Abdominal fat is not only ascetically unappealing but also increases your risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and some cancers, according to the Mayo Clinic. Although, cardio is an effective fat burning exercise, the amount of calories you burn varies extensively between different types of cardio workouts.
Fat Burning
You might feel tempted to do hundreds of situps and abdominal crunches to get rid of your belly but unfortunately you cannot spot reduce fat from your belly this way. You can burn abdominal fat the same way that you can burn fat anywhere from your body; with regular physical activity. However, do not stop doing your sit-ups; they do help firm up your abdominal muscles and give you a flat belly. Combine your abdominal workout with a fat burning workouts and healthy diet for most optimal and fast results.
HIIT Stair Climbing
High-intensity interval training or HIIT is an effective fat burning cardio exercise. HIIT can make you burn more fat in less amount of time than you would with typical cardio exercise. According to an article published in the "Journal of Applied Physiology" in 2007, two weeks of HIIT training increased whole body fatty acid oxidation by 36 percent. HIIT is based on alternating high-intensity sprints with a low-intensity recovery periods. Do a HIIT stair climb workout to burn hundreds of calories. Run up two to three flight of stairs with maximum pace and walk down to recover. Repeat as many time as you can.
Burpees
Burpees are a great way to burn abdominal fat and improve your shape with only few minutes of exercising. Few minutes of burpees will blast your fat burning trough the roof, according to an article published in Bodybuilding.com. To do burpees, start in a squat position. Place your hands on the floor and kick your feet back so you are in a pushup position with your hands straight. Immediately push back up and jump back to a squat position. Now jump as high as you can from the squat extending your hands to the air. Repeat for 30 to 60 seconds as fats as you can. Take a minute break and repeat as many time as you can. To make the move harder, do a pushup when you are in the position. Do these throughout the day at home and at work for a super metabolic boost.
Rock Climbing
Rock climbing will not only improve your muscle strength, but also it burns hundreds of calories in just 30 minutes. You will use your own body weight as resistance and work your muscles all the way up to the top. You do not need to go outdoors to climb, many cities have indoor climbing gyms that will teach you the basics.
Sandbag Training
Sandbag training will improve your strength as well as endurance while burning fat. Using sandbags in your workout will force your body to use more muscles and expand energy, according to Bodybuilding.com. Use sandbags to do lunges, shoulder presses, squats, throwing, stair climbing and much more. Pick 10 exercises and do them back-to-back in a circuit. Take a five minute break and repeat the full circuit two more times.
Considerations
As a general consideration, the higher your exercise intensity the more fat you will burn during and after the workouts. However, due to the intensity, you might get light-headed and experience sudden fatigue during the exercise. If this happens, immediately stop the workout and sit down. Drink plenty of water during the workout to prevent dehydration. Always consult your doctor before beginning a new exercise program.
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