The Best Cardio Workout to Burn Fat Quickly

The 2 Different Common Approaches To Cardio Workout

When it comes to burning body fat, there are a few different approaches for you to chose from. 

Most trainers would recommend that you take the low intensity approach to cardio. But is this the best cardio workout to burn fat quickly?

The concept of doing your cardio at a level of low intensity is that most of the calories that's burned will be coming from body fat. Lots of folks believe that if you workout too hard, you are burning off carbohydrate energy in the body and not targeting fat. 

Many people claim that more total calories are burned if people exercise at a higher level of intensity. 

They conclude that if you just 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.

Low Intensity Cardio Workout Approach

Low intensity cardio is the most popular type of cardio, and is promoted by many personal trainers. 

Low intensity cardio works at targeting body fat, and that is why it is recommended by many personal trainers. 

University studies have proven low intensity cardio uses fat calories instead of burning muscle carbohydrate calories for energy. 

If the body burns fat for energy, you will lose body fat. It just makes sense. 

It is important to choose cardio machines that can track your heart rate. It will let you monitor your heart rate during your cardio workout to allow you to hit the ideal intensity level. 

After about 10 minutes or so, you should be close to reaching your ideal heart rate. Staying within that target heart rate for at least 30 minutes is what is recommended by most experts.

The High Intensity Cardio Workout

This form of cardio is less utilized. High intensity training involves pushing past your pain threshold a bit, so fewer people choose this route. 

This cardio method can give great results in burning body fat if done properly. The total calories burned in high intensity cardio are greater than low intensity cardio. 

Some of those calories come from your body fat and some come from glycogen (carbohydrates stores within your muscles). 

When you burn more calories in your cardio workout than what you consume, you create a calorie deficit. If you burn  more calories during the day than what you eat in food, you will lose weight.

The Limitations of the 2 Types of Cardio Workouts

Once you get your heart rate up to the correct level, the low intensity cardio workout will burn body fat. 

The downside is that it can take up to 10 minutes to get your heart rate to the correct level to burn body fat. 

The first 10 minutes of this cardio workout are somewhat unproductive. 

High intensity cardio is hard to maintain for long periods of time since it takes a lot of effort. 

Working at an intense level for over 10-15 minutes is extremely difficult.

How to Combine The Two Approaches Into One Awesome Cardio Workout

When performed in a certain manner, it is possible to benefit from doing both types of cardio in the same workout.

You can make the first ten minutes of the low intensity cardio workout productive, by starting your cardio workout off at a high intensity level.

Find a treadmill or exercise bike and set it at a high level. Push yourself really hard for 10-15 minutes. Once you are really working up a sweat, switch to a low intensity and keep it there for 20-30 minutes.

This will burn calories and create a calorie deficit as well as burning body fat during the workout.

I maintain an 8% body fat percentage year round using this cardio approach.