Cardiovascular exercises raise your heart rate and burn fat. However, not all cardio exercises burn fat at the same rate. Choose cardio workouts that involve repeated movement of your major muscle groups and do them at a moderate to vigorous pace. While exercising, you should be able to speak isolated words but not to actually converse. Your muscles should feel warm and your joints lubricated. Consult your doctor about health concerns before starting a cardio exercise regimen.
Running
Running is a top cardio exercise for burning calories quickly. Your pace makes the difference in how much fat you burn. Jogging a 12-minute mile burns between 580 and 870 calories per hour, depending upon your fitness level and weight. Running a vigorous 7.5 minute mile burns 985 to 1,470 calories per hour. If you burn 750 calories per day running and you exercise daily, you lose 1.5 lbs. of body fat per week.
Climbing
Speed is not the only way to burn fat quickly. Climbing steps, hills or a stair treadmill burns fat. In addition, going up an incline builds gluteal, thigh and calf muscles. The denser your muscle tissue, the higher you raise your resting metabolism, so you burn more calories even while at rest. Hiking burns between 435 and 650 calories per hour. Climbing stairs burns between 655 and 980 calories per hour.
Martial Arts
The more challenging forms of martial arts, such as tae kwon do, burn 730 to 1,090 calories per hour. Maximize the fat you burn by using large and vigorous arm movements. Kick high, squat low and move quickly. Kickboxing workouts are a blend of martial arts moves and traditional high-impact cardio exercises. Keep your feet moving to maintain calorie-burning.
Interval Training
No matter what type of cardio exercise you choose, you make it more challenging and burn more fat by adding an interval training component. The key to interval training is to spike your heart rate for at least 30 seconds by doing intense activity. After you slow down, your heart rate stays higher than if you exercised at a steady rate for the duration of your workout. Add speed intervals such as squat jumps, jumping rope, sprinting, climbing stairs, doing burpees or doing jumping jacks every five minutes. Spend 30 seconds at a slow recovery pace and resume your regular workout.
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