Burn Stubborn Body Fat With This Awesome Cardio Workout

Rusty Moore

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.

Many people make the point that more total calories are burned if people exercise at a higher intensity level. They reason that if you simply burn more calories than you consume in a day, you will lose body fat. So now we will look in more detail at each school of thought.

The Popular Low Intensity Cardio Workout

This lower intensity cardio workout is what you will see in most gyms. It is a great way to burn body fat, since it targets the fat directly. No wonder why it is so popular! There have been numerous university studies that prove the effectiveness of performing aerobic exercise at a low intensity level. If done properly, it is great for directly targeting body fat.

When you are trying to work at a low intensity, you need to monitor your heart rate. Most gyms these days come equipped with treadmills and exercise bikes that have built in heart rate monitors, so this won't be a problem. It normally takes about 5-10 minutes to reach the ideal heart rate...then you just want to continue working out at that level for 20-30 more minutes.

The High Intensity Cardio Workout

Want to burn the most amount of total calories in the shortest time? Try a high intensity cardio workout. This is definitely the tougher of the two types of aerobic exercises and is probably one of the many reasons it isn't as popular as the low intensity version. There is a great benefit to burning more total calories.

A foolproof way to lose weight is to burn more calories than what you consume each day. High intensity cardio is best for creating a calorie deficit, by burning a large amount of calories.

The Imperfections of The 2 Versions 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

Why not start out at a high intensity level for the first 10-15 minutes and end with low intensity for 20-30 minutes? If you think of the two approaches...this completely makes sense! You are making the first 10-15 minutes of a low intensity cardio workout productive. Instead of wasting those first 10 minutes, you are burning a ton of calories...after 10 minutes you are burning a ton of body fat!

The way to accomplish this is find your favorite cardio machine...an elliptical machine, treadmill, exercise bike, etc. Start your workout by setting the machine at a tough level and maintain that level for 10-15 minutes. The idea is to have a tough time reaching the 10 minute mark. After 10 minutes, back down to an easier pace and maintain that pace for 30 minutes. You are now going to burn tons of calories, create a calorie deficit, as well as burn body fat directly. This is quickly becoming my favorite cardio workout, since it is so effective.