Cardio has benefits such as a strong heart, endurance and lower stress. However, we usually do these exercises to burn calories, burn fat , lose weight and lose weight .
How to Do Cardio?
Roughly speaking, whenever the heart rate increases and breathing accelerates, we are actually doing cardio exercise.
Activities such as running, walking, swimming, playing tennis, cycling and lifting weights are actually cardio exercises.
However, there are two basic cardio exercises we can do to systematically burn fat. These are: low-intensity cardio (LISS) and high-intensity interval cardio (HIIT). In this article, we examine these two forms of cardio with their pros and cons; We will try to find the form of cardio that is most suitable for losing weight and burning fat.
Cardio Program: Best Cardio Exercises
When doing HIIT training at home, you may not have a coach preparing the day's workout for you like in the gym. Therefore, let's list the best HIIT cardio exercises that have the most fat burning potential:
- burpees
Cardio Types
We said there are 2 different types of cardio, let's start with the most popular one...
HIIT Cardio
High-intensity intermittent cardio (HIIT) is the intermittent performance of high- and low-intensity activities. For example, after 30 seconds of sprinting, 60 seconds of jogging, then sprinting again, lasting a maximum of 20-25 minutes. In this workout, the heart rate is around 85% of maximum heart rate.
You will appreciate that in many sports competitions, we actually work on the energy system similar to HIIT exercises. For example, a person boxing or a football player defending against an intense opponent team's attack constantly strains his pulse in a more intense and lighter way.
The most similar indoor activity and weight sport to HIIT workouts is actually Crossfit . Here, high-intensity exercises are performed for a certain period of time, followed by a short rest. However, the total training time is much shorter than classical weight training.
LISS Cardio
Light tempo cardio (LISS) is a form of training that continues at a pace of around 65% of the maximum heart rate, keeping the tempo constant, and lasting 45 - 60 minutes in total. The tempo here is one where you can talk while working. We can give brisk running and cycling as examples of this.
Imagine you are jogging, you have a partner with you, you are discussing the football match that will take place in the evening, you are slightly out of breath, but you continue for 8-10 kilometers without stopping. Now that would be a very good LISS.
Cardio Machines and Equipment
Of course, we can do LISS cardio without using any equipment, but frequently used cardio equipment are:
- rowing ergometry
- treadmill
- ski ergometry
- exercise bike
- elliptical bike
- Stair Climber machine
We can perform LISS continuously using these equipment.
Which Cardio is Better for Fat Burning?
There are two basic ways to burn fat: Eat less or move more. Our goal in cardio training is to increase the amount of calories we burn by moving. For this reason, training that will make us burn maximum calories is the best.
In short, whichever we do better will burn more fat.
Now let's list the pros and cons of these two common basic forms of exercise.
LISS cardio
Light cardio does not tire you out too much. If you're following proper weight training, your muscles will probably take time to regenerate. This kind of cardio will not cause your muscles to wear out. In fact , it is a relaxing, stress-relieving exercise that supports muscle development by triggering anabolic hormones .
However, there are points where this way of working is not perfect. In this way of working out, you do not burn many calories in a short time. To create a significant calorie deficit, you need to work out for at least 40-50 minutes. Some people may not have time for this. If you work out in the gym instead of in a beautiful outdoor environment, this can easily bore you. Weights that may be considered fun in the gym may not be preferred when there are exercise machines. In addition, as your fitness increases in the long run, you may find it easier to work this way, but even after an hour you may feel that you are not working hard enough. When you reach this point, you can strengthen your workout with extra resistance. For example, a weight vest or a spine-supporting backpack may be appropriate. You can also increase the difficulty of the equipment you use.
HIIT cardio
If we look at the other option (HIIT), the highlights are that the exercise burns a lot of calories in a short time, its plyometric style structure increases explosive power and quickness, and it accelerates the metabolism. With a good HIIT workout, you can burn enough calories even in 15 minutes.
You don't need a lot of time or a suitable place to do this. It doesn't even matter what kind of exercises you do. For example, if you are swimming, you can try swimming very fast and slow intermittently. Training for sports such as boxing, MMA and wrestling are also ideal HIIT workouts. While shadow boxing in front of the mirror, you improve your technique and agility and burn calories. In this way, exercises that accelerate your heart rhythm will accelerate your metabolism and cause you to spend more calories than normal during the day. So, are there any downsides to intermittent high-tempo cardio? Unfortunately there is. First of all, such a tempo requires serious strength. Not everyone can manage to be active for 20 minutes. Even though I had a sports background before, I was not able to lift my arm after 10 minutes during MMA training. Such a performance cannot be expected for someone who is new to sports. A training session that is not completed properly cannot be expected to yield proper results. Let's say you're strong enough and you're following a strength or hypertrophy program . This time, due to weight training, your muscles will often be unable to withstand this type of intense extras. While you're trying to burn some calories, you don't allow your muscles to regenerate.
There is one more point to be made about cardio. Recently, I have frequently seen on the internet that doing cardio in this way will cause muscle destruction. I would like to give a detailed answer to this, but I cannot see any argument behind the claim that needs to be refuted.
You can read such articles on the internet or in market magazines. You may also read that these are supported by "scientific research", but I can briefly say that there is no such thing.
In any type of training or in case of starvation, the nutrient stores of the muscles decrease and this can make the person feel a little weak. But this is not muscle breakdown, it will return to normal after a solid meal. Muscle breakdown is not something that a person who lives a normal life, does sports and pays attention to his nutrition should worry about. I guess when you feel like this, some products sell easily.
Without HIIT, can't fat be burned?
It is useful to take a closer look at how HIIT workouts accelerate your metabolism and the amount of calories you burn. Unfortunately, this type of cardio training, which has become popular lately under the name "afterburn effect", is not as beneficial as it is tried to be. If you ask the internet or magazines, those who do not do HIIT will be wasting their time, but we need facts, not fashion. In summary, HIIT workouts are not the royal way to burn fat.
So Which Style Should We Apply?
As I mentioned above, both ways of working have flaws. Sticking to just one and belittling the other will not be beneficial to us. We need to aim for maximum calorie burning by combining the parts pragmatically.
For this reason, I would consider combining both at appropriate times. Light cardio done in the morning on an empty stomach in the fresh air brings both the physiological and spiritual benefits mentioned above and good fat burning. Since you have not eaten since the previous evening, glycogen stores in the muscles will have decreased. In this way, cells will use fatty acids for energy production. This may be more beneficial to us than cardio in a full state.
Light tempo cardio will not be hard on the body. In fact, you can work this way every day, but if you do not have the opportunity, even once a week will be beneficial in many ways. In support of this, after our weight training in the gym, we can do some HIIT work when we feel ready. Or if you are interested in any sport, you can practice it.
Don't forget…
Remember that nutrition is much more important than training in losing weight or burning fat. Cardio is just a supportive tool. The main thing is to focus on nutrition. You can get the necessary advice for this from the nutrition section of our website. There are also supplements that will help you, these can be both healthy and beneficial for you to burn fat. We also reviewed these in our supplement guide .
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