This time of year has many of us thinking about our health and fitness goals for the new year. It’s no secret that weight loss is a goal for many people, whether your health is on the line or you want to feel better in a bikini. It can be challenging to find workouts that work for you, but one type of exercise that you can always rely on to help you burn fat and get fit is cardio. Cardio workouts have many benefits, from making your heart strong, to increasing your lung capacity, and of course, helping you burn fat and calories. Ready to get your cardio on? Here are the 5 best cardio workouts that burn fat fast, plus tips to make your cardio workouts more effective!
Are Cardio Workouts Good for Fat Loss?
If you’re looking to lose weight, cardio workouts are one of the best types of exercise you can do. Cardiovascular exercise is considered aerobic exercise, meaning that you’re doing an activity “with oxygen”. Typical cardio workouts include walking, jogging, swimming, rowing, cycling, HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout classes, with higher intensity workouts leading to more weight loss.
The amount of weight you’ll lose with cardio workouts depends on a number of factors such as age, gender, body composition, weight, and again, the intensity of your workout. Workouts like running, HIIT, cycling and swimming burn the most amount of calories in the least amount of time, and involve using the large muscles in your body at a moderate to vigorous intensity. Keep in mind that while cardio workouts are definitely good for fat loss, they are most effective when combined with strength training workouts.
3 Tips To Make Your Cardio Workouts More Effective
1. Add Intervals to Your Treadmill Routine
If you constantly run at a steady pace, you’re more likely to plateau with your health and weight loss goals. When you’re doing cardio workouts, such as running on the treadmill, add intervals to make your workout more effective. You can try incline or speed intervals. Incline intervals are when you increase the incline every few minutes, and speed intervals are when you keep the incline the same, but continually increase the speed, or move between an increased and decreased speed throughout your workout.
2. Increase Resistance
If you’re doing a cardio workout on a machine such as the elliptical or stationary bike, always up your resistance. You should be pushing against something in order to activate different muscles. Try out a variety of speeds and resistance levels throughout your workout to figure out what’s most effective for you.
3. Switch Up Your Cardio Workouts
It’s ideal to switch up your cardio workouts and do more than two types of cardio in a week. This ensures you improve overall body strength, making you more toned and fit as you go. Since the body is so adaptive to aerobic training, it’s important to change up your workouts often. Cycle between cycling, running, swimming and cardio workout classes to ensure your cardio workouts are effective as can be.
5 Cardio Workouts That Burn Fat Fast
Fat Burning HIIT Cardio Workout | Heather Robertson
If you’re someone who would rather keep moving than run on a treadmill for 30 minutes, at-home workouts are perfect for you. In this full body workout, there are three different HIIT circuits, and you’ll repeat each one twice. You’ll do exercises such as jumping jacks, butt kicks, mountain climbers, and ghost rope (jump rope without the rope!). It’s a 30-minute workout that will help you burn fat and boost your overall health!
8 Minute Cardio Routine at Home | PsycheTruth
This workout proves that even if you don’t have much time, you can still fit in a good cardio workout! Eight minutes is better than nothing, especially with this awesome cardio workout that consists of exercises like squat punches, skaters, running man and squat jumps. This short and not-so-sweet routine will get you fit in no time, and is perfect for all levels!
At Home Cardio Workout to Burn Fat and Tone | FitnessBlender
If you’re goal is to burn fat and tone up, you’re going to want to make this workout a regular part of your cardio routine! Not only that, through these specific exercises, you’ll be able to increase your balance, coordination and control over your entire body. You’ll start with a cardio warm up before you head into exercises such as walk down and up down plank, pendulum swings and a lift, reverse lung pulls, side plank jacks and more!
15 Minute Fat Burning HIIT Workout With No Equipment | Natacha Oceane
HIIT workouts are one of the best types of cardio workouts out there. They get your blood pumping, heart racing and can help you burn fat fast. Each exercise in this workout is performed for 30 seconds, followed by a 30 second rest, and the exercises include pivot squats, opposite toe touches, jack to narrow jump, down dog to kick back and kneel to squat with knee drive.
10 Minute Intense Cardio Workout- Burn Fat Fast | Rebecca-Louise
This is another great workout to do if you don’t have a lot of time but still want to get a sweat in! From curtsey lunges to squats, jogging in place, knee-ups, and more, you’re sure to break a sweat and burn fat with this killer workout! You’ll work your entire body, plus get your cardio in, making you stronger and fitter overall!
Cardio workouts are one of the best ways to burn fat fast! Try these tips and workouts to lose weight and get strong!
