. Your heart rate can provide you a lot of information about your training. Over time, your resting heart rate should decrease. Mine went from the high 60's to a current value of 48 due to my cardiovascular conditioning. When you train with weights, you can use a heart rate monitor to see what your target heart rate is (weight training will take it to the anaerobic levels, or about the maximum heart rate you would want to train at) - this will provide much better feedback than a generic formula. By tracking your heart rate, you can monitor your effort. If you train today at 160bpm then have a lousy day and don't feel like you're receiving any benefit, use your heart rate as a guide. As long as you are pushing hard enough to hit that 160bmp mark again, you know you are getting at least the same intensity from your training as the time before.

MAXIM 4: Use your heart rate as a tool for feedback about your progress, not as a "RULE" for fat loss (i.e. the "zone", etc)
Many people are very intrigued by the readouts on machines when they perform cardio. Unfortunately, those numbers are based on generic equations that fit the "general population" rather than you as an individual. For example, calories burned are based on your weight. A 200-pound person at 8% body fat will have the same formula applied as a 200-pound person at 30% body fat. However, the more that you train and the leaner you are, the less calories you will burn during the same activity. In this example, the 8% person will actually burn fewer calories than the 30% person, due to their level of health and amount of lean mass. There are also issues with metabolism, activity throughout the day, nutrition, and many other factors that are not taken into account.

Does this mean that the readouts are worthless? Not at all. In fact, they are very useful. When I did my morning run this morning, the readout said that I burned 610 calories in 30 minutes. While I may not have truly expended that amount of energy, it is a great reference for me. Why? Because the next time that I perform cardio on that machine, I'm going to push myself harder and try to burn 650 calories. Again, I may not actually be burning 650 calories, but you can be certain that if the readout gives me that number, I will be working harder next week than I did today. So it is a great tool to gauge your own progress. It is also a great tool to mix up your style of training. If I do a high intensity workout and burn "400" calories, then I know if I come back and perform moderate training, I can shoot for "400" calories and expend about the same amount of energy during the activity.

MAXIM 5: Do not take the readouts on cardio machines literally - use them as a scale to gauge your own progress
It is interesting to learn the various ways that different styles of cardio expend energy. A slow, moderate run may take 45 minutes to burn 400 calories. However, the same amount of calories might be expended in a 15 minute, high intensity run. This is due to the fact that your heart rate becomes extremely elevated, and your muscles begin performing extreme work in order to help you accelerate through the intense periods. On the same token, a "slow" jog on a steep incline may burn the same amount of calories. In this situation, your body is fighting against gravity, so again you are still performing "high intensity" effort despite the slower pace.
As a final ingredient, consider variety. I can guarantee that if you always use the treadmill, your body will become so efficient at using the treadmill that you will begin to burn fewer calories doing the same workout. On the other hand, if you perform treadmill work one session, stair climber work another session, then go for a jog, you will continue to see the benefit of increased calorie expenditure. If your training permits, try to build in as much variety as possible. This will keep the fat melting off and continuously improve your cardiovascular condition.

MAXIM 6: Variety is key - whenever possible, vary not only your style of training (i.e. moderate, high intensity, etc) but also the terrain or equipment that you train on
I often have clients complain that they don't have access to the right equipment to perform much variety with cardio. If you simply purchase an inexpensive jump rope, you can easily train two different exercises: jogging, and jump roping. Now consider different styles of training: moderate (low intensity), high intensity interval training, and just high intensity training (where you try to elevate your heart rate and maintain that throughout the duration of the exercise). This alone provides 6 different possibilities for a cardio session, which is more than enough variety to change things throughout your training cycles.

Cardiovascular exercise is an important component of general health. While certain people may require different amounts and types of cardio, everyone should engage in at least a little cardiovascular activity each week. There are many methods for training which all have their advantages. You should learn what works for you and what you truly enjoy so that you will continue to perform cardio and reap benefits of good health.
Don't let someone fool you into thinking cardio isn't necessary. Even if you are in top shape, a little cardiovascular exercise can still benefit your general health. The key is to change the style and frequency of cardio to suite your lifestyle and fitness goals. Consider various styles of training, different terrains, and new types of equipment to train on. As always, learn your body and don't use any one else's rules to dictate your training. Keep a good journal, and find out what works for you. Peak cardio is a sure way to move closer to your peak, natural physique.

Jeremy Likness is the founder of Lose Fat, Not Faith He is a Certified Fitness Trainer and Specialist in Performance Nutrition. Jeremy is a freelance writer and entrepreneur. Jeremy lost 65 pounds of fat and was a Top 2000 Finisher in the 2000 Body-for-LIFE Competition. He is the author of the internationally-selling book, Lose Fat, Not Faith: A Transformation Guide [http://book.losefatnotfaith.com].

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10 Great Cardio Routine Makeover to Get Lean Fast!

If you have been a follower of my site for quite sometime now, you already have an idea that I am not a cardio fan. Cardio machines have their share of advantages and disadvantages. However, I learned that people can get very different result than what they expect if they do not use machines properly. For instance, I have witnessed saddlebags on many who have used machines the wrong way: nobody want to see that on their body.

If you still weigh the same months after you start doing cardio routines, you must be thinking that you are doing your routines inappropriately. You are right!

If this is the case, this is the perfect time to give your cardio routines a different mix before you ask a fitness expert for help to shed those fats. I have listed below things that can help you on your cardio routines:
1. Combine high and low intensity cardio. There is no need for long sessions of low-intensity cardio if your goal is only to shed those fats away. You will hear a lot of fitness gurus telling you that you can burn those fats easily when you do low-intensity cardio. Yes, you will burn those fats when you do the 40 up to 90 minutes cardio session though it will not have a big effect on your metabolism. However, doing slow steady cardio sessions will have fat-storing hormonal effects on you. Additionally, your body will get used to it after 6 months storing some extra body fats preparing your body for the next round of cardio sessions.

2. Introduce (true) interval training. If doing exercise has become a daily routine to you, then you know the term "interval training" - varying high intensity workouts with lower intensity sessions. This is great since it gives you more endurance to do harder routines in a short period. Additionally, it keeps your energy twice higher when you perform high intensity cardio. Moreover, your metabolism will develop if the resistance on the routine is high enough. The only issue you would most probably experience is your lack of determination to push yourself more. You can spend a minimum of 20 minutes for effective interval training.

You need to make sure that by the time you reach the high intensity, you have to push yourself so hard that you almost feel like you are going to collapse while you are getting near the time you set for your routine. Ways to recover are either to standstill or just stay relaxed and take it slow. If you still feel the same before and after the workout, then your routine is not yet enough. Lastly, there should be variations on your routines. You can try two different routines in a minute or a 45 seconds hard routine with 30 seconds dedicated for recovery. Routine variations will play an important role if your want to see your desired results.

3. Try some sprints. Did you ever wonder how is the body built of a sprinter differs from a marathon runner? Sure, there is a big difference. When we think of sprinter, we think of them spending more time running but they are also into bikes or doing cross training for both. Though interval training may improve either or both speed and resistance, sprint is based solely on speed. They are done for a specific distance on given period that is followed by a complete rest.

4. And a few hills. Hills are a great way to develop those lean muscles on your gluts and legs and to increase your metabolism as well. While some cardio will not have a long-lasting effect on your metabolism, using hills for your cardio routine will. This is definitely the best approach to cardio training. You can change the inclination setting of your treadmill to at least 8 or go to a handy hill in a local park near your place. You can get started with a simple brisk walk and as your body get along with the routine, you can combine it with other training like a light running. If you like pushing yourself more, you can integrate training or sprint based training while on hill for up to 20 minutes instead of just doing a simple light running. This is a kind of workout that your body will find hard to recover the first few times you do it.

5. Combine cardio to other training routines. Have you ever thought of combining your cardio routines with other training that you are doing? If you are a busy person or feeling stressed, doing cardio routines alone can activate a stress hormone reaction to your body that builds more storage. If you are not stressed and you did a cardio more than you are required to do it, it will also have the same hormonal effect on you. So, when can you consider cardio training as excess? This is doing cardio anything more than 2-3 minutes in a week and longer than the average 20-minutes per routine. You can forget about this rule if you are training for endurance event, as some experts will say that weight training is better in this kind of event than cardio.

Real training is a kind of training that our bodies were designed to do. It can include bending, squatting, twisting, lunging, pushing and pulling some kind of heavy objects.

6. Focus on your workout to see results. Some people's minds drift away while doing their workout on a cardio machine while their bodies just go through the motion. If you are serious on spending some time on the gym, then you have to focus more. At times, you might feel like it is just right to follow the speed of the cardio machine, that is fine. However, if you do this all the time, you are not serious enough on your training. In this case, you have to make a choice - push yourself to train to see those results or just stay at home and relax.

7. Mix it up in the great outdoors. Doing cardio routines may include using some sort of equipment. Sometimes, however, the best workouts that you can do are the ones that includes spontaneous activity or some casual or organized sport. If the routines that you are doing in the gym are no longer a challenge to you, it is high time for you to hit the outdoors. You can join a Frisbee game, try rock climbing or tag along with your friends that play a certain sport. You can also try new ideas that you can start doing with your friends!

8. Turn your weight session into cardio. This is my most preferred cardio training. Since I learned how much more weight training that truly works is effective for keeping my clients and myself lean, I have looked for more ways to improve it. This is the reason why I love circuit training. This saves you a lot of time, helps to tone your body, and you will see those sweats coming out of your body as it never did before. Lastly, it takes care of cardio training without having to use cardio machines. It is very simple - you can choose 3-8 weight training exercises (bigger movements is more effective compared to isolated ones) and do it again, one set of each. Take time to recover for 90 seconds and then repeat it 3-5 times. A break is optional, that is if, you want to keep pushing yourself more on this routine. You will see that this routine really works.

9. Use your upper body. Your legs also need breaks. On the other hand, if you have been accustomed to heavy training, then it is high time of doing something more than performing the traditional cardio training. You can do some upper body cardio. I would recommend rowing machine. You will know how effective this machine the moment you used it. Spending just 5 minutes on the rowing machine will really get your heart pumping faster. I like using the rower for some sprint training or for interval training - 100 meters flat out and then followed by at most 200 to give your body some time to get used to this routine. However, if you really want to see some lasting results, a shorter and harder combination will be a better option.

10. Just stop. What if you were told to cut out cardio training altogether? This may not be for the long term but only for a couple of weeks. You might start to think of doing a very different routine than what you are doing before. This is fine. Everybody deserves a break. In most cases, people notice that by the time they cut out their cardio routines, their performance improved on some other areas. You may hear others that when they are doing weight training, they are not giving their 100% on it so that they can save some of their energy for cardio. I have been a cardio queen for years but this did not stop me from improving my training by trying out some other routines and 'no' is not an option here. I would advise at least 2-4 weeks of cutting out your cardio routine each year for maximum results.

The choice is yours. In the meantime, try to get started by doing all the things I have mentioned here and I mean right away. I can guarantee you that you would be able to see the result in just a week or two and the visual results will soon follow.

Check out my blog Body Incredible for fat loss, nutrition and for motivational tips. And if you'd like to learn what it really takes to be in exceptional shape as a busy woman, visit Woman Incredible

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Top Ways to Get Started With a Cardio Beginner Program

Beginners are at a crucial juncture: they've made the decision to get into shape and realize they have a myriad of options in front of them. Make the wrong decision, and you'll potentially derail your progress for months (or sometimes even years).

Learn from someone with experience with fat loss and stay away from long duration, steady state cardio.

Here are some key issues I have with long duration, steady state cardio:

• It's boring. If your training program is boring, it's going to be tough for you to follow the program. Try and find something exciting. Something that you will look forward to doing each week. 
• Jogging hurts. Jogging was my form of outdoor cardio. I used to jog for 3-4 miles at least 4 days per week. Of course it worked, but I soon found myself in pain.
• The pain could have also be caused by overuse injuries, which comes from too much repetition of the same activity. Professional runner andcyclers often complain about knee problems later in life.
• The pain started with my shins and traveled to my knees. The uneven outdoor surface, and the constant pounding on the knees does a lot of damage to your joints.
• The bigger you are, the more you should stay away from jogging long distance. One or two miles is fine at a frequency of 2-3 days per week.
• Higher intensity distance cardio causes losses in strength, power, and muscle mass. You may not care about strength or power, but you should care about muscle mass.
• Muscle mass will be your long-term fight against fat. This is because muscle is more metabolically active than fat. It takes more calories to maintain a pound of muscle than a pound of fat.
• Hence, the more muscle you have on your body, the higher your metabolic rate. A fast metabolism will help you burn more calories throughout the day without performing more exercise or eating less.
• Aerobic exercise is an impractical method of burning lots of calories. The bigger you are, the more fat you will burn with aerobic exercise. But, as you get leaner and fitter, you will need to perform more aerobic exercise in order to burn the same amount of fat.
• For example, if in the beginning you were able to burn 100 calories in 20 minutes, 6 months from now it may take you up to an hour to burn the same amount of calories.
• Of course, this is just an example, but that is what happens. Your body becomes efficient at using energy to perform a task. Hence, it takes more work to burn more calories.

Now that you know why I don't like long distance cardio, lets look at some of the forms of cardio that I do like:Bodyweight Cardio
Bodyweight cardio is simply performing high intensity bodyweight exercises that are relatively easy in a cardio format. Cardio is basically raising your heart rate and increasing the demand for energy (calories).
The greater your demand for energy, the more calories and fat you will burn. Bodyweight cardio is often more fun than regular, steady state cardio. Plus, you can perform it anywhere and anytime you want.
You can perform bodyweight cardio in your hotel room, at the park, in your backyard, or your friends house. Hence, it is one of best, no-nonsense and no-excuses method to burn fat.

Hard Cardio

Hard cardio consists of any sort of higher intensity, moderate duration cardio. My favorite forms are sledgehammer swings, jump roping, and shadowboxing. This form of cardio is not only exciting and gets your heart rate up, but also prevents overuse injuries.

You can choose 2-3 forms of hard cardio, or even combine hard cardio with bodyweight cardio. This way, you prevent boredom and conserve your joints. Hard cardio helps develop power and speed.
For example, sledgehammer swings are used by many athletes to improve explosive power. Jump roping is also used by boxers to improveagility. Hence, you'll be improving your athletic abilities while burning fat.

Interval Cardio

Interval training is where you perform an activity for a high intensity level, then take a short rest. Alternate between high intensity and lower intensity training. You can do this form of training with hard cardio or bodyweight exercises.

As mentioned earlier, distance cardio is an impractical form of burning fat as your body becomes more efficient at burning calories. They key to solving this is to use increase the intensity level.
Interval cardio is one way to increase the level of intensity. Sprinters perform this kind of cardio all the time. They sprint on the track, and follow up with a period of rest to return their heart rate to normal.

Kettlebell Cardio

Kettlebells are a training implement that have seen a resurgence in popularity. They've been around for many years, but it's just recently that they're starting to show up with commercial gyms.

Their effectiveness comes from the unique shape of the Kettlebell. A Kettlebell has a thick handle attached to a cannonball shaped weight. Hence, every single movement you perform engages a large amount of muscle in order to properly perform the movement.

If you have never heard of Kettlebells, it's certainly something to look into. Kettlebell cardio workouts can be performed with either circuits or interval training. But make sure you start off light.

Dumbbell Cardio

If you don't have access to Kettlebells, then you can try Dumbbell cardio. Dumbbell cardio simply allows you to combine cardio and weight training into one. After Kettlebell workouts, Dumbbell cardio workouts are the most challenging forms of training.

Adding resistance to your cardio workouts allows you to train your strength endurance as well as your cardio endurance. Sports such as martial arts, where you are constantly moving around (cardio) and fighting off an opponent (resistance), need a combination of resistance and cardio endurance training.

But, for the regular folks, combining strength and cardio workouts can help you get leaner while maintaining and even increasing your lean muscle mass and strength.

For some great high intensity cardio workouts, check out my blog, ShahTraining.com
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5 Cardio Workouts to Burn Fat

Everything you know about cardio is about to change. You're about to discover the truth about 5 cardio workouts to burn fat and lose more belly fat in less workout time. Let's start by looking at the old, outdated way of burning fat.

Cardio Workout #1 to burn fat: Slow cardio
The first cardio workout to burn fat is "Old School Cardio". For years, we've been fooled into thinking that we need long, slow, boring cardio workouts to burn fat. However, too many men and women slave away on the cardio machines for 40, 60 and even 90 minutes per workout without burning fat. How is this possible?
To be honest, I don't know exactly why it doesn't work, but two recent research studies found that women doing 40-60 minutes of low intensity cardio, 3-5 days per week, did not lose belly fat after at least 12 weeks of cardio. Based on those results, slow cardio is not one of the best cardio workouts to burn fat.

In fact, in one of those studies, researchers tested high-intensity cardio, and found that high-intensity cardio was able to burn fat.

Cardio Workout #2 to burn fat: High-intensity cardio
The only problem is that high-intensity cardio requires you to work as hard as you can until you burn at least 400 calories in a workout. That will take you at least 40 minutes - so while this is one of the better cardio workouts to burn fat, it's still not the best.

A better approach is to use interval training. This is the third cardio workout to burn fat.

Cardio Workout #3 to burn fat: Interval training cardio
In a study from Australia that compared 2 cardio workouts to burn fat, subjects doing 3 interval training workouts per week lost a significant amount of belly fat while another group doing 40 minutes of slow cardio per week did not burn belly fat.

So interval training is a much better workout choice for fat loss. To do interval training, you do a normal warm-up, and then you alternate between hard exercise and easy exercise, then you follow with a cool down. This routine only takes twenty minutes.

Here's a sample of the interval cardio workouts to burn fat. Do a 5 minute warm-up, and then exercise for 1 minute at a pace that is 10-20% harder than your normal cardio intensity. After that 1 minute, decrease your exercise pace all the way down to cool-down level. Repeat that hard-easy cycle 5 more times. Finish with 3 minutes of cool-down.

Cardio Workout #4 to burn fat: Tabata Interval cardio
Since interval training became popular, personal trainers have been looking for other short cardio workouts to burn fat. A study from Japan used something that is known as the "Tabata Protocol", and many trainers believe this is even better than cardio and regular intervals. The fourth cardio workout to burn fat is the Tabata Interval program.

I'm not convinced it is better than regular intervals, but it is a heck of a hard way to do a fat burning workout. After a warm-up, you 20 seconds of hard work followed by 10 seconds of recovery. Repeat that 8 times.

This fat burning workout takes only 4 minutes!
Cardio Workout #5 to burn fat: Bodyweight circuit cardio
Finally, the fifth cardio workout for fat burning is bodyweight circuit training. Like intervals and the Tabata workouts, bodyweight circuit training is not really "cardio", however, these are the three better cardio workouts to burn fat.

Whatever you want to call bodyweight cardio, here's how it works.

First, you start with a quick, easy bodyweight exercise, such as Jumping Jacks.

After that, alternate between 3 lower-body and 3 upper-body bodyweight exercises, using squats, pushups, lunges, pulling exercises like rows or chinups, split squats, and total body ab exercises like mountain climbers.

Finally, finish off the 8 exercise circuit with a tough total body exercise like jumps, burpees, or running in place. Now that's fat burning cardio!

Those are 5 cardio workouts to burn fat. Only two are "traditional", but those 2 are the longest, and least effective. The shorter fat burning cardio workouts are the best way to burn belly fat fast.

Click here for a sample interval cardio fat burning program that has helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning.
The Turbulence Training fat burning workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Craig Ballantyne is an expert trainer for Men's Health magazine and Oxygen magazine, and his fat burning bodyweight workouts help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

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Best Time to Do Cardio - Find Out When the Best Time to Do Cardio Really Is

People often ask 'When is the best time to do cardio?' This is an extremely popular subject that is asked time and time again in the world of fitness and cardio. In this article we will discuss when the best time to do cardio is and explain the pros and cons of each one. Cardio without doubt is an important part of any training routine whether you're training for fitness or whether you're training for muscle and size. Cardio will strengthen your heart and lungs, help prevent a number of heart problems and diseases, strengthen your leg muscles and increase endurance levels. Cardio can be performed at anytime of the day but which is really the most effective? When is the best time to do cardio? That's take a look at some of the options:
Best Time to do Cardio - First Thing in the Morning on an empty stomach?
The best time to do cardio is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach according to a lot of people.

Gym trainers, Personal trainers and even some sports scientists will all tell you that the best time to do cardio is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The reasoning behind these claims is that when we wake up in the morning our bodies have gone a good 8 or so hours without food. This means that there are hardly any carbs left in our bodies to be burned/used as energy. Carbohydrates are your bodies preferred energy source. If you start exercising, your body will be unable to burn carbs as energy as it simply hasn't got any. Research shows that since your primary source of energy is not available your body will tap straight into your fat stores and use this as energy instead. Therefore the calories you burn during your cardio will be coming from fat instead of carbs. Due to this theory, many will tell you that the best time to do cardio for maximum fat loss is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

There is of course another side to this argument and one which I feel holds a lot of truth. Performing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will not burn more body fat; instead it will burn off muscle.

Here's the thing. You wake up in the morning after a good 8 or more hours without food. Your body is currently in a fasting state and does not have a satisfactory amount of energy. What your body needs right now is something to eat so it can refuel itself. Instead of doing this you choose to put it through a rigorous cardio workout and expend energy that it doesn't really have. Two things to note here. When energy is not readily available and your body is forced to use an alternate source this doesn't necessary mean it will go straight to the fat. The chances are that it will target your muscle tissue and burn that as energy. Now I'm pretty sure you don't want to be burning off muscle tissue when performing cardio, you want to be burning fat. The other point worth mentioning is that performing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will have a negative impact on your performance due to your low energy levels meaning poorer results are likely to be made. You are not going to get optimum results if your body is not properly prepared to perform cardio.

What I am saying above is that the best time to do cardio may well be first thing in the morning but you should not be doing it on an empty stomach. Performing cardio on an empty stomach will limit your performance and increase the chances of your body burning off muscle tissue as energy. If you like to get your cardio out the way with in the morning then get up and eat something. Get some carbs and protein in you about 30-40 minutes before your cardio. This doesn't have to be a big meal just a healthy nutritious snack to get you through your cardio. You may then come back and have a proper breakfast.

Best Time to do Cardio - Right Before Weightlifting?
In my opinion the best time to do cardio is definitely NOT before a workout. If your main goal is to build muscle and strength then performing cardio before weightlifting should not be done. If your one of those performing cardio before your weightlifting routine then stop. You will likely see a huge difference in performance once you do. Going all out on cardio before you weightlifting routine will leave you feeling weak and tired. Energy stores will be depleted and you will lack energy to lift heavy weights. Cardio will also cause protein synthesis to drop. Protein synthesis is your body's ability to build muscle. If your performing your weight lifting routine straight after your cardio the longer protein synthesis will be lowered. The longer it is lowered means the less time your body can spend repairing and building muscle.

You don't really want this if you're looking to build quality muscle mass. You may now be thinking well what if I perform cardio earlier on during the day and then perform my weight lifting routine an hour or two later, is this okay? The answer to this is yes but I still wouldn't recommend it. If you are set on doing this then you will need to take in adequate nutrition between cardio and weightlifting sessions to ensure your muscles get the valuable nutrients they need to begin the rebuilding and recovery process. Energy stores will need to be replenished and protein synthesis will need to be elevated. Carbs and protein should therefore be consumed. Even if you follow these guidelines the chances are that your weights workout will still suffer and you may not be able to lift to your full potential.

Best Time to do Cardio - Right After Weightlifting?
Again I would advise against doing your cardio right after your weightlifting routine but if you have no other choice then this is far better than doing it before your weightlifting routine. The reason I say that is because when weight lifting your glycogen stores are not depleted as much as when you do cardio meaning you have a little more life and energy to exert. This will make your weight lifting workout more effective than if you did it straight after cardio but this is still far from ideal. However, by performing your weight lifting routine first you can give everything you have into that one workout. What you can then do is perform your cardio later on during the day. At least 2 hours apart if you have the time. Within this time it is again important that you replenish energy stores and take in a nutritious meal consisting of carbs and protein. Fats can also be included if desired but make sure you get a good meal in to help your body get back to its original state.

Best Time to do Cardio - Later on in the evening/night?
Performing cardio later on in the day at night or early evening is fine as long as you have the motivation and energy to do it. A lot of people struggle with the fact that they finish work late and then have to get home and set out on a grueling 30 minute run. Many would rather get home and put their feet up, have something to eat and then head to bed. If you struggle to fit cardio into your routine during the day and are not a morning person who can get up early and get their cardio completed and out the way with, then performing it in the evening or night is fine as long as you are motivated to do so. It can be far more tempting to skip late cardio sessions thanks to long and stressful days at work.

Chances are you will be less prone to doing this if you perform your cardio earlier on in the day such as morning or early afternoon if you have the chance to do so. One other slight downside of performing cardio later on in the day is that you don't experience the full effect of your increased metabolism. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. After cardio your metabolism will be raised for hours afterwards allowing you to burn more calories throughout the day even at rest! If you perform cardio at night shortly before you go to bed you won't be getting the full benefit. The reason being is that your metabolism dramatically drops when you sleep making it less beneficial than if you had performed cardio earlier on in the morning. Morning cardio will raise your metabolism for the majority of the day giving you the full benefit of a raised metabolism.

Final conclusion on the best time to do cardio
The best time to do cardio is when you are energized and have your mind focused towards doing it. The important thing is to make sure you are actually doing it. If there is absolutely no way you can get around doing cardio before/after your workouts or late at night then don't worry too much about it. It is not ideal but you will still reap the many benefits that cardio can bring you. To experience the most effective gains from cardio I would recommend you perform it in the morning after eating something and on a non weight training day. If you weight train Monday, Wednesday and Friday then try your best to fit in your cardio and running work on the other days you have free. This way you can expect maximum performance in both cardio and weight lifting. The only thing I would say is to watch out for your leg workouts.

If running a day before your leg workout leaves your legs extremely sore and tired only perform a light cardio session on this day. The same goes for the day after your leg workout. If your legs are sore and tired perform a light session of cardio or alternatively don't perform any at all. The best results are made when you have the most energy so bear this in mind. Getting up early is not actually that bad once you get use to it. Get into the habit of getting up early for your cardio and you soon won't have a problem with it. Getting up early and performing your cardio will get it out the way with for the rest of the day, increase your body's metabolism throughout the day and help you burn more calories making early morning cardio one of the best times to do cardio.

Mark Crossan
[http://www.easyfitness4you.co.uk/]
Check out our cardio for beginners guide [http://www.easyfitness4you.co.uk/cardio_for_beginners.html] as well as our weight loss and muscle building articles to help you reach your fitness goals.

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