Full-body Cardio Workouts That Burn Fat

The many benefits of exercise include improved fitness levels including cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance and body composition. Body composition is defined as the comparison of lean body weight to body fat, which is measured as percentage of body fat. Preferred body fat percentages are 15 percent for men and 25 percent for women. The American College of Sports Medicine suggests weekly workouts that total 150 minutes, progressing to between 200 to 300 minutes weekly for overweight individuals seeking to reduce body weight and body fat.

Elliptical Machines

Elliptical trainers are cardio machines designed to mimic the movement of running. Your feet remain in constant contact with the foot pedals throughout the workout, resulting in an increase in intensity with a decrease in stress on lower body joints. Elliptical workouts can vary between forward and backward movements targeting all lower body muscles. Optional arm pedals provide a resistance workout for your upper body muscles. Three to four workouts for 30 to 45 minutes weekly will increase cardiovascular and muscular endurance.

Kickboxing Workouts

Kickboxing workouts incorporate cardio training with martial arts movements and are performed in a group or private setting. Upper body movements include a cross, jab or hook, with or without boxing gloves and bags. These movements are combined with lower body kicks and shuffles designed to start low and reach higher intensity levels. According to "Fitness," kickboxing workouts burn an average of 500 calories per hour.

Boot Camp

Boot camp workouts are modeled after military training and conditioning programs. Workouts are usually performed in an indoor or outdoor group setting. Workouts are rigorous and continuous, combining cardio movements such as jumping jacks, jumping rope and sprint intervals with resistance exercises such as pushups, squats, dumbbell presses and yoga planks.

Circuit Training

Circuit training workouts consist of exercise stations that when combined, target all major muscle groups. Participants complete each exercise for a determined number of repetitions or for a specific amount of time with 30 to 60 seconds of rest between stations. Examples of circuit training exercises include a bench press, lunge, bicep curl, ab crunch, shoulder press, squat, lat pulldown, oblique crunch, tricep pushdown and tuck jump. Short rest periods between sets increase intensity and heart rate for cardio training and resistance training gains.