Spending hours on the treadmill each week to burn fat and improve aerobic endurance can get boring very quickly, not to mention cause plateaus in your fitness and weight-loss goals. Your body gets conditioned if it does the same exercise over a period of time and loses its effectiveness in burning calories, according to Tanji Johnson of Bodybuilding.com. Changing up your cardio workouts can not only be more fun and take less time, but may help improve your overall fitness level and accelerate fat loss.
Steady-State Cardio
Steady-state cardio is longer-duration aerobic exercise, typically 20 minutes or longer, in which heart rate is maintained throughout the duration of the workout. This form of exercise is usually performed at a low to moderate intensity level doing exercises such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or elliptical. Steady-state cardio is most effective at burning calories from fat. The highest percentage of calories that are burned from fat occurs between 55 and 72 percent of your maximum aerobic power, according to Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costill, authors of Physiology of Sport and Exercise.
Short Interval Training
Interval Training is shorter, more intense aerobic exercise that utilizes both the anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. Interval training burns more calories than steady-state cardio but with a larger percentage coming from carbohydrates instead of fat. Intervals are performed with bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by brief recovery intervals. Interval training can be performed outside on a track, on a treadmill, elliptical, bike or by swimming. A short interval training workout would begin with a five- to 10-minute warm up at a moderate intensity. Perform 15 to 30 seconds at an all-out sprint, followed by a 30- to 45-second low-intensity recovery interval. Repeat intervals five times. Perform five minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, followed by another round of high-intensity intervals repeated five times before finishing with a five-minute low-intensity cool down.
Long Interval Training
Long interval training is similar to short interval training except the intervals last longer. For example, instead of sprinting at an all-out intensity, you will sprint at a moderately-high intensity for a slightly longer duration. After warming up thoroughly, begin your moderately-high intensity interval for 60 to 120 seconds, then perform your low-intensity interval for one to three minutes. Repeat six to 12 times before cooling down for five minutes. The longer your sprint intervals and the shorter your recovery intervals are, the more intense the workout will be; thus, the more calories you will burn. Additionally, raising the incline on the treadmill will increase the intensity and can be used in place of running if preferred.
Cardio and Strength Training
Including a short, high-intensity aerobic exercise into your weight-training routines is another effective way to burn fat and improve aerobic endurance. Jump on a treadmill after completing two or three sets of strength-training exercises and sprint for one to two minutes before completing another two or three sets. Repeat the aerobic intervals throughout your routine. If a treadmill is not available, try doing jumping jacks, jump roping or doing burpees for 30 seconds to a minute between each set.
References
- "Physiology of Sport and Exercise"; Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costill; 2004
- Bodybuilding.com: Cardiolternatives
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