Cardio or Intervals for Fat Loss

Fat loss is something that has been a subject of great interest to scientists and commercial companies alike. The reason for this is simply that the need for losing weight is very widespread in the world today. There are people all over the world employing a wide variety of techniques and methods for losing weight. Of the wide variety of methods currently in use in different parts of the world, the two areas that cause a lot of debate when compared to each other are intervals for fat loss and/ or cardio exercises.

Logically, as these two are in most programs one way or another, a lot of people want to know which one is better. In a nutshell, the answer is the former. There are many reasons why intervals for fat loss should be preferred over cardio exercises. The following is a list that should convert you into an 'intervals for fat loss' supporter, if you are not already one.

1. The direct impact: The direct impact of doing intervals for fat loss is that your heart rate will ramp up to a rate that will allow your fitness to improve and get your metabolism revved up. Alternatively, with cardio your heart rate stays at a steady and constant state throughout your workout. While you will burn calories this way, your body will stop immediately after your workout while w intervals your body will keep burning the calories.

2. The inherent process: The inherent process of intervals is based around variation while the basic process of cardio is constant and regular.
The stopping and starting of intervals along with the many types of activities you can do with them means the variety will keep it fun and entertaining.

3. Efficiency in terms of time: One of the biggest problems these days is that of time. Most people are unable to devote a lot of time to fat loss because their careers and personal lives do not allow them enough time.
With this setting, the fact that intervals for fat loss are particularly time efficient makes them extremely useful to professionals. In contrast, cardio tends to be long winded and time consuming which is counterproductive to a person with a busy life.

4. Longevity of the fat loss process: The most critical aspect where intervals for fat loss score over cardio is that with the former you would be burning calories even though you have stopped exercising. Research has shown that a person who does intervals regularly can burn calories up to 24 hours after he has stopped exercising.
This is a major advantage over cardio exercises where you only burn calories till you are exercising and not beyond.

5. Quality of the final results: In the end,intervals for fat loss would allow you to have a body that is in the right proportions while cardio would make your body thin and gaunt. As the purpose of training is, in fact, feeling good and looking good, it makes no sense for you to go for cardio exercises when intervals would make you look and feel so much better.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Darragh_Holland/837909

A Guide to Cardio Fitness For the Home

If cardio fitness is your primary goal then you have a massive range of different machines to choose from, all of which will integrate easily into the home environment. There are treadmills, exercise bikes, cross or elliptical trainers, rowing machines, stair climbers and more! It's certainly worth investing in a cardio fitness machine as it's easy to store at home and a great time saver over going to the gym.

Often you'll find that a home gym is not complete without some kind of cardio workout bike or trainer. Even for those whose main aim is to build muscle, some kind of cardio machine is necessary to burn away the fat and create better body definition. What's the use in building the muscle if it's covered by a layer of fat?
Another alternative to cardio machines are things like aerobics and for this you'll need to invest in good quality exercise mats especially if you're doing yoga or Pilates. Exercise balls are also highly useful for working on the body's inner core or simply to attack your workouts from a different angle. They are excellent aids in more traditional exercises too such as sit ups which, when performed on the ground, can cause stress to the back.

If you have an injury then these kinds of medicine balls are a godsend as they allow you to exercise while greatly reducing the stress on your body. A secondary advantage of them is with stretching and this area of their use is just starting to catch on among fitness enthusiasts.

When working on your cardio machines its vital to have some way to monitor your heart rate. Some cardio equipment will have this already built in but for the most accurate readings it's best to get an external heart rate monitor. This will ensure that you don't stray out of your fat burning zone and into a muscle burning zone which is a fundamental principal of working out on cardio exercise machines.

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Cardio on the Elliptical to Burn Belly Fat

After years of spending as long as 60 minutes of my time exercising on the elliptical, I got bored. Then I uncovered a way to do my cardio programs on the elliptical by as much as 15 times quicker. I also found that I could burn body fat for a much longer time even after my routine had finished.

Would you believe me if I revealed to you I could show you a 4 minute exercises that would be just as effective as your typical 60 minute program? If so, would it be worth spending 4 minutes to throw out your 60 minute session?

Well, the good news is that a 4 minute high intensity cardio training on the elliptical to burn fat works. In this article, I am going to show you how to adapt your typical cardio workout on the elliptical and manipulate it into a turbo-charged belly fat burning program. This training will continue burning fat for up to 24 hours after you have finished your session.

I am not going to explain HOW this faster interval training workout is more productive at burning body fat and increase your endurance immediately. That is going to be revealed another day. However, let me just point out that current research shows strong evidence to support it.

There are 2 simple methods to revise your elliptical session routine to elevate the difficulty level so that you can conclude it in such a short amount of time. The important thing to remember with this type of hiit exercises is that it must be an all out effort. If you lower your intensity to the same effort as your typical long duration program, then your results will not be as dramatic.

1. Crank Up the Incline: Increasing the incline on the elliptical trainer to a intensity that makes your give a 100% attempt will deplete your short term energy stores.

2. Increase the Resistance: Increase the resistance so that you continue to train at the same pace but still maintaining an all out exertion to do so.

Obviously you are not going to be able to maintain this level of difficulty for a long period of time. If fact, the real secret behind this high intensity cardio procedure is that you don't have to.
Here is your 4 minute high intensity interval training cardio session on the elliptical to burn fat:
Begin with a 3-5 minute warm up that will elevate your body temperature sufficient so that you feel like you are starting to sweat.

You will carry out 8 sets of high intensity work periods lasting 20 seconds with a 10 second active rest in between. During your 20 second work session you will alter your incline or resistance. You should not need to change both together.

During your active rest, lower your incline or resistance back to a low intensity level. Continue this cycle 8 times for 4 minutes. This is also known as a Tabata protocol.

If you performed the workout accurately and with enough difficulty you should feel spent.
HIIT cardio on the elliptical to burn fat is the most valuable line of attack to develop your body's ability to burn body fat throughout the day. By altering your incline or the resistance on the elliptical trainer you are able to make your training effective enough that won't have to waste 60 minutes on your routine. Now you will have time to do other things that you enjoy.

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Cardio: The Best Time to Do Cardio For Fat Loss

Here's a common question that I get about cardio, and where it fits into a fat loss plan...
Q: Is there a benefit from doing the strength training first and then cardio? Should I do it before strength training?
Answer:
First, you don't have to do the strength and cardio in the same workout, but you will find it more efficient to do it that way.

If you only have 30 minutes to workout, you can do strength training one day and cardio the next day (preferably using interval cardio, which is more effective for fat loss than slow, boring cardio).
By combining strength training (done first!) and interval cardio in your workout, you will only need to workout 3 days per week (only 45 minutes per session!) to get results. That allows you an easier schedule to follow, and more days off from the gym to go about your daily life demands. You should still try and stay active on your "off days", but you don't need to worry about getting to the gym.

As for the order, we find it to be more practical to do the strength training first, as the intervals often lead to full body fatigue. There is nothing magical about doing cardio before or after strength training. Neither method will make you lose more fat.

However, I just prefer that men and women do their strength training first, because I don't want them to be tired when doing their squats, pushups, or rows. That would defeat the purpose of strength training if they are already tired!

And as mentioned before, you will get better results in less time if you switch from slow, traditional cardio to interval cardio. Instead of doing 45 minutes of slow cardio, you'll only need to do 20 minutes of interval cardio. You'll get just as fit and lose more fat.
Overall, the order of strength training first followed by interval cardio are optimal for increasing metabolism, building strength and muscle, and losing fat.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Craig_Ballantyne/23799

What's Better Than Cardio Workouts For Fat Loss?

When it is time to lose fat, most people turn to cardio workouts for fat loss. Find out three reasons cardio workouts are not the best for building your best body.
When you look in the mirror and decide it's time to lose those love handles and belly fat, most men and women turn to cardio workouts for fat loss. And this I mean cardio ONLY workout like jogging, biking, rowing, etc.

Let's go over three reasons why this type of workout is not best for burning fat and building your best body.
The Belief Cardio Exercise Burns More Fat Is Misconceived
When I talk about cardio exercise, I'm talking about doing an aerobic activity in your "target heart rate zone" for an extended period of time. Usually 20 minutes and beyond.

Studies have shown that exercising in this moderate zone burns the most fat. But what they fail to explain is that your body adapts by becoming more efficient at burning fat. That means you burn LESS fat with the same workout.
Teaching your body to burn less fat when exercising is not what you want to do if you want to build your best body.

Cardio Only Workouts Stop Burning Fat When The Workout Is Completed
So you go jogging for 20 minutes and your body burns fat for those 20 minutes. Then when you stop, your body stops burning fat.

To burn more fat, you end up having to do longer and longer cardio workouts. Couple this with the fact your body is becoming better at burning fat... and you are in for some LONG workouts to approach your fat loss goals.

Cardio Workouts For Fat Loss Don't Build The Athletically Muscular Body Most People Want
Even if you manage to struggle through the longer and longer cardio exercise sessions... you still might be disappointed with the results. The fact is, if you don't ALREADY have the muscular, attractive body underneath the fat, you are not going to reveal it by losing fat. Combined with the fact that extended cardio workouts force your body to lose muscle and you'll end up looking at a thin, frail body.

This is not what most people dream of when they want to build their best body.
The fact is, to expose your best body you need to both burn ugly fat and build attractive muscle. You cannot do both with a cardio workout for fat loss. Just losing fat is not going to RESULT ion the body of your dreams. And even if it did, cardio only workouts are not the way to get the most results in the shortest period of time.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Eddie_Lomax/23541

Fat Loss Diets and Cardio Overload - Why This Prevents You From Losing Weight

If you've been looking for ways you can speed up your fat loss, you've likely considered adding more cardio to your fat loss workouts. But, is this really a smart move?
Here is why you might want to reconsider.

The Fat Loss-Cardio Mindset
Many people when starting out on their fat loss diets get in this cardio mindset where they believe that if some is good, more must be better.
After all, if they can burn 300 calories a day with a 30 minute jog, why not bump that up to 60 minutes a day - 600 calories!
That means you can either eat 300 more calories each day and maintain the same rate of fat loss, or you will lose fat twice as fast.
Bonus!
Not quite.

The Issue With Fat Loss Cardio
There are two important points to keep in mind here. When selecting the methods you will use to perform your fat loss cardio, you'll usually choose between either higher intensity sprints, or you will opt for a more moderate paced, steady-state form of cardio.
Each has benefits and drawbacks.

Steady State Cardio
If you opt to go the steady state cardio, either because you don't like the intensity of sprints, you don't want to risk overtraining, or simply because you aren't in the kind of shape necessary to do sprints, then you're at risk for a whole other set of problems.
Muscle mass loss.
Too much steady state cardio tends to be catabolic on the body, which means your body will start using muscle tissue for fuel, rather than strictly relying on body fat stores.

To see an example of this, look at the many long distance marathon runners out there. Don't have much muscle, do they?
That's why.
When you combine that much steady state cardio (1 hour+ five times a week for example), you're looking at risking muscle mass loss when you're eating fewer calories than the body takes to maintain weight.

Interval Training
Moving on, if you opt for the interval training route, you've got another set of problems.
With this one, the big issue is going to be overtraining, as now you've got both your sprint sessions and your weight lifting workouts stimulating that CNS.
While some stimulation the body can handle, too much and it's going to shut down. When it does, you will not be feeling well.

Unless you carefully balance your lifting and interval sessions, problems are ahead.
Since many of those on fat loss diets, as mentioned above, get into the 'some is good, more is better' mindset, many try and perform far too many interval sessions than their body can handle.
So, if doing more cardio is not going to be a good option for fat loss, what is?
Getting your diet in line.
Most people hate to hear this because let's face it, we like to eat. BUT, it's far easier to slash a couple hundred calories from your day (look for pesky places excess calories creep in), than to add hours of cardio per week.

The one exception to this may be those people who are already eating a very low calorie diet (defined as less than their body weight in pounds multiplied by a factor of 9 per day).
In that case, more cardio may be an option, but even still, it might be time to look at other issues that could be going on with that dieter in particular, as most people should be losing weight on such an intake.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Shannon_Clark/125749

Cardio for Fat Loss Secrets - 3 Tips to Maximize Your Cardio Fat Loss Results

If you are frustrated with your cardio fat loss results, then you need to take a good look at your training regiment and find out why you are not getting the desires results. There may be too many causes to support your case, but there is no secret that can solve all your problems overnight.
Therefore, here are some guidelines to help you get the most out of your cardio training for fat loss:

Cardio burning zone
The best training work out is the one done within the cardio burning zone. In this zone, the body burns the highest amount of calories both during the workout and after by elevating energy expenditure and boosting metabolism levels in the hours following the workout. You can calculate your cardio burning zone by monitoring your heart rate during the training.

Getting your heart rate to 75% its maximum rate is sufficient to enter this cardio burning zone. Maximum heart rate can be calculated by following this simple formula:
(220 - Your age) = Maximum Heart Rate
An example of 30 years old person (220 - 30) = 190 beats per minutes is his maximum heart rate.
Now let's calculate his cardio burning zone heart rate: 190 x 75% = 142b.p.m
Now go and calculate your own heart rate and try to do as much cardio training within it.

Consistency
Doing cardio training sporadically will not get you the desired results. The only way to a permanent weight loss regiment can be achieved through consistent training. Otherwise, you will be fooling and driving yourself crazy. Don't expect too much from just a couple of sessions or you will get disappointed early on.
Consistent training is achieved through cultivating good habits. Cardio training can also become a habit if you intend it so. The way you can do this is by blocking a specific time in your calendar for the next 4 weeks to just do your cardio training no matter the circumstance.

Make your training enjoyable
One of the main reasons why people don't sustain their cardio training for a long period is boredom. Doing the same thing can drive you crazy, in fact the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.
Fortunately this phenomenon can be tackled by making your training more enjoyable. One way you could make your training more fun is by adding variety to it. Don't repeat the same workout every day, instead try to incorporate other workouts into your training program and alternate between them whenever you feel boredom starting to creep on you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/David_Dack/650900