Looking for the best fat-burning cardio workouts to lose weight? Get 8 cardio workouts ideas for cardio workouts at home or at the gym.
Every person aspires to trim and sexy body. However, in today’s sedentary lifestyle, this is something that is hard to achieve. Different people have different preferences when it comes to losing weight.
For many, it means going on a crash diet. Others will undergo different procedures like liposuction and others. Still one cannot deny that the best form of weight loss is working out regularly.
One of the best forms of exercise for weight loss is cardio. It has been proven effective for people who are on a weight loss program.
When it comes to burning fats and losing weight, cardio equipment can help you achieve weight loss. There are different kinds of cardio workout to choose from in order to lose weight.
But before you choose, you first have to determine the kind of lean body type you are shooting for. The amount of workout you put in will dictate the kind of body you want to achieve.
8 Of The Best Fat-Burning Cardio Workouts To Lose Weight
The key to achieving your goal with cardio workouts is the intensity level. This article will guide you on the basics of choosing the right cardio workout for losing weight.
1. Elliptical
Although it was principally designed to reduce the impact on the hips and the knees, however, elliptical cardio exercises are low-impact exercises that can help quickly burn unwanted fats.
While they are not as great as the treadmills and stair masters, elliptical cardio offers a great alternative to exercises like treadmills and stair masters. The average 180 lb elliptical can help burn approximately 500 to 600 calories an hour.
If you’re planning to go at an above moderate pace, you can achieve optimum results by switching the intensity, speed, and resistance. To burn fat on an elliptical, you can add a high incline to unleash bigger leg muscles, particularly in the gluts.
Lower the incline if you want to decrease the resistance and work out your quads. Make sure not to hold on to the handles or rails too tightly as this could cause shoulder or wrist pain.
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2. Running
Running at a moderate pace can be an effective way of burning calories and fats. However, it is not the most economical way to build or even maintain muscles.
A 180 lb man can burn around 940 calories per hour running in an 8.5 minute per mile pace or doing 7 mph on the treadmill for 60 minutes. You can go running every other week to stay active.
It will, however, involve a lot of mileage for the time and effort you put in. Running can subject your body to lots of pounding. However, if you want to run longer once in a while, you can run on trails or softer surfaces instead of the cemented road.
If you will simulate running on a treadmill, set the incline at 2-3%. It will hasten calorie burning and can be much easier on your knees. You can run different routes in your neighbourhood or run with a partner or group which will make the activity more enjoyable and accumulate more miles.
2. Stair Climbing
Climbing stairs is another great way to burn fat and calories. It involves a higher leg lift which will use a significant amount of muscles compared to walking.
One disadvantage of climbing stairs though is that it puts a lot of weight and pressure on your joints which can prove challenging if you have bad knees.
The most effective way to lose weight on a stair climber is to integrate 90% or more effort on the stair climber for 30 seconds with a 1 to 2-minute active recovery phase.
You can also try carrying medium-weight kettlebells or dumbbells and integrate it with strengthening the upper body and core muscles.
4. Jumping Rope
Jumping rope offers a wide range of benefits and not just calorie burning. It can help boost your foot speed, enhance your footwork, strengthen shoulders, improve coordination, and also simulates sprinting.
Jumping rope for just 30 minutes can help you burn as much as 500 calories. If you cannot jump rope for 30 minutes straight, you can do fast and slow jumps alternately just to keep you going.
5. Kettlebells
Although not strictly a cardio workout, kettlebells are a high-calorie-burning exercise. It is actually a combination of strength training and cardio workout.
According to studies, carrying kettlebells can help burn around 20 calories a minute. There are only a few cardio workout routines that can help in muscle building and kettlebells are one of them. You can burn around 400 – 600 calories in half an hour.
With kettlebells, you do not want to carry light and carry heavy as well. Move around for about 30-40 seconds, rest for about 20 – 30 seconds and repeat the process several times. Set your timer to 30 seconds and see how many repetitions you can make.
6. Cycling
Gyms will never be complete without stationary bikes. Biking offers an intense workout routine these exercises can help you burn around 1,150 calories per hour.
Moderate riders will only burn around 675 calories an hour. The best way to burn fat on a stationary bike is to do intervals. The important thing is to keep the intensity really high.
7. Swimming
Swimming is not only good for the heart but is also a total body workout. Your muscles are working double-time to keep you afloat. Going fast swimming for a period of 1 minute can help burn approximately 14 calories.
The stroke will also be a factor in the number of calories that will be burned. Breaststroke will burn fewer calories than the butterfly. Make sure to integrate all the different swimming strokes in your workout routine.
If you are not a strong swimmer, you can consider swimming at intervals. At first, swim fast for about one lap and then swim slowly for the same distance.
8. Rowing
Rowing incorporates the upper and lower extremities in a low-stress manner on the joints and ligaments. Moderate rowing can burn as much as 800 calories an hour for a 180-lb man.
Rowing more intensely with short sprints can increase the number of calories burned to 1,000 an hour. To lose weight on a rower, keep your chest up and use the entire body when rowing.
Author bio:
Priya Florence Shah is the Group Editor at SHEROES and author of Devi2Diva, an emotional self-care book for women.
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