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Cardio is an essential part of your fitness routine that will help to increase calorie burn, improve your heart and lung health, and make it even easier to lose weight while continuing to eat (in moderation) the foods you love without depriving yourself. There are a number of cardio exercises you can try depending on your fitness level, and from running to speed walking, you have flexibility in finding a workout that you enjoy and will be able to stick to over time without forcing yourself to do something that doesn’t feel good for your body.
That being said, there are some forms of cardio which will naturally net faster results, burning more calories than other workouts and even increasing fat burn outside of the exercise period. As you work towards full-body weight loss, there’s one form of cardio which you should attempt to integrate into your exercise routine in order to boost your cardiovascular health and promote healthy weight loss. An added bonus: it’s great if you’re low on time.
Short and fast paced by nature, high intensity interval training, or HIIT, is going to be your best bet for achieving quick and effective results from your workout routine. Categorized by short intervals of intense movement followed by a quick break in between sets, HIIT is one of the most effective ways to torch fat to promote full-body weight loss with ease. Generally lasting between 10-30 minutes as you push your body and exert as much energy as possible, HIIT is great for incorporating a variety of different exercises into your workout so you don’t get bored.
Keeping your heart rate elevated, HIIT workouts challenge both your heart and your lungs as you go all out during the work segments of the exercise session. “Studies have shown that moderate intensity training and interval training yielded similar results on total body fat percentage and that interval training was more efficient for total absolute fat mass reduction,” explains Tonal Coach, Gabby Sansosti NASM-CPT.
Seeing as it is so efficient in torching fat, HIIT is not an exercise that you need to be completing every single day in order to see results. In fact, your body actually needs the time to recover after intense training, so rest days are an essential part of your workout plan if you want to achieve healthy and sustainable results. “Depending on your fitness level, start by setting a goal for 3 times a week,” suggests Sansosti.
“We want to incorporate HIIT as often as possible on a weekly basis to yield results while using our energy level as a guidance system. Ensure you are getting adequate recovery and that you are not burning yourself out.” You may even find that you can achieve the best results by combining HIIT with another form of exercise, such as strength training on the other days of the week in order to build muscle while simultaneously burning fat, altering your body composition.
As effective as this form of training is, you still cannot expect to see results overnight. However, within several weeks you should notice a loss of water weight in the body so you may begin to feel leaner. “We must also keep in mind that results depend on diet, sleep, recovery as well as what else you are incorporating in your fitness routine,” says Sansosti.
“Focus on maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle and let your body guide you towards consistency for more rapid results.” At the end of the day, consistency will allow you to achieve the weight loss you’re working towards, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t see changes right away--it may take time but if you continue to follow a balanced lifestyle the results will come.
HIIT is a muscle building workout as well, so it’s important to focus more on how you look and feel than the scale as you continue to improve your fitness. Finding a workout plan that you can stick to is going to be your best bet for achieving lasting results, so tailor your HIIT workout to incorporate specific activities you enjoy such as jumping rope or pushups. If you don’t enjoy it, there’s no reason to force yourself to start running or cycling in order to lose weight--HIIT is just as effective for both your time and your body.
