Everyone has their own reasons for wanting to shed some fat.
Perhaps you're simply sick of carrying that flab around with you all the time, or perhaps you're trying to shape up for the summer.
Whatever your reasons, by the time you've read through this article, you'll know exactly how to get rid of fat, and not only that, but you'll know how to do it effectively as well.
While I'm not aiming to offend anyone, as far as I'm concerned, the average person has absolutely no idea whatsoever regarding cardio, and while I'm on the topic, don't kid yourself by thinking that all you need to do, is to keep your heart rate down below 160bpm, also known as "steady state cardio".
In fact, I'm going to point out exactly, what a load of rubbish such advice is.
Additionally, if you think you can use one of those fancy machines that supposedly give you the six-pack of your dreams, forget it because all you'll be doing is wasting your money and peeing into the wind.
First, let's take a look at the different cardio exercises: 1) LIT or SS (Steady State or Light Intensity cardiovascular exercise) This is the form of cardio which I have mentioned above, requiring you to keep your heart rate below a certain limit, ideally between 120 and 140 beats per minute.
Typically the exercises are not very tiring at all so this allows you to have lengthy sessions, perhaps the main reason it is the option of choice between fat people.
Ironically, these same people have not even lost an ounce of their body fat so yes; I do believe I have a strong case in saying that steady state cardio is rubbish.
To strengthen my argument even more, this form of cardio causes a drop in your testosterone levels which further jeopardizes the fat burning process.
2) MIT (Medium Intensity cardiovascular exercise) Telling yourself you're doing "medium intensity" cardio is really only a way to make yourself feel better.
After all, it's not like you're doing low intensity exercises so you're not at the bottom of the ladder.
I really hate to burst anyone's bubble but unfortunately, if we're honest with ourselves, MIT is simply a fancy name for aerobics 3) HIT (High Intensity cardiovascular exercise) Okay, now we're starting to talk.
Firstly, let me point out that your growth hormone is one of the most essential hormones regarding fat loss, so if we could really get this growth hormone pumped up, that would be ideal.
Well, fortunately we can, with a little help from some Lactic Acid, but why am I even mentioning all this? Simply because this is exactly what happens, when you train in this zone.
With HIT, we work our way up from an aerobic level to an anaerobic level and it's at this stage that where our lungs cannot produce sufficient oxygen.
When this happens, our bodies respond to the crisis by producing exactly what we're after, and that is, Lactic Acid.
The process will continue until your levels of Lactic acid are so high that you simply cannot continue at the same pace any longer.
At this point, you start to cool down.
4) HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) If this is a favourite zone of yours then I'm pleased to say, we both dance to the same tune.
While many argue that interval training can be applied to MIT as well as HIT, I personally can't see the point so I'm not going to bother wasting your time or mine by discussing it here.
So what is HIIT? Just as the name implies, it requires you to train in intervals.
An example of this would be to jog 50 meters and then sprint 100 metres.
Of course, you do need to do a few repetitions in order for it to be effective but I'm sure you know that already.
Now, before you start wondering why this is not widely practiced, I'll tell you.
First and foremost, it's downright tiring and extremely strenuous.
Secondly, because the average trainer has not made a point of keeping ahead of the times and still believes steady state cardio to be just as effective.
The hard truth however, is that high intensity interval training has been scientifically proven to be the most effective.
Why I personally recommend HIIT? Simply because it burns fat and it does so in the shortest possible time.
Some forms of HIIT such as a Tabata only last for four minutes and yet you'll burn an unbelievable amount of calories, in addition to building endurance.
Because so many trainers are in disagreement with this, they tell students that only low intensity training will burn fat, while HIT or even HIIT will only build endurance.
It's hardly surprising then that this question keeps coming up, so let me put the record straight.
The human body always gets its energy from glycogen and fat.
In the case of low intensity training, your body gets energy from fat.
In the case of high intensity training, your body gets energy from glycogen.
Understandably this may all sound like a contradiction so let me briefly explain.
In order to maintain your current weight, you need to consume a certain amount of calories.
If you're not consuming enough calories and/or you're doing cardio, your body will be forced to burn fat but unfortunately, in most cases, it burns muscle as well.
Whether your body burns fat or whether it burns glycogen, the important thing is, its not getting enough calories.
You can be rest assured, if your body burns up glycogen, it will use an abundance of calories to replace it again which in turn means, your body in then forced once again to start burning fat.
Another common question I get all the time is, how can you burn fat with just four minutes of HIIT? To answer this, let me just say that depending on which form of Tabata you do, will determine which muscles are being used.
With HIIT, these muscles are required to work extremely hard which in turn burns calories.
In addition, this heavy form of training causes our bodies to produce lactic acid and as I mentioned earlier, this boosts our growth hormone which is of course, a key player in losing fat.
Okay, so what case do I have for recommending HIIT? Simple! Its burns fat at a phenomenal rate, it doesn't meddle with your testosterone levels and of course, you can't say you don't have the time because after all, it only takes a few minutes.