Are you looking for the best cardio workouts that are effective to burn off fat around your midsection? How long should you do cardio to get results and is the intensity of the exercise up for debate at all? We will answer some of the questions and thoughts that might come up in this short article on cardio exercises…
First of all, let’s look at various cardio exercises that could build a good cardio workout:
- Running/Jogging
- Walking at a fast pace (Heart beat is increased slightly)
- Cycling
- Swimming
- Jump Rope
- Dancing (at higher speeds)
- Sports activities
- Hiking
- Climbing
- Wrestling
- Kick Boxing
- Treadmill
- Cardio Machines like the elliptical, Crosstrainer
- etc
Obviously there are many more things to add to this list, but you get the idea here. It’s doing an activity for a prolonged period of time, that usually lasts for 20-60 minutes at a speed of which you can hold a conversation, but your heart rate is greatly elevated during this period. You are not reaching maximum heart rate when doing “slow steady cardio”.
This kind of cardio I suggest you do as a beginner, until you can easily hold a good paced run for 30-45 minutes without falling over, then you need to move over to more advanced cardio training. This type of cardio, slow and steady, should be done preferably 20 minutes or more each and every day at moderate tempo.
I tend to gravitate towards more intense cardio, because it is more time efficient for my schedule. I wish I had the time and energy to run for 60 minutes per day, but I do not… Instead of this I focus on High Intense Cardio Exercise. This is also known as HIIT and is explained well in Turbulence Training.
This type of cardio is done at a very high rate of intensity. Sometimes as high as 98% of your max effort. Some say go 110%, but that’s not likely. This is the kind of cardio exercise that burns the most abdominal fat for the least amount of time and I like it because I can get away with doing it only 3 times per week for only 16 minutes.
High Intense Interval Training is the best cardio workout there is in my opinion!
Even though many people argue that there is no real facts that it does in fact work better than lower steady state cardio I like the THRILL and the INTENSITY of the cardio session. I LOVE TO PUSH MYSELF. Be aware that HIIT is not for the faint of heart. It’s intense and hard work. It knocks your central nervous system way out and you can feel really tired after 
Only do this if you want more advanced cardio, otherwise stick to 20-60 minutes of cardio once per day as often as you can…
Here’s a sample HIIT cardio workout using a simple cardio exercise such as sprinting. I would do this workout routine on a non-resistance training day.
- Jog for 5 minutes to warm up.. (I run to a close by terrain, perfect for this, it takes 1 lap to finish for me!)
- Sprint As Hard As I Possibly Can For 30 Seconds
- Rest As Much As I Can By Walking SLOOOOWLY for 30-60 seconds, make rest shorter the better you get.
- Repeat Until I Reach Failure or 16 Rounds (Total 16 minutes)
When I am untrained or haven’t done this cardio for a while I might get knocked out at about 12 rounds of 30 seconds hard and 30 seconds of rest, but I’m usually peaking at 30/30 for 16 rounds in 2-4 weeks. I try to add a round of sprints for each week that I do the cardio.
If you do this cardio exercise you are bound to start losing some fat around your waist if you keep it up and do your cardio regularly in combination with a solid diet regimen and strength training plan. I recommend you check out Truth About Abs for a great workout, diet and cardio program that sheds pounds and inches of your belly like a rocket!
