The Best Cardio to Burn Fat (How to Lose Fat Fast)
Do you want to know what the best cardio to burn fat fast is? If your goal is to lose fat in the shortest period of time possible, keep reading.
In this article, not only will you learn what the best cardio to burn fat fast is, but when you should do it, how long you should do it for, and how to do it without losing any precious hard earned muscle.
Before I get started though, I want to be clear on something: If your nutrition is not on point, it doesn’t matter what cardio you do!
Of course, you will reap the cardiovascular health benefits, but as far as losing unwanted fat, it won’t matter much. The saying “You can’t outwork poor nutrition” is very true. In order to lose fat fast, you need to make sure you make nutrition a top priority.
The next thing you need to do is make sure that you are doing strength training in addition to cardio, to burn fat.
Once you have your nutrition and strength training in place, you can focus on using the most effective cardio training to burn fat even faster.
High Intensity Interval Training for Fat Loss
If you don’t have injuries or health conditions that prevent you from safely doing High Intensity Interval Training (aka HIIT), then this is definitely one of the best types of cardio to burn fat.
With HIIT cardio, you will burn the most amount of calories and fat in the shortest time period.
Because HIIT cardio is very taxing on the body, you want to make sure you are not overtraining and are able to recover enough from your workouts.
I recommend doing HIIT cardio a maximum of 2-3 x’s a week with at least a day in between HIIT sessions.
Moderate-Paced Low Impact Cardio for Fat Loss
On the days you aren’t doing HIIT cardio, moderate-paced low impact cardio is a good choice if you aren’t too burned out from your other workouts.
The key is doing something that gets your heart rate up high enough but that isn’t too high impact that it affects your next workout.
The stair climber, rowing machine, bike, or even doing a jog or fast walk are all good choices. Keep in mind that the goal is to burn calories and fat without over-taxing your body.
The Best Time to Do Cardio to Burn Fat
If your goal is to burn fat, the best time to do your cardio, especially your HIIT cardio, is on the days you aren’t strength training. This works well especially if you are doing full body workouts three times a week.
If this isn’t possible, the next best thing is to do your cardio AFTER strength training, but try to keep your sessions short.
This brings us to the next question.
How Long Should You Do Cardio to Lose Fat?
This really depends on if you are doing a stand-alone cardio session on a non-strength training day, or doing your cardio immediately after your strength training session.
Stand-alone Cardio Sessions
If you are doing a stand-alone session, 15-30 minutes of HIIT cardio will get you maximum results. The key is keeping the intensity high enough throughout the entire sessions.
For moderate-paced low impact cardio, aim for anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes.
Post Strength Training Cardio Sessions
If you’re doing HIIT cardio after your strength training session then 5-15 minutes is all you need.
If you are doing moderate-paced low impact cardio, 20-30 minutes should be your range but I don’t recommend going over thirty minutes especially if you had a hard strength training session.
Burn Fat, Keep Muscle
Doing too much cardio can actually work against you, especially if you are on a low-calorie diet. If you work out too hard and for too long, your body can actually get to the point where it burns muscle instead of fat for fuel.
What is even worse is that your body will actually hold on to fat at this point so you won’t even see any of the results of all your hard work. Plus when you lose muscle, you slow your metabolism down. This makes it that much harder to burn fat for energy.
For these reasons, I always recommend being on the more conservative side of things when it comes to doing cardio. The best strategy for getting ripped prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness and doesn’t suck up all your time.
David Varvaro is a Certified Personal Trainer and Nutritionist with over 20 years of experience in the fitness industry. He has helped thousands of clients lose weight and get in shape through his private personal training studios and now offers online fitness and nutrition programs.