Video: 15-Minute Interval Cardio Workout

This quick 15-minute workout will give you a great full-body high-intensity cardio workout that will help you burn lots of fat quickly, and increase your metabolism. No equipment necessary! Each of the 10 exercises is done for one minute, with 30-seconds of active recovery in between. You can do either the exercise she demonstrates for the recovery periods, or march in place, or another moderate activity. The goal is to bring your heart rate down, conditioning your heart to be able to handle short bursts of intense activity and recover quickly.

The exercises in this workout are similar to my favorite PACE Express workout by Dr. Sears, and boy do they work! You'll feel like you've been sweating at the gym for an hour, but it only takes 10 minutes out of your day.  Be sure to warm up properly first, and stretch afterwards. Consult with your doctor before beginning this or any other intense exercise program, especially if your fitness level is low.

 

Lose Fat Fast with Our Favorite Interval Cardio Exercise Program:

Cardio Myths & Fat Loss

Are you a cardio junkie? Everyone seems to think that "cardio" is the best way to get in shape and lose body fat.  I'm going to show you in this article why I disagree!

It is quite common to hear fitness pros, doctors, and other health professionals prescribe low to moderate intensity aerobic training (cardio) to people who are trying to prevent heart disease or lose weight. Most often, the recommendations go something like this:

"Perform 30-60 minutes of steady pace cardio 3-5 times/week maintaining your heart rate at a moderate level"

Exercise work zones (Fox and Haskell formula between 20 and 70-year-old): red zone (VO2Max), anaerobic, aerobic, weight control and warming up. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before you just give in to this popular belief and become the “hamster on the wheel” doing endless hours of boring cardio exercise, I’d like you to consider some recent scientific research that indicates that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

First, realize that our bodies are designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by recovery, or stop-and-go movement instead of steady state movement. Recent research is suggesting that "physical variability" is one of THE most important aspects to consider in your training.

This tendency can be seen throughout nature as most animals tend to demonstrate "stop-and-go" motion instead of steady state motion. In fact, humans are the only creatures in nature that attempt to do “endurance” type physical activities such as running long distances at the exact same speed the whole time.

Most competitive sports (with the exception of endurance running or cycling) are also based on stop-and-go movement or short bursts of exertion followed by recovery.

To examine an example of the different effects of endurance or steady state training versus stop-and-go training, consider the physiques of marathoners versus sprinters. Most sprinters carry a physique that is very lean, muscular, and powerful looking, while the typical dedicated marathoner is more often emaciated and sickly looking. Now which would you rather resemble?

Another factor to keep in mind regarding the benefits of physical variability is the internal effect of various forms of exercise on our body. Scientists have known that excessive steady state endurance exercise (different for everyone, but sometimes defined as greater than 60 minutes per session most days of the week) increases free radical production in the body, can degenerate joints, reduces immune function, causes muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory response in the body that can potentially lead to chronic diseases.

Highly variable cyclic training

On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training has been linked to increased antioxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response (which can assist with weight loss). Furthermore, steady state endurance training only trains the heart at one specific heart rate range and doesn’t train it to respond to various every day stressors.

On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training teaches the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands making it less likely to fail when you need it.  Think about it this way... Exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease will make your heart more capable of handling everyday stress. Stress can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase rapidly. Steady state jogging and other endurance training does not train your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in heart rate or blood pressure.

Cardio Boxing Group Fitness Class (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The important aspect of variable cyclic training that makes it superior over steady state cardio exercise is the recovery period in between bursts of exertion. That recovery period is crucially important for the body to elicit a healthy response to an exercise stimulus. Another benefit of variable cyclic training is that it is much more interesting and has lower drop-out rates than long boring steady state cardio programs.

To summarize, some of the potential benefits of variable cyclic training compared to steady state endurance training are as follows: improved cardiovascular health, increased anti-oxidant protection, improved immune function, reduced risk for joint wear and tear, increased muscularity (versus decreased muscularity with endurance training), increased residual metabolic rate following exercise, and an increased capacity for the heart to handle life’s every day stressors.

Sports Workouts and Sprinting

There are many ways you can reap the benefits of stop-and-go or variable intensity physical training. Most competitive sports such as football, basketball, volleyball, racquetball, tennis, hockey, baseball, etc. are naturally comprised of highly variable stop-and-go motion which trains the heart through a MUCH wider heart rate range compared to just steady walking or jogging.

Doing swimming workouts in a variable intensity fashion may also be more beneficial than just swimming for a long duration at the same speed.  Same goes for bicycling -- that is why mountain biking, which involves extreme ups and downs at various intensity levels may also be more beneficial than just a long flat steady pace bike ride.

One of the absolute most effective forms of variable intensity training to really reduce body fat and bring out serious muscular definition is performing wind sprints.  Wind sprints can be done by sprinting at near max speed for 10-30 seconds, and then taking 60 seconds to walk for recovery before your next sprint. 6-12 total sprint intervals is usually a very challenging workout for most people.

In addition, weight training naturally incorporates short bursts of exertion followed by recovery periods. High intensity interval training (varying between high and low intensity intervals on any piece of cardio equipment) is yet another training method that utilizes exertion and recovery periods. For example, an interval training session on the treadmill could look something like this:

Warm-up for 3-4 minutes at a fast walk or light jog
Interval 1 - run at 8.0 mi/hr for 1 minute
Interval 2 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes
Interval 3 - run at 10.0 mi/hr for 1 minute
Interval 4 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes

Repeat those 4 intervals 4 times for a very intense 20-minute workout.

Also, don't overlook other great ways to incorporate variable intensity cardio training by using a jump rope, a rowing machine, stairs running, or even outdoor hill sprints.

The take-away message from this article is to try to train your body at highly variable intensity rates for the majority of your workouts to get the most beneficial response in terms of heart health, fat loss, and muscle maintenance.

Article By Mike Geary – Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of best-seller:  The Truth about Six Pack Abs

Reaping the Benefits of Cardio Training

Your body is the most valuable asset you could have in your lifetime. Thus it is important that you take good care of it. Give it the proper attention it needs - feed it healthy and nutritious foods, give it plenty of rest and water, and most of all, keep it moving!

When it comes to ensuring and maintaining the health of your body, cardio training is an important factor.

What Is Cardio Training?

Cardio training involves any activity that requires the use of the large muscle groups of the body in a regular and uninterrupted manner. It elevates the heart rate to between 60 and 85 percent of the fastest heart rate possible for you.

 (Photo credit: USAG-Humphreys)

Some of the usual cardio training activities are walking, jogging, running, aerobics, cycling, tae bo, swimming and rowing. Cardio training is considered an aerobic exercise as one is required to move from one exercise to another rather quickly, while keeping the heart rate high for a certain period of time.

What Are the Benefits of Cardio Training?

1. Gives Energy to the Body

You can expect more energy and higher endurance with regular cardio training.

2. Prevents Diseases

Heart disease, diabetes, obesity and even high cholesterol can be prevented or moderated with regular cardio training. A good cardiovascular training program strengthens the heart and the lungs.

3. Controls Your Weight

With cardio training, you are able to burn more calories and lose weight. For those who already achieved their ideal body mass, cardio training will make it easier to control and maintain your proper weight.

Cardio training helps burn calories. However this generally depends on your current weight and the kind of cardio training you are undergoing. Before beginning any new exercise program, be sure to consult with your physician or trainer to determine the proper type of training for your needs.

4. Lose Body Fat

Some people do not have a problem with their weight overall, but may have more body fat than they would like. Cardio training will help in getting rid of excess fat and building lean muscle, which will in turn increase your metabolism so that you burn more fat even when at rest. Most cardio activities involve the movements of large muscle groups. Regularly doing this kind of training will make you leaner over time.

Exercise work zones (Fox and Haskell formula between 20 and 70-year-old): red zone (VO2Max), anaerobic, aerobic, weight control and warming up. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

5. Fight Boredom

Cardio training is fun. It pumps up your system. You will feel more energized and your mood will improve. (See below for my favorite cardio training program - it's so much fun I do it almost every day, and never get bored - and it only takes 15 minutes a day!)

A Few Recommendations to Better Enjoy the Benefits of Cardio Training

Cardio training is essential when you need to make health improvements. For starters, it is best to do between 10 and 30 minutes of cardio exercise, 3 to 5 days a week. If you are aiming for weight loss, the training should be done 5 days a week. The more frequently you do it; the more likely it is that you will lose weight. However, avoid exhausting yourself too much - this can be hard on the body and you may get tired of it or experience burn out. Avoid going beyond 45 minutes - in fact 30 is probably more than enough if it's the right type of training. Remember, it has to be done in a regular basis.

1. Start now. Walk or ride the bike around the neighborhood now. Follow that aerobics video you purchased. Set a goal and follow that goal. At the same time, modify your diet too. Eat healthy whole foods with plenty of vitamins and fiber. Avoid processed foods and sugar.

2. As you increase your fitness level, the intensity of the training should also increase, and you should be sure to vary your activity so that different parts of your body get exercised daily. You can easily implement this by intensifying some parts of the training. If you are into jogging or running, increase your speed every 5 minutes for a minute or two, then slow back down. This will give your body a challenge, and keep you from hitting a plateau in your weight loss goals.

3. You should also avoid doing cardio exercises before bedtime. You will have a difficult time sleeping if you do so as the energy level of the body will stay high for some time.

4. If you are undergoing weight training too, do the cardio exercises right after your weight session, not before.

(Photo credit: sisterbeer)

5. It is best to have a snack about 30 minutes before doing cardio exercises. Do not start with training on an empty stomach. This will not help in achieving the proper momentum when you train. At the same time, avoid indulging in large meals too before exercise. Have plenty of water on hand - you'll need it!

6. If possible, it is great to do cardio exercises outdoors. This way you can easily interact with nature and breathe fresh air, and it keeps things interesting.

Most of all, be consistent and stick with your cardio training once you have started it. This is the only way that cardio training will benefit your body and your health in the long run.

Fun & Effective Cardio Training Workout: