Best Cardio to Burn Fat

Want to get the most from your cardio workouts? Here’s how to build your routine!

The first thought to achieving weight loss is most commonly CARDIO! And if you are serious about achieving this goal, you will also get serious with diet and training. Your training needs more than cardio, it needs to be a combination of cardio and strength training. This is the best way to achieve weight loss goals while minimizing loss of muscle mass.

Here’s your guide on how to incorporate cardio into your strength training routine for optimal results!

What type of cardio is best at burning fat?

It’s best to find a cardio you enjoy and do it at the right intensity for you. Any type of cardio, at any time, on an empty or full stomach, will help you lose body weight - as long as you are in a calorie deficit.

To specifically use fat as fuel, you need to empty the carbohydrate reserves stored in muscle in the form of glycogen. To do this, do your cardio after strength training or prioritize long steady-state cardio (30-40 minutes). You can also try fasted workouts - working out on an empty stomach to allow your body to tap into your fat stores as fuel.

Best Cardio for Weight Loss

This is going to come down to your fitness level, goals, and preference. Long steady state cardio and short high intensity cardio are both great options for weight loss. It’s up to you to choose which you best enjoy and are ready for. To decide that, here’s a list of specific cardio activities and who they are good for and how to start.

Walking

If you suffer from joint pain or you lift a lot of heavy weights (3x or more a week) then walking would be a good choice for you because it is a low impact cardio. However, this doesn’t mean it is low intensity. Walking can be just as effective as jogging or running if you maximize fat burning.

Best way to burn fat while walking

• Incline walking for 30-60 minutes. Incline walking burns just as many calories as jogging and it can minimize muscle loss because of how it works your glutes. Increase your intensity by increasing the incline level. When you hit your max incline, increase your time at that incline to keep progressing.

• If inclines are too intense for you right now, try walking in the morning on a fasted stomach for 30-60 minutes. This will maximize benefits because you will tap into your fat stores rather than glycogen.

Running

If you love cardio or want a challenge, running can be right for you! It’s a great way to improve your endurance and cardiovascular health while losing body fat. A 20-30 minute run is great, and you can substitute running for jogging for 30-40 minutes because the intensity is slightly lower. Both ways you burn plenty calories.

If your primary goal is building muscle, you might want avoid running because it can burn into muscle. However, if you simply love running, just do so in moderation to reduce risk of injury.

Best way to burn fat while running

• If on a treadmill, increase incline by 2-3% to increase intensity and burn more calories while making it easier on the knees.

Jumping Rope

It’s not just for kids! Jump rope is a great way to switch things up to have fun or break through a lack of motivation. It’s great to pair with strength training because it works your lower and upper body, builds endurance, improves bone and heart health, balance and coordination, lung capacity, and it’s convenient!

Best way to burn fat while Jump Roping

• Create a HIIT workout such as 60 seconds jumping, followed by 30 seconds rest. Give your all during each interval and as your progress try double unders, variation of skips, or double hops..

• If HIIT feels too intense, try jumping at a steady state for 20-30 minutes and lower intensity, resting every 2-3 minutes.

Cycling

Cycling is a great option for a low impact choice or if you dislike running. You have to give it your all and you can’t just scroll on your phone or watch tv while you do it. Bonus, there’s a lot of fun cycling classes and coaches.

Best way to burn fat while cycling

• Using a stationary bike, train in intervals of 2-3 minutes while increasing resistance 3-5 levels, then decrease for 1-2 minutes to catch your breath. Repeat for as long as you can to maximize fat burning benefits.

Swimming

Access to a pool is not always available, but if you have it, you can use swimming as great total body cardio workout that is also low impact. Incorporating different strokes will give you a challenge and up your intensity.

Best way to burn fat while swimming

• Butterfly stroke is more intense

• Try interval training - swim as fast as you can for as long as you can, then decrease intensity for one lap. Repeat.

Rowing

Rowing is a full body, low impact workout that burns more calories than any other common cardio exercise. It’s not as readily available as a bicycle, but if you have one, use it!

Best way to burn fat while rowing

• Any type of rowing will do the trick, so make sure your form is good. Drive strong through the legs, keep your chest up, and bring the handle bar to mid core.

• Try intervals for a challenge. Sprint 250m then recover for 100m and repeat.

HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training

Short but high intensity workout that focuses on the full body. You can do HIIT with strength exercises like push ups or cardio exercises like jump squats, or you can use any of the cardio we mentioned earlier. This main idea is high / max intensity movement for short bursts of time followed by a low intensity interval.

Sprints

Sprinting is a far greater challenge than running because of the high speeds. The downside is the high impact of the exercise on your joints. If you have bad/weak knees or ankles, best work your way up to this or avoid and do low impact cardio.

Best way to burn fat while sprinting

• If outdoors, sprint your street, a lap in the park or track, and then follow up with a lap jog and repeat.

• If you are on a treadmill, do an all out 30 second sprint, then jog for 1 minute and repeat.

Looking for a cardio plan? Check out the free Running Plan or Sprint Plan on the Steadfast Fit app.