When it comes to burning calories over time, cardio is king. As an added bonus, cardio can increase your stamina and improve your heart health. To maximize weight loss, make cardio a regular part of your routine. Don’t count on one super-session per week to help you lose weight—you should lace up those athletic shoes several times a week.
Calories and Pounds
To lose one pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 more calories than you ingest, according to the Mayo Clinic. You can shave off some of those calories by eating different foods. Dropping your intake by 500 calories a day should result in a one-pound-per-week weight loss, but if you really want to power through the rest of those calories, you need to move your body and burn excess calories through exercise.
Compendium of Physical Activities
According to the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, a Stanford scientist first developed the Compendium of Physical Activities as a companion document for doctors studying disease. The guide contains a massive listing of physical activities and the amount of energy they burn. That energy is measured in METs, or metabolic equivalents. One MET is roughly equivalent to the energy it takes to sit still and breathe. Pick a form of exercise with a high MET level and you’ll likely get the most bang for your buck in terms of calorie burning.
Best Cardio Activities for METs
Cycling gets you a rate of 8 METs when you pedal at 12 miles per hour, a moderate speed. You can boost those METs if you pedal even faster on a stationary bike. Watch the watts on the bike display—if you hit 200 watts, you’re using 10.5 METs. If you’re partial to running, a treadmill session uses 9 METs, but an aerobic step dance with a 10- to 12-inch step boosts you up to 10 METs. A brisk walk or run with your dog rates 5 METs. In contrast, weight lifting only rates 6 METs, according to the compendium.
Duration
The 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans presents two levels of activity, one for basic health and one for greater health benefits. If you’re working toward weight loss, aim to follow the second set of guidelines, which call for 2 hours and 30 minutes of vigorous cardio activity per week, with at least two days of muscle-strengthening activities such as weight lifting. If you run or bike for 30 minutes at a time, that’s 5 days of cardio and 2 days of strength training per week.
Intensity
As you’re doing your cardio, focus on your level of intensity. Medium-intensity cardio makes you work hard enough to break a sweat. If you’re on a treadmill, for example, you should be able to talk, but not sing. High-intensity cardio, on the other hand, works your heart even harder and chances are you’ll barely be able to talk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one minute of high-intensity exercise is worth two minutes of medium-intensity exercise.
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