There are definitely a couple schools of thought when it comes to burning body fat. Personal trainers recommend varying cardio workouts, depending upon their training. A common way of doing cardio is by exercising at a low intensity level. It is suggested that the majority of calories burned will come from body fat at a lower intensity level. A common belief is that if one exercises too hard, then the calories burned will come from carbohydrates in the muscles and not from body fat.

Although low intensity cardio is effective at burning calories directly from body fat, high intensity cardio burns many more total calories. One method for losing body fat is to burn more total calories throughout the day than what is eaten...high intensity cardio is much more effective at accomplishing this. So we have dilemma choosing between the two approaches. Let's look into this.

The Low Intensity Cardio That Most Trainers Recommend

Low intensity cardio is the most popular form of cardio and is pushed by many personal trainers. Low intensity cardio works at targeting body fat and that is why it is recommended by many personal trainers. University studies have proven low intensity cardio uses fat calories instead of burning muscle carbohydrate calories for energy. If the body burns fat for energy, you will lose body fat. It just makes sense.

Pick cardio equiptment that has a built in heart rate monitor. You want to do this to insure that you hit the ideal intensity level. It will take about 10 minutes to reach your target heart rate and at that point you will want to stay in that zone for about 30 minutes.

High Intensity Cardio

This is a less utilized form of cardio. High intensity training involves pushing past your pain threshold a bit, so fewer people choose this route. This cardio method can give great results in burning body fat if done properly. The total calories burned in high intensity cardio are greater than low intensity cardio. Some of those calories come from your body fat and some come from glycogen (carbohydrates stores within your muscles).

A great way to lose weight quickly is to create a calorie deficit...burning more calories than what you consume each day. It makes sense that you would want to chose high intensity cardio workouts, if this is your goal.

The Imperfections of The 2 Versions of Cardio Workouts

It takes about 10 minutes to get your heart rate into the fat burning zone, with the low intensity cardio workout. It is great once you reach this point, but those first 10 minutes or so are kind of a waste of time.

High intensity cardio is hard to maintain for long periods of time since it takes a lot of effort. Working at an intense level for over 10-15 minutes is extremely difficult.

A Great Cardio Workout That Combines Both Levels of Intensity

Since the first 10 minutes of a low intensity cardio workout is unproductive, you are going to start out at a high intensity level. You will burn a ton of total calories for the first 10 minutes now, instead of wasting that time. After 10 minutes, you will back down to low intensity level and now you will burn a ton of body fat. The best of both worlds!

The way to accomplish this is find your favorite cardio machine...an elliptical machine, treadmill, exercise bike, etc. Start your workout by setting the machine at a tough level and maintain that level for 10-15 minutes. The idea is to have a tough time reaching the 10 minute mark. After 10 minutes, back down to an easier pace and maintain that pace for 30 minutes. You are now going to burn tons of calories, create a calorie deficit, as well as burn body fat directly. This is quickly becoming my favorite cardio workout, since it is so effective.