Fat Burning Cardio
Forget cardio. Well at least forget cardio in it’s usual form. Unless your goal is to get better at riding a stationary bike, or running on a treadmill then you had better ditch the idea that this will help you burn fat.
To get the maximum amount of fat burning happening you want to recruit a lot more muscles, build fatigue and be working hard enough to question why you are doing it at all. By using high intensity intervals the goal is to get your heart rate up around or over 90% of your maximum. A typical session should last at most 30 minutes. You want to get in, go hard and go home. No messing around.
Instead of just going for a run next time you have a cardio day scheduled, try the following workout.
All you need is a few dumbells or kettlebells, a treadmill (running outside would be better) and the desire to work hard.
For Time : Maximum number of rounds in 30 minutes
Run 250 metres
10 One-arm dumbbell/kettlebell swings (each arm) Hard – 10kg, Easy – 6kg
Run 250 metres
50 Mountain Climbers (25 each side)
Run 250 metres
10 One-arm Alternating dumbbell/kettlebell clean (each arm) Hard -20kg, Easy – 10kg
Run 250 metres
50 Bodyweight Squats
Rest as much as you need to but as little as possible.
This fat burning workout will get you using all your big muscles which will get your heart rate sky high, burning so many more calories than a normal cardio session.
It is important to fully recover between session like this. With this in mind I would recommend that you did no more than two of these sessions per week.
Also, make sure that you have your food and nutrition in order. You can learn more here.
Post your results below.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Today’s results.
3 full circuits and one extra 250 metre run. I ran between 16-20 km/h on the treadmill, 10kg on the swings, and 20kg on the cleans.
Keep focused throughout, push through the pain.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:14 am
Why are you trying to lose more body fat? There is none for you to lose. Unlike me.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:19 am
Just trying to lead by example. I’m not one of these trainers with a ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ attitude or approach.
There is always room for improvement as well. I like the challenging workouts as well. It’s a love/hat relationship with the workouts though!
April 24th, 2009 at 12:37 am
I might give this a go over the weekend to see if I can shock my body into losing some more fat. Seems I am slowing down a bit now but am still aiming for another 5 kg.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I like it! Great post. I really REALLY need to up my cardio-variety…
Will give this a shot at the weekend and (try to remember to) post back my thoughts and how I got on!
Nice one
Ross