Cardio Exercises-Low Or High Intensity Exercise Burn Body Fat Faster?

Have you ever wondered which cardio exercises are best for burning off extra body fat? Is walking (low intensity) better or running (high intensity) better for burning body fat?

Well, both low and high intensity exercises will help you burn off body fat. The question is which is more effective and burn more body fat. What is your fat burning zone?

When scientists first reported that during intensive exercises, your body burn glycogen, which is a form of stored carbohydrates stored in your liver and muscles for energy and during low intensive exercises, your body burn body fat, everyone suddenly change their workout routines to perform low intensity exercises to burn body fat.

Does it work? Obviously it does not work because there are still so many fat people around although they are working out with low intensity exericies isn’t it? Why is that so?

Well, the scientists were right when they said that our bodies burn more body fat during low intensity exercises like walking or a leisurely swim. But during a high intensity exercise like running, our bodies burn a lot more calories. Even if some of the calories burnt are from glycogen, we will still burn many fat calories as well.

To add icing to the cake, when your store of glycogen is low, the carbs from your meal you eat later gets converted into glycogen to fill up the store and will not be converted to body fat when left unused for energy.

Furthermore, high intensity cardio exercises crank up your metabolism even after your workout is done. This means that you body will continue to burn body fat hours after you have left the gym. This effect is almost non existent in low intensity cardio or aerobic workout. Accumulatively, your body burns up many many more calories during and after high intensity cardio exercises than lower intensive ones.

You can inject high intensity exercises to your cardio workout by introducing some interval training. You can walk briskly for 5 minutes, then breaking into a jog for another 5 minutes. Then walking briskly again until you caught your breath and then sprint for a minute before walking again for another minute. From this point, alternate between a sprint and a walk, a minute each and do this for the next 15 minutes and you are done.

Do this for 5 days a week and before long, you will be steadily losing unwanted body fat and weight healthily and naturally.

How to Get The Most From Your Home Workouts

A recent study found that home workouts may do even more good than
workouts at a gym. This is good news for people who are time crunched
and find it's too much trouble to make it to a health club.

So how do you get the most from your home workouts? Follow these
suggestions:

1. Have A Plan. Know exactly what it is you want to accomplish and how
you intend to get there. Plan out the exercises and the amount of reps
and weight you will use. If time is a factor, make sure the volume of your
workout fits the alloted time. If you can only squeeze in 10-15 minutes,
then make the most of it. Use compound moves for the large muscle
groups. Use an exercise log and refer back to it. It's a great way to track
your progress.

2. Have What You Need. Make sure you have available any equipment
you intend to use and that you know how to use it. If you have never
used resistance tubes, then practice with them in advance so you get a
sense of the tension they provide. If you plan to use a stability ball, make
sure you have the right size for your height. See a chart here.

3. Know How to Do Things Right. Make sure you are familiar with the
exercises you plan to include in your home workout. Do some research
and completely understand any new exercises you intend to do. Form is
very important. Proper form will keep you from injuring yourself.

4. Mix Things Up. Don't stick with one workout for ever. Your body will
quickly adapt to any form of exercise if you stay with it for too long. Make
sure in your planning stage that you build in variety through new
exercises, a different exercise order, different rep scheme or try
supersets or a circuit.

5. Get Support. Work with a personal trainer to learn what you should do
and how you should do it. A recent study showed that people who
worked with a trainer worked harder and met their goals faster than
those who did not.

Just because you are doing a home workout does not mean that it can't
be as tough or tougher than people who travel to a gym. Once you know
where you are going and how you intend to get there, the rest is up to
you. Follow your plan, give it 100% effort, eat right, and you'll be on your
way to a fit body.

©Rick DeToma
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Rick DeToma is a fitness coach, and trainer who specializes in home workouts. Contact Rick for a no obligation telephone fitness assessment at: http://www.tailored-fitness-home-workouts.com/contact.html
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The Road to Better Cardio: The Tabata Method

If you've read my article on high intensity cardio training you already know about the benefits of interval training. If you haven't heard a thing about this subject, I would say that it's probably the most important thing you should learn about if you want to get better cardio. Simply, interval training focuses on short periods of intense exertion followed by quick periods of rest. What I love most about this type of training is the short amount of time that it takes to do. Don't get me wrong, I love working out, but I would always rather work on my kickboxing or my slap-shot than do sprints in the park. This means that if I have an hour and a half to train, I will do 1 hour of technique in the sport of my choice, and finish with 30 minutes of conditioning. A few years ago, I would have done the opposite.

When I first learned that I didn't have to run 40 minutes a day to improve my cardio, needless to say, I was sceptical. Like many of you, taught that jogging over long periods of time was THE way to achieve better cardio. I would see the people running the marathons and think that this was the way to improve my soccer or hockey game. So, I ran a lot. I was good in sports, but it never felt like I was truly improving, it was like I had reached a plateau with my cardiovascular endurance.

Then, a few years ago, I decided to put some thoughts into my training and look up the most recent improvement in terms of conditioning. It was then that I learned about a japanese man named Izumi Tabata and his revolutionary 1996 study.

Tabata called his experiment the IE1 protocol. He took two groups of athletes and made them train using only a stationary bike.

Here's what his study demonstrated:
The first group did (cardio training at moderate intensity)
-60 minutes of training at 70% VO2max (moderate exertion)
-5 days a week
-During 6 weeks
-30 hours total of training
The second group did (high intensity interval training)
-20 seconds of effort at 170% of VO2max (intense exertion)
-10 seconds of rest
-7 to 8 times in a row
-5 days a week
-During 6 weeks
-Each training regimen lasted 4 minutes
-2 hours total of training
The results
The group who did interval training showed more improvements in their VO2max at the end, and were the only group who gained anaerobic benefits. High intensity training proved to be better in improving your cardiovascular endurance and your anaerobic performance.
Now, if this all new to you, you should be excited. If you work out already, this means that you can possibly achieve more results in less time. Isn't that what we always want? On the other hand, if you are just beginning to train, you now know that it is possible to lose fat and get in shape with a workout that lasts less than 10 minutes.

The popular myth that fat loss occurs after 30 minutes of training
If you're like me, you've heard some variations of this proposition before. To this day, scientists have shown that HIIT (high intensity interval training) can burn more fat effectively than the old-school method of cardio training. There are many factors that contribute this, such as an increase in the resting metabolic rate when one does interval training. Basically, you continue losing fat even after you've finished your workout as your metabolism is accelerated. HIIT also lowers insulin resistance and causes skeletal muscle adaptations that results in enhanced skeletal muscle fat oxidation and improved glucose tolerance. Not only will HIIT make you lose fat, it is also a good way to prevent type-2 diabetes.

Are there downsides to the Tabata method?
All of this talk about interval training, the tabata method, and cardiovascular endurance might have made it all seem to easy to you. In fact, when I tell you that you can work out 10 minutes a day, and get better results than from your 40 minute jogging sessions, you might think it sounds too good to be true. The fact is that interval training is HARD. During these 20 seconds sprints, you absolutely have to work at your maximum level. Basically, you have to train like a madman every time you perform an exercise. Interval training will improve all aspects of your life, and won't take you more than a few minutes to do, but believe me, these minutes will be painful.

This is not to say that you won't get to like it after a while, I certainly do, but the first few times won't be easy. You might want to scream, and you might want to stop, but know that the next workout will be easier. This type of determination and endurance translate perfectly to competition and sports in general. Push your body to its limits, and you'll get a huge advantage over your competitors.

With that said, I would suggest setting up a meeting with your doctor to make sure you can start implementing interval training into your workouts. If this seems too hard at the moment, don't worry, stick with standard moderate training methods, and slowly start incorporating Tabata exercises.

Here are a few Tabata exercises to implement into your training routine.
Here's your reminder when doing these exercises:
1. Do the exercise at full speed for 20 seconds
2. Rest 10 seconds
3. Repeat 8-20 times total
-Squats: Standard and hindu squats will work perfectly. If you want to make this exercise even harder, hold the squat position during the 10 seconds rest.

-Burpees: My favorite body-weight exercise, get in the push-up position, stand up, and jump!
-Sit-ups: All variations are also good.
-Jumps: As high as you can, lift your knees in the air,
-Bicycle sprints: Sprint for 20 seconds, take off your feet from the pedals during the resting period
-Jumping rope: Cardio and coordination combined!
-Swimming: If you have access to a pool, sprints are excellent to improve your overall endurance.
-Sprints: The easiest exercise, and possibly the hardest, try sprinting.
What Tabata will do for you:
-Improve your aerobic endurance
-Improve your anaerobic endurance
-Help you lose fat
-Improve your appearance, increase your confidence

I hope this article has taught you a few things about interval training and the benefits of the Tabata method. Do not hesitate to read more about this subject, there are many, many more exercises that can be adapted to this method. Whatever happens, stick to a schedule, and you'll get the results that you want in no time.

To read my article on high intensity cardio training, head over here: http://trainyourcardio.com/cardio-workouts/high-intensity-cardio-training/
For more tips on cardio training, visit: http://www.trainyourcardio.com

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Cardio Exercises and Losing Weight

People who like to lose weight through exercises may try some cardio workouts. However, they have to know how much and what kind of cardio exercises they would need. They also have to learn more about it so they would benefit from their exercise programs. It is also essential that people who like to have a healthy and sustained weight lose program need to combine cardio with strength training and healthy food plan as well.

One of the healthy benefits of this combination is that people are able to more of their calories in a short period of time. They are able to set their target heart rate that would facilitate increased blood circulation and heavy breathing. When this occurs, their bodies are able to use more calories in the process. Those would like to lose more weight can add a little more pressure on their bodies. They can do their workouts a little faster or they can jump a little higher.

People who would like to work on cardio exercises can do it very often. However, if they would like to do some strength training, they need to have a schedule for it. They would need to give their bodies some time to heal because at times, their muscles are sore or their tissues might have been torn. Those who are doing their cardio exercises do not really have to cut on their calories especially if they are using it effectively during their workouts.

Although they can ask some fitness guru to tell them what they need, what is important is that they are able to sustain their interest in doing it regularly. There are low-impact activities that they can do like walking, swimming or cycling. People may also do more with high-impact activities like running or jumping. They may also like to involve other parts of their bodies in their activities like cross-country skiing to get their bodies to burn more calories.

Depending on the kind of activities that are being done, people are able to lose weight because they are able to burn at more than 100 calories each day. Walking for example will help them use up to 170 calories if they do it at 4 mph. People will have to lose calories each day depending on how much they eat. There is no exact number of calories that they need to shed of each day. They also have to consider their metabolic rate, their fitness level as well as their gender and their age. They may get some advice from their doctors if they would like to engage in cardio exercises and lose weight effectively and safely.

Reduce body fat and feeding the muscle can be one of the most difficult things for someone to do. Learn to burn the fat the right way by eating correctly and by doing the proper exercises. By learning this, you will be on your way to shedding those unwanted pounds as well as being healthier. You can check this out http://www.burnfatloss.com/Losing-Calories-Effectively.html

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