The usual recommended 30-60 minute cardio workouts do not burn
fat. Not after the first couple weeks anyway. Here's why. Your body
adjusts to the activity so that it conserves more energy and burns fewer
calories. Your body is in better shape. That's true enough. It has
become better toned and more efficient by using the body's reserve
energy more efficiently. Fat loss from this point on comes much more
slowly.
Compare world class sprinters to marathoners. The typical
sprinter has muscular, lean body mass and a very low body fat
percentage. The marathoner is most often gaunt with no apparent muscle
tone and most often a higher body fat percentage than the sprinter.
Almost exactly the opposite of what you would expect. Also there are not
too many people who would choose to have the marathoner's physique over
the sprinter's lean, chiseled body.
The reasoning behind the difference in the body fat percentage of the sprinter and the marathoner is that the human body is better designed for quick bursts of energy exertion followed by a short recovery period. Your body responds differently to repeated stop and go movement than it does to constant movement. You can put this knowledge to use in your own workout routines to be sure that your cardio exercise is actually accomplishing the fat burning that you thought it was.
Physiology research supports the benefits of cardio interval training. Research suggests that same pace, long period cardiovascular exercise can increase the production of free radicals in the body that can trigger a pro-inflammatory response making some chronic diseases statistically more probable. Sore knees and other aching joints following an endurance cardio workout are early indications of joint degeneration.
Interval cardio training, on the other hand, is linked to increased anti-oxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response instead of a pro-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response which contributes to fat burning and more consistent weight loss. In fact, interval cardio training can keep your metabolism boosted for many hours after the exercise period is completed. That is a nice bonus.
Of course one major reason you do cardio is to improve your heart health. Here too interval or cyclic training beats out cardio endurance training. Steady pace cardio trains the heart only within a narrow heart rate range. Stresses and shocks to your heart and nervous response system in real life happen suddenly. In these stressful situations your heart rate and blood pressure can increase dramatically in just a few seconds and fall again just as quickly when the stressor has passed.
Even expected everyday stresses at work or at home can make your blood pressure and heart rate suddenly increase rapidly. Constant pace cardio endurance training does not prepare your heart to handle sudden changes in heart rate and blood pressure as well as cardio interval training.
Step Aerobics can be an effective cardio interval exercise. It is already one of the most popular cardio exercises among women so many can participate immediately. The routine is to perform over a 15 to 30 minute exercise period short bursts of intense activity followed by short recovery periods.
Bicycling is popular even in metropolitan areas. The same routine is followed here. Short bursts of intense activity followed by recovery at a leisurely pace.
Wind sprints are probably the best form of high intensity interval training. Even you are not capable of blazing speed the energy burst will boost your metabolism into fat burning mode. If your knees and ankles are in reasonably good condition then jumping rope should be high on your list. You can jump rope almost anywhere - indoor and out - and it's cheap as it gets. 15-30 minutes of intense energy bursts and short recoveries will burn more calories - and body fat - than hours of slow paced, long duration cardio.
The reasoning behind the difference in the body fat percentage of the sprinter and the marathoner is that the human body is better designed for quick bursts of energy exertion followed by a short recovery period. Your body responds differently to repeated stop and go movement than it does to constant movement. You can put this knowledge to use in your own workout routines to be sure that your cardio exercise is actually accomplishing the fat burning that you thought it was.
Physiology research supports the benefits of cardio interval training. Research suggests that same pace, long period cardiovascular exercise can increase the production of free radicals in the body that can trigger a pro-inflammatory response making some chronic diseases statistically more probable. Sore knees and other aching joints following an endurance cardio workout are early indications of joint degeneration.
Interval cardio training, on the other hand, is linked to increased anti-oxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response instead of a pro-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response which contributes to fat burning and more consistent weight loss. In fact, interval cardio training can keep your metabolism boosted for many hours after the exercise period is completed. That is a nice bonus.
Of course one major reason you do cardio is to improve your heart health. Here too interval or cyclic training beats out cardio endurance training. Steady pace cardio trains the heart only within a narrow heart rate range. Stresses and shocks to your heart and nervous response system in real life happen suddenly. In these stressful situations your heart rate and blood pressure can increase dramatically in just a few seconds and fall again just as quickly when the stressor has passed.
Even expected everyday stresses at work or at home can make your blood pressure and heart rate suddenly increase rapidly. Constant pace cardio endurance training does not prepare your heart to handle sudden changes in heart rate and blood pressure as well as cardio interval training.
Step Aerobics can be an effective cardio interval exercise. It is already one of the most popular cardio exercises among women so many can participate immediately. The routine is to perform over a 15 to 30 minute exercise period short bursts of intense activity followed by short recovery periods.
Bicycling is popular even in metropolitan areas. The same routine is followed here. Short bursts of intense activity followed by recovery at a leisurely pace.
Wind sprints are probably the best form of high intensity interval training. Even you are not capable of blazing speed the energy burst will boost your metabolism into fat burning mode. If your knees and ankles are in reasonably good condition then jumping rope should be high on your list. You can jump rope almost anywhere - indoor and out - and it's cheap as it gets. 15-30 minutes of intense energy bursts and short recoveries will burn more calories - and body fat - than hours of slow paced, long duration cardio.
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