If your goal is weight loss, doing cardio can help you reach your goal. Cardio is the best type of exercise to burn a lot of calories. It torches calories. Unfortunately, those calories can come from both fat and muscle tissue. It’s one drawback of cardio. The less muscle tissue you have, the harder it is to lose weight. Muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain than fat tissue does, so it boosts your metabolism to burn extra calories 24/7.
Some types of cardio burn more calories than others do.
Most people understand that running at peak speed will burn more calories per hour than the same amount of time spent on a leisurely walk. There are also differences between a steady-state workout and a HIIT—high intensity interval training—workout. Steady-state is just as it sounds. You exercise at a consistent pace. HIIT varies the intensity between peak intensity and recovery. HIIT burns more calories and gets faster results.
HIIT workouts continue burning calories after the workout ends.
If you’ve run several miles alternating between high intensity and recovery, you’ll burn calories even after you quit. HIIT workouts cause excess post-exercise oxygen consumption—EPOC. It’s the reason HIIT burns more calories than a steady-state cardio session. HIIT also increases growth hormone levels in the body. It burns body fat and helps you lose weight.
Do cardio, but don’t forget other types of exercise.
You need all types of fitness training, cardio, strength, flexibility, and balance. Both strength and cardio increase HGH—human growth hormone—and burn a large amount of calories. Flexibility training helps prevent injury that can put your exercise program on pause. It extends your range of motion. Flexibility training also burns calories, just not as many as strength or cardio. So do balance exercises.
- If you want to burn a lot of calories, try jumping rope. It’s a compound exercise that uses several muscle groups and joints, so it requires energy to move all those areas.
- You can increase weight loss by increasing your activity when you’re not in the gym. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Climbing stairs is a cardio activity. Walk to close destinations rather than taking the car.
- How can you tell the intensity of a cardio workout? One method is the sing method. If you can carry on a conversation, but can’t sing, it’s moderate. If you’re gasping for air and can only get out a few words, it’s intense.
- Vary your workout to burn more calories. If you consistently do the same workout, your body becomes efficient at the moves and burns fewer calories.
For more information, contact us today at Team Worx Fitness
