The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes of exercise each day to gain health benefits and reduce the risk for chronic disease. If you are looking to burn fat fast, you need to supercharge your 30-minute workouts. If you have the time, you can do these more than once a day. Focus your attention on cardio and building muscle.
Interval Training
Interval training involves alternating your intensity back and forth from high to low effort. This type of training burns a significant amount of calories, states Mayo Clinic. To do interval training, pick a type of cardio that you enjoy. It can be anything from jumping rope to elliptical training. After doing a five-minute light warm-up, increase your intensity to 75 to 80 percent of your maximum effort for 30 seconds. Reduce your intensity to about 50 percent maximum effort for 60 seconds and repeat this pattern for 20 minutes. Once you are done, finish with a light five-minute cool-down.
Sprint Training
Sprint training follows a similar pattern as interval training, yet it is even more intense. This workout plan involves maximal effort. After doing a five-minute warm-up, run as fast as you can for 20 seconds, then rest for 40 seconds. Repeat this sequence for 20 minutes and finish with a light five-minute jog. Although they are called sprints, you can apply them to any from of cardio. The important thing is that you rest twice as long as you exercise.
Circuits
Circuit training involves doing a series of exercises back to back with minimal rest. When applying circuit training to weight training, you not only burn a high amount of calories, but you also build muscle, which will burn calories for you when your body is at rest. To do a 30-minute workout, pick six exercises that work all of your major muscle groups, such as push-ups, shoulder presses, back extensions, dips, curls and squats. Perform them back to back for 45 seconds each. Rest for 15 seconds between each one and repeat the whole circuit five times. This will get you to 30 minutes. For a variation, mix weight-training exercises and cardio exercises together or do all cardio exercises. Whatever you choose, follow the same work to rest ratios.
Kettlebell Swing Workout
Kettlebells are circular, cast iron training tools that have handles mounted to the top. The two-arm swing is a fast-paced exercise that can quickly elevate your heart rate while working your core and lower body simultaneously. Perform it from a standing position with your feet in a slightly wider than shoulder-width stance. Slowly bend down and grasp the handle with both hands. Steadily lift it off the floor and swing it between your legs. Quickly swing it forward and up to about chest height and repeat. After swinging for 30 seconds, place the kettlebell on the ground and rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this sequence for 30 minutes.
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