20 Best Cardio Exercises for Weight Loss

Cardio is the most common form of weight loss exercise. It is effective, increases heart rate and metabolism too which are key elements for weight loss. 

Try out these different cardio exercises along with your weight loss program to add that zing to your workout routine. Here are 20 best cardio exercises for weight loss and fitness.

What is cardio?
Arnav Sarkar explains how cardio is beneficial for weight loss, "The simplest explanation of a cardio workout would be any workout/exercise that gets your heart rate up, and keeps it elevated for a significant amount of time." If you're a first timer with cardio, look to starting with 20-minutes-a-day cardio workouts, and increase the duration and intensity of exercise to improve your stamina and reach your weight loss targets.

Precautions for cardio workouts
Before you start huffing and puffing, did you know there are limits and precautions when you practice your cardio workouts? Arnav explains what you should keep in mind for cardio workouts, "Don't overdo it, especially the slow and long duration type. Good cardio training has a lot of benefits to offer, but overdoing it, which is very common, can soon lead to problems like aching knees, muscle loss, slower metabolism, etc. For most people, 10-20 minutes of intense cardio, and 25-45 minutes of low intensity cardio seems to work best without causing any overuse injuries."

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT sessions are only 20 minutes long if you minus the warming up and warming down session. For best results, you should go for HIIT training every second to third day. This is because whenever you do reps, you perform them with greater intensity. But don't fool yourself into trimming down in a day and performing this workout every day as this workout is known to burn energy from your muscle system which calls for at least a day's time to rest and recover.

Kettlebell
"The basic exercises that are done with a Kettlebell are whole body exercises," explains Arnav. "This means that they make your body work hard and burn a lot more calories than what the basic isolation exercises like crunches, curls, etc do. Also because these basic exercises burn a lot more calories with each rep, the workouts are rarely very long. For most, a basic 30-45 minute workout will be enough to get the job done."

Circuit training
Simply put, circuit training is a bunch of aerobic exercises mixed up with resistance training to deliver a high intensity workout. These exercises are performed one after the other - in a circuit - with minimal rest in-between. Circuit training involves both aerobic and anaerobic exercises but this method of training is so flexible, you can create your very own routine in a matter of minutes with a little bit of research and help from your friendly neighbourhood fitness blog or website like healthmeup.com

Plyometrics
Plyometric contractions—or the stretch shortening cycle, as it is often referred to—involves a process whereby the muscle undergoes a period of rapid lengthening movement, followed by a brief transition time where there is no change in muscle length, followed by an explosive shortening movement that in turn enables related muscles to produce maximum force without necessarily increasing maximum strength.
Stair training
Stair exercises will help you increase your cardiovascular stamina and will also tone your lower body. It might be a little tiring at the beginning but with persistence, soon you will not feel pooped easily and you will notice that you can perform several other tasks with gusto and improve your day's performance. Staircase exercise is a great out of gym cardio training. You can also incorporate stair exercise in your interval training and circuit training routines.

Swimming
Swimming, freestyle (or with the butterfly or breast stroke) can burn up to 350 calories per 30 minutes. But this is with respect to rigorous swimming, and not leisurely swimming, which burns a mere 200-250 calories per 30 minutes. If you add this for an hour, you're burning 400 to 700 calories an hour, which is pretty good.

Outdoor cycling
As compared to indoor static cycling, outdoor forms can do a lot more for your overall fitness levels as it challenges you with different terrains and difficult routes. The amount of calories burnt in cycling usually depends on your speed and the resistance of the route used. On an average, cycling at less than 10mph can burn up to 372 calories, at moderate levels (12-13.9 mph) up to 745 calories and above 20 mph around 1117 calories. Although, this form of fitness programme does not help much in terms of upper body workout, it can be a great way to tone your lower limb muscles.
Jumping ropes or skipping rope
Simple yet effective; jumping rope for a few minutes can do wonders for your body weight. What's more; it works for your entire body and helps you achieve hand-eye coordination. As you gradually master the basics of this activity, you can challenge yourself further by using different patterns like side steps, speed steps and cross mode. At moderate levels, you can lose as much as 931 calories by performing this activity for an hour.

Jogging
Jogging is another ideal way to work every part of your body and shed some unwanted calories. In order to achieve the best calorie-burning potential, attempt working above 8 mph. You can also offer resistance to motion using rugged, rough terrains and hilly inclined areas.
Tennis
Here's a fun game that will provide you a great opportunity to burn some extra calories while improving your speed, strength and reaction time. A continuous workout of tennis for one hour will help you burn around 600-900 calories of body fat.

Hiking
Hiking is a good recreational activity, but it can make you sweat and keep you active. Hiking also helps to improve muscular fitness, reduce depression, maintains healthy weight and lubricates your joints well.

Zumba
At its core, Zumba proposes to offer a large calorie burn through high-tempo aerobic activity coupled with interval training. Based on various factors such as body weight, gender, fitness level and other physical factors, you can burn up to 400 to 600 calories per hour.

CrossFit
According to International Crossfit coach Denise Thomas, "Crossfit is functional movement, constantly varied and executed at high intensity. Crossfit is the way to go, if you want to be stronger, faster, lose a lot of weight, Crossfit will do that for you. It prepares your general physical skills and uses every part of your body."

Kickboxing
Kickboxing is primarily known for developing great cardiovascular fitness, and unlike running, cycling and other popular cardio activities, it works the whole body while hitting the core muscles hard too! In terms of calorie burning it outdoes the regular jogging/walking workout anyday, while being more fun as you do a lot of different moves compared to doing just one movement continuously for an hour.

Basketball
Playing a game of basketball is an easy and effective way to improve your flexibility, endurance level and cardio-respiratory health. The running and the quick alteration in directions while playing the game will also help you tone your muscles while dropping a few calories. On an average, you lose around 600-900 calories while playing basketball for an hour.

Body combat workout
Body combat is an empowering cardio workout, which is fiercely energetic and is inspired by martial arts. It draws from a wide array of disciplines such as karate, boxing, taekwondo, tai chi and muay thai. Supported by music, you strike, punch, and kick your way through calories in an enjoyable cardio fitness workout.

Core Power Yoga
Core power yoga is performed in a heated room and the postures surround cardiovascular exercises. But it has to be done at a fast pace. Core power yoga strengthens your abdomen and the back. It involves muscle toning postures too. Core power yoga also strengthens the hip and pelvis. You can expect to improve strength, stamina, endurance, improve concentration and reduce stress.

Belly dancing
Anyone can learn belly dancing and it's both a sexy and fun way to keep in shape. Belly dancing will not only make you feel sexy about yourself but will also help to improve your body posture, aid in weight loss and help to burn great amount of fat and calories.

Five Reasons Why Burpees Should Be Your Favorite Exercise

What do extreme athletes, elite military forces, and football teams have in common?

They all embrace burpees and regularly include them in their workout routines.

Lots, and lots, of burpees.

But burpees aren’t just beneficial for hardcore athletes or certified badasses…

They’re for everyone. 

Because not only will burpees turn you into an athlete, they’ll also help you scorch fat, rev up your metabolism and get you conditioned like no other exercise can do.

But what the heck is a burpee…

And why should you care?

Burpee basics

Burpees are an awesome, calorie-torching, strength-building, full body exercise.
Later in this post, you’ll learn why you should love them. But first, you need to know how exactly to actually do a burpee.

Just follow these simple steps:

• First, get into a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you.
• Kick your feet back into a push up position.
• Return your feet back to the squat position as fast as possible.
• Immediately jump up into the air as high as you can.
• Add a little clap for pizzazz!

To see how it’s done, and to get a better idea of the pace you should try and keep, take a look at this instructional video where I show you exactly how to do a proper burpee:

Burpees are all about speed, but don’t go too fast…or you’ll burn yourself out after doing just a few. Trust me.

And now, here are five reasons why burpees are awesome—and why they should be your new favorite exercise:

1. They burn mega calories

 

Burpees make your body a fat burning machine.

That’s because since burpees are an intense fully body exercise, they burn a shitload of calories. Plus, research shows that high intensity exercises like burpees burn up to 50% more fat than moderate exercising.
And better yet, they speed up your metabolism throughout the day—meaning you’ll burn more calories all day long, even after your burpee hell is over.

So if you want to lose weight, ditch the recumbent bike and elliptical machine—and do some burpees instead.

2. They make you stronger

 

The burpee is a full body strength training exercise and the ultimate example of functional fitness.
With every rep, you’ll work your arms, chest, quads, glutes, hamstrings, and abs. After a few sets of burpees, your legs should feel a little bit like lead.

3. They’re great for conditioning

 

Why do you think burpees are embraced in the hardest of workouts (like CrossFit)?
Because they’re great for developing conditioning and endurance! And they get your heart rate up—fast.
Burpees are a great way to get in shape quickly, whether your goal is to learn a new sport, train for a triathlon, hike a big mountain, or, just to look good.

4. They’re portable and require no equipment

 

The best thing about burpees? They require absolutely no equipment.
That’s right. Zip. Zero. Zilch.
You can do burpees in your house, in a nearby park, even in your hotel room.

5. You can add them to almost any workout

 

Unlike running, which is a slow, monotonous form of exercising (unless you’re sprinting), burpees are fast paced, dynamic, and never boring.

Like I already mentioned, adding burpees to your workout routine will bring you tons of benefits and whip you into shape quicker than you ever thought possible.

However, if you do have equipment available, there are tons of burpee variations you can do to mix things up. Here are a few:

Burpee pull ups. Do a burpee in front of a pull up bar, then do a (jumping) pull up.
Burpee knee ups. Do a burpee in front of your dip station or a set of chairs, then do a knee up.
Burpee box jumps. Do a burpee in front of a box or a high surface you can jump on, then do a box jump.
Be creative and come up with your own!

Give burpees a try

 

For a really awesome (and challenging) burpee workout, try doing 100 burpees in a row as fast as you can.
Some people look at this as an impossible workout—but it’s all about pacing yourself, and most of all, believing in yourself. See if you can beat my record of 7:41!


If you’re looking for more burpee inspiration, here are some other burpee-filled workouts to try:

Burpee workout #1
Burpee workout #2
Burpee workout #3

Now go do some burpees!

How do I repair my BROKEN metabolism?

If you’ve never heard of G-flux, here’s a simple formula for increasing it:  Eat more; exercise more.  Sounds pretty simple, but let’s take a deeper look.

Exercise increases metabolism.  Eating increases metabolism.  The trick is learning to balance the two so that you still create a negative calorie balance.

Allow me to explain.

Sedentary people (folks who just sit around and don’t exercise) have painfully slow metabolisms.  This is due to many hormonal factors resulting from a lack of exercise along with the fact that these individuals never really “teach” their body to burn additional calories.

Likewise, chronic dieters share the same plight.  When you chronically under-eat, metabolism shuts down as a starvation protection mechanism and the oh-so-slow metabolism blues start a-playin’.

On the contrary, exercise and eating are metabolism boosters.  That being said, it’s not very likely that eating more by itself will ever do wonders for your fat loss goals.

But when you combine eating more with a high caloric burn via exercise you get the best of both worlds.

For example, let’s say your basal metabolic rate allows you to burn 2000 calories a day.  Knowing this, you go on a diet and begin eating 1500 calories a day, putting you 500 calories in the hole.  Now, on the surface a 500 calorie deficit would appear to be a good thing, but unfortunately you’ve done your metabolism NO favors here.  In fact, under-eating only decreases metabolism with each passing day as you've experienced.

So, “dieting” as we know it is not the method of choice for creating a calorie deficit, especially when trying to repair your metabolism.

Now let’s take a similar scenario.  You burn 2000 calories a day, but instead of “dieting” you start eating 300 calories MORE each day and you also burn 800 extra calories through exercise.  The result?  The SAME 500 calorie deficit (2800 calories burned, 2300 calories consumed) but you do so while increasing your metabolism through eating and exercising more.

That’s the power of G-flux.  Apply the concept and watch your metabolism skyrocket.

Want to know how to increase your metabolism even further with FOOD?  Check out this link Biotrust made for you:

==> Exactly what to eat for rapid fatloss (meal by meal)

Top 5 Fat Burners

Let's get right to it...here are 5 ways to make this a great fat-burning day...

1) Do Something You Love

If you are a beginner and you hate the gym, just do something you love! Don't make your healthy lifestyle a prison sentence. Enjoy what you eat and do. Just don't eat garbage and don't look at exercise as punishment.

2) Strength Training

A very, very recent study (published in the May issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology 102:1 767, 2007) showed that resistance training boosts metabolism by 10% and increases fat burning by 100%!

3) Interval Training

The latest research from Australia showed a more weight loss from interval training than from long, slow cardio. In fact, the long, slow cardio group didn't lose any weight. AND - this study was done in women...so yes, Turbulence Training works for women.

Strength training and interval training are the 1-2 punch that blowtorch fat off your body.

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here:

=> http://wilsonhs26.turbulence.hop.clickbank.net

4) Eat 6 Small Meals of Whole, Natural Foods

Fruits and vegetables, protein, nuts, and healthy fats. It's that simple. Don't spend another dollar on "the latest diet". You ALREADY KNOW what to do!

5) Avoid Booze, Sugar, Trans-Fats, & Inactivity

Yeah, I know, real "secrets" here, Eddie. "Thanks", you're thinking sarcastically. Listen, sometimes we just need the motivation. Maybe there is a donut within reach, or you're thinking about watching the tube instead of exercising, or you've got a cookie in one hand and an apple in the other.

Let this be a simple reminder to make the right choice.

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here:

=> http://wilsonhs26.turbulence.hop.clickbank.net

Everything you do takes you closer to OR away from fat loss,

Eddie Smith
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist

PS - Does your body need to be rescued from the prison of fat loss?

Burn Calories: The Best Exercises For Burning Calories

In the battle to keep our bodies functioning and healthy, calories are not the enemy.

"They're not as evil as many perceive them to be. Without sufficient calories, our brain, heart and lungs would not be able to function. Calories are not the enemy, but an overconsumption and underusage of them is," says Connie Beaulieu, personal trainer and owner of C.U. Fit Personal Training, based in Ottawa, Ont.

Calories are units of energy that help us function during day-to-day tasks. Women between the ages of 31 to 50 with low activity levels should eat about 2000 calories a day. Active women should consume 2250 calories, according to Statistics Canada.

Depending on how many calories you eat daily (you can calculate your recommended intake here) and how much weight you want to lose, some forms of exercise work better than others.

"The benefit with resistance training, for example, allows your body to burn calories for 48 to 72 hours after a workout as your muscles repair," Beaulieu says.

She notes there are about 3,500 calories in one pound of fat — so if you're looking at losing a significant amount of weight at a healthy rate, you should be working off (or cutting out) 500 calories from your daily intake to lose one pound per week. But remember, it is important to never go below your recommended calorie intake to lose weight, as eating appropriately while exercising is the best way to get healthy.

And for workout purposes, Beaulieu says to keep them simple and not rely heavily on automated calorie counters like those found on cardio machines. Ellipticals, she adds, are not always accurate when it comes to counting your burned calories. She advises aiming for at least 30 to 60 minutes of exercise — including both cardio and strength training — in each session, and to always push yourself to work outside your comfort zone.

Burpee With A Push-Up:
WORKS: Your full body
HOW TO: Start standing in an upright position and keep your feet shoulder-width apart. Jump up in the air and raise your arms overhead. As you land, bend forward with the hips, reaching your hands onto the floor and kick your legs back into a push-up. Next, push off the toes and bring your knees and feet in towards the chest, and drop your hips back into a seated position and stand up. Repeat.

Squat And Row:
WORKS: Quad, glutes, hamstrings, back, biceps, core
HOW TO: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart in front of a cable machine or resistance band secured on a post. Extend the arms out in front of the body, and hold the cable or band handles with your thumbs up. Next, squat down and lower the body towards the ground, by pushing your hips back and bending the knees to a 90-degree angle. Make sure you're simultaneously pulling the handles into the torso (rib level) by bending the elbows. Repeat.

Alternating Lunges And Shoulder Press:
WORKS: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, shoulders, core
HOW TO: Standing upright with feet parallel and apart, hold a dumbbell in each hand. With a firm grip, hold dumbbells at your shoulders and take a giant step forward with one leg. Lower the body into a lunge, bending both knees until the back knee hovers just above the floor. Your front knee should be placed directly over your ankle and remember not to lean forward.
Lower the dumbbells back down to side and step back into to a standing position. Keep alternating legs.

Kettlebell Swings:
WORKS: Your full body
HOW TO: Holding a kettlebell in both hands with legs shoulder-width apart, keep your core tight, thrust the hips forward, and allow the kettlebell to swing up slightly. Drop in to a squat position, ensuring your chest and head are up, back is in a neutral spine, and the kettlebell lands between the legs. Repeat.

Walking Lunge:
WORKS: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core
HOW TO: Standing upright with feet parallel and apart, take a giant step forward with one leg, and lower the body towards the ground by bending both knees — remember, your front knee should be placed directly over your ankle. Step forward with the back leg into the next lunge.

Split Lunge:
WORKS: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core
HOW TO: Standing upright with feet shoulder-width apart, place one foot in front and one foot behind in a wide stance. Keeping the torso upright and your arms to the side, lower the body towards the floor by bending the legs into a lunge position. Jump up in the air and switch the position of your front and back leg.

Jump Squats:
WORKS: Quads, glutes, hamstrings, core
HOW TO: Standing upright with your feet spaced shoulder-width apart, squat down by bending the knees. Jump up into the air, extending the knees, hips and pushing off the floor with the toes. Move into the next jump squat.

Plank Row Push-Up:
WORKS: Chest, shoulders, triceps, back and core
HOW TO: In a plank position with hands directly under your shoulders, grip dumbbells and lower into push-up position, keeping the back flat and the core tight. Press up into a plank and hold briefly. Also, this exercise can be modified by performing it on the knees. Repeat movement.

 My name is Eddie Smith. High School Baseball Coach, NASM Cerified Personal Trainer, NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, NPTI Certified Personal Trainer, NPTI Nutritional Specialist, BA Exercise Science, Former College Sports Athlete (cross country, indoor track, and baseball).