It’s very common at any gym, people going through the motion of exercising with no goal, direction, or clue as to what they are doing. Before you go running as fast as you can (like most people do) thinking that’s the way to burn the most fat you need to figure out what you want to do. What are you in the gym for? Are you in there for looks, a sport, endurance? What many people don’t understand is that there are three types of cardio. Quit wasting your time and energy and choose a goal.
3 Types of Cardio
- Fat Burning Cardio
- Aerobic Cardio (building lung capacity)
- Muscle Building Cardio
We’re going to focus on fat burning cardio, since it’s what most people want when they go to the gym. Almost everyone at the gym is trying to burn fat and yet you see them running as fast as they can, stopping, burning out, walking. Some use my most hated cardio machine, the elliptical too. I hate the elliptical machine. I say screw the ellipticals and do it the old fashioned way. Most machines are gimmicks unless you’re using them in conjunction to a proper all around workout.
You don’t need to run as fast as you can, sprint, or do bursts of cardio. There’s one simple strategy to lose the fat and it will be a lot easier than you realize. Here’s what you need to do:
- Jog lightly at around 130 – 140 heart beats per minute
You might not be able to measure this on all treadmills or if you’re just free jogging, but a good way to monitor your speed is to have the ability to carry a conversation if you needed to. So, if you were jogging with someone you could talk to them without huffing or weezing. - Jog for at least 25-45 minutes each session
Why 25-45 minutes? Basically the first 15 minutes of your jog is burning off anything left in your stomach from your last meal or snack. So in order to start burning fat your body needs to burn your leftover energy source. Once it’s done burning that, it’s next source is fat. Remember, you only have to jog at a light pace, around 130 BPM, which is nice and easy. - Be consistent, Leave your ego at the door, and don’t pay attention to speed or miles
Once you start jogging at this easy pace and don’t get distracted by how many miles you need to get to or how fast your mile times are you’ll find that it’s a piece of cake to jog. When I started jogging at a 140bmp pace I ended up jogging for around 2 miles my first session, which was a huge jump from the 1 mile I was jogging after my workouts. Just changing my pace and not worrying about my speed or what others thought of me as I was jogging slow made a HUGE difference. I started to notice fat around my waste burn off in 2 weeks and felt amazing after my jogs. What also happens, is that you’ll pick up in pace so your miles will get increasingly faster and your heart beat will stat at around 140 still because your lungs will adapt.
Here’s a chart to keep in your head next time you jog:
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