We talk a lot about all natural weight loss and exercise for women. And true to that mission is the element of cardio for without it, a lifestyle of wellness is never truly possible. Our bodies are designed for movement, and not always slow methodical movement either. So, to shed some light on this element of wellness, today’s post shows you the 5 styles of cardio , explores their fat burning potential and shows you how to implement each one into your wellness strategy.
We begin with…
The Slow Burn
Old School…those are the best words to describe this technique. It requires what seems like endless hours and miles on that boring old treadmill sitting in the stale cold garage or shoved in a crowded spare room corner. You yawn your way through it, dread it with passion and wonder when in the world it will end once you’ve managed to begin.
The fact is that research has shown that this form of cardio does not burn fat as we all hope even after 45-60 minutes of the activity 3-5 days a week.
The High Intensity Burn
By definition, high intensity means you work as hard as possible until you have burned at least 400 calories in a workout. To do this you’ll sweat your buns off, pant like a thirsty tiger for about 40 minutes. Still not the best fat burning approach but a far cry better than the SLOW Burn.
The Interval Burn
For this workout, you simply do alternating intervals of high intensity and easy exercises with little rest time in between. For example: After a 5 minute warm up, complete a minute of cardio at a level about 20% higher than normal. Then, decrease to cool down lever for a minute before hitting it hard again. Repeat this process at least 5 times before cooling down.
You’ll pant a while, get a reprieve, pant some more, sweat like a pig and torch the fat as your heart races in your chest. It’s a good thing!
The Tabata Interval Burn
This is a time sensitive, power packed workout that will leave you breathless but leaner. Derived in Japan, this method is accomplished by doing 20 seconds of HARD cardio work followed by 10 seconds of cool down/recovery. Repeated 8 times,
this workout takes 4 whopping minutes. So, you get to do it several times during the day…hehe! And believe me, it works.
The Bodyweight Burn
This workout, not truly cardio, uses common resistance training movements with your body only but gets your heart pumping and your body burning fat effectively. Here is how it works.
Let’s start with jumping jacks. After 20-30 reps, alternate between 3 lower and 3 upper body movements such as squats,
pushups, lunges, pullups, rows, and mountain climbers. Then finish it all off with a total body movement like jumps, burpees, star jacks or running in place.
Talk about fat burning!
So there you have it…the 5 cardio workouts for fat burning. Now, it is time to hit the gym or that dedicated space at home and burn some FAT! Are you ready?
I want to know what you choose so leave a comment below and tell us how the fat burning is going!
