Think running, cycling or swimming, but if every tier of that triathlon trio fills you with dread, fear not! The types of cardio are limitless. People that regularly do cardio workouts typically have a lower resting heart rate and lower blood pressure , and daily movement helps our mental health and helps you to sleep better, too.

So how much cardio should you be doing , and which type to achieve the results you want? The Sports Illustrated editorial team is not involved in the creation of this content.

The beauty of High Intensity Interval Training HIIT is that it is so varied. Anyone can do something for 30 seconds! HIIT is short periods of intense, high-impact work followed by short periods of rest.

It means that you can target the part of your body that you want on any given day, or do a full body workout. Looking to tone up your quads? Do a HIIT workout that blasts this part of your body. Is it hurting?

This helps you to gain many of the benefits of slower cardio over a long duration in a compressed space of time. Suggested workout by Alex Randall, founder and CEO of Revel Sports , a fitness blog and educational resource:. Warm up with five to 10 minutes of light cardio exercises, including jumping jacks and high knees.

For the main workout, complete three to four rounds of the following bodyweight exercises. Perform each exercise for seconds depending on your fitness level with a second break between each. Then complete two to four rounds of the following high intensity cardio exercises.

Again, perform each exercise for seconds with a second break. You might mistakenly think that rowing is all about your arms, but done correctly, rowing is a full body workout which activates your quads, glutes and core, too. It uses 85 percent of the muscles in your body and activates nine muscle groups.

Rowing requires equipment. Most gyms will have a rowing machine , or you can invest in one to have at home. It can also come with a lot of camaraderie. Rowing teams e. gig rowing are a fantastic way to work as part of a club. Rowing can also be a big calorie burner. Depending on your weight and the intensity of your workout you can burn up to calories an hour.

Warm up with an meter overhand grip at a moderate pace, followed by an meter underhand grip at moderate pace. Underhand grip is useful for an enhanced bicep focus and increased stretch and range of motion. For the main workout, complete 20 seconds of rapid fire rowing, followed by 10 seconds of slow and controlled rowing, focusing on regaining your breath.

Repeat four times. Done right, using the elliptical machine can be an effective, all-body cardio workout. It works your whole body, your glutes, hamstrings, quads, core, chest, arms and back.

It goes without saying that this form of cardio requires equipment, namely an elliptical machine. Choosing the right one from so many options out there can be a challenge—that's why we researched and found several that work equally well for beginners and athletes in our best elliptical machines roundup.

Perform intervals by increasing the resistance and intensity for 30 seconds to one minute, then decreasing the intensity for one to two minutes. Repeat this for a total of minutes.

Weight training will help you to burn more calories at rest. Also, strength training with weights increases lean muscle mass which cuts through fat. In short, weight training might not burn as many calories per hour as going for a run, but the after-effects are substantial.

Suggested workout, by Martin Sharp :. The great thing about cycling is that it gives you a leg workout, a low-impact workout and a calorie-burning workout all at once. In addition to the many different options for indoor cycling sessions, you can also start programs that take you through a variety of scenery, including winding through Chile's Andes.

In the long term, a bike can be a really good investment! Then indoor cycling bikes like WattBike and Peloton are a great solution if you want the same effects in the comfort of your own home.

Typically, cycling burns in the region of calories an hour, although a spin class can torch up to calories. Cycling focuses primarily on your legs, and the largest muscle in your body , your glutes, which allows you to increase muscular endurance and tone up without compromising your joints.

Warm up with a two kilometer cycle at a low resistance, gradually increasing speed towards the end. For the main workout, cycle all out for 20 seconds at medium resistance, then lower the resistance for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times. Reduce the resistance to low and pick up the pace for a five minute stretch.

Slowly add resistance while maintaining your pace for another five minutes. The final 30 seconds should be a real effort. Cool down by cycling for five minutes at a slow to moderate pace, reducing the resistance gradually to loosen up your legs and allow for maximum blood flow.

This will prevent the dreaded aches the day after. You only have to look at the lean bodies of endurance runners and sprinters to see that running is an effective way of shifting pounds and burning body fat.

Running five miles an hour can burn upwards of calories an hour , so athletes that run a half marathon or further will regularly find themselves doubling or tripling the amount of calories their body would burn in a day at rest.

They use it as an energy source once their carbohydrate stores have been depleted. The equipment needed is minimal, just a good pair of trainers and proper running clothing. There is a big buzz about fasted running, or running first thing in the morning before breakfast, but it isn't a quick fix to lose weight.

Try this minute kettlebell workout for a great introduction to how to use kettlebells, as well as a powerful minute workout. Aside from being a fun pastime, jumping rope is an effective cardio workout that can help you lose weight.

By engaging your whole body, it burns a significant amount of calories and improves coordination, balance, and agility. One of the best cardio exercises for weight loss is jumping rope. An additional bonus is that, if done correctly, this exercise is a lower impact than running.

Jumping rope is also a great form of plyometric workout , where both feet are off the ground. Plyometrics get your heart pumping and burn calories quickly and effectively. If jumping rope sounds like a fun way to incorporate cardio into your routine, check out this minute jump rope and bodyweight workout to try at home or the gym.

This popular cardio workout technique involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by brief rest periods. Once used to train only elite athletes, High-Intensity Interval Training HIIT is now mainstream and can be incorporated into many workout routines.

HIIT exercises can range from bodyweight movements, such as burpees and jump squats , to using equipment such as kettlebells and resistance bands. The training can also be done with treadmills, outdoor walking, swimming, cycling, and elliptical machines.

Most programs will have you push hard for a work session between seconds , with a short second rest in between. The key is to push yourself to your maximum effort during the high-intensity work portion and then allow your body to recover during the rest periods.

With HIIT, a lack of time is no excuse: a minute HIIT session is more effective at burning calories and fat overall than a minute jog. Check out our HIIT workout library for great HIIT workouts to try at home. Cycling is a low-impact exercise that increases your heart health, strengthens your leg muscles, and burns some serious calories.

When cycling, you target your lower body muscles, such as your glutes, quads, and hamstrings, and you also improve your cardiovascular health. According to Harvard Health Publishing , the average person burns between calories per 30 minute session of cycling exercise. If you prefer working out indoors, you can try spinning or indoor cycling classes , which simulate outdoor biking.

These classes typically last minutes and can be adjusted to your fitness level. You can also invest in a stationary bike and exercise at home while watching TV or listening to music.

Just make sure to adjust the seat and handlebars correctly to prevent injuries and maximize your potential. If you enjoy being in nature, outdoor biking can be a fun and challenging way to lose weight.

You can explore different terrains and routes, challenge yourself with hills and sprints, and enjoy the fresh air. Outdoor cycling also fills your need for fresh air and vitamin D.

Rowing is a full-body exercise that works the biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, glutes, quads, and hamstrings.

In addition to all this strength training, keep in mind that the cardio benefits of rowing are intense! Most gyms have a rowing machine section, and there are even some group fitness rowing classes you can take. According to Harvard Health Studies , rowing burns between calories in a minute session.

Are you tired of the usual workouts and looking for a fun and engaging way to shed those extra pounds? Look no further than dance workouts! Dancing not only burns calories but also helps improve endurance, coordination, and flexibility.

Some popular dance styles for weight loss include Zumba, hip-hop, and salsa. Many classes cater to beginners and offer modifications to suit different fitness levels.

You can also do these cardio sessions right in the comfort of your own home! In addition to being an effective workout, dance workouts are also a great way to have fun and socialize. Grab a friend or join a class to add some excitement to your fitness routine.

Swimming is an excellent low-impact cardio workout that provides a full-body workout without putting stress on your joints. With the resistance of the water, swimming works nearly every major muscle group in your body, which can lead to improved muscle tone and overall fitness levels.

Additionally, swimming helps to improve your cardiovascular endurance, making it a great form of aerobic exercise that can aid in weight loss. Each stroke targets a different set of muscles , allowing you to vary your workout and keep things interesting. For beginners, starting with the freestyle stroke is often the easiest to learn and most effective for burning calories.

Whether you prefer swimming laps in a pool or splashing around in the ocean, make sure to incorporate this low-impact cardio workout into your fitness routine for maximum weight loss results.

Remember that consistency is key, and small changes can lead to significant results. Whether you prefer walking, cycling, or dancing, choose an activity that you enjoy and stick to it. They not only help you lose weight and improve your physical health but also boost your mental well-being. So take the first step today and embark on a journey towards a healthier, fitter you.

Cardio exercise, short for cardiovascular exercise, refers to any form of exercise that increases your heart rate and stimulates your cardiovascular system. It can involve bodyweight exercises, or cardio machines.

Cardio helps burn calories, improve endurance, and promote overall heart health. Cardio workouts offer numerous benefits for weight loss, including creating a calorie deficit, improving metabolism, increasing muscle mass tone, reducing body fat, boosting mood, and reducing stress levels.

Steady-state cardio also improves heart health. High-intensity interval training HIIT is a popular cardio workout technique that involves short bursts of high-intensity cardio followed by brief rest periods.

David on May 7, at AM Reply. these high intensity excercises help a lot to burn excess fat thanks for sharing this article. Chris Freytag, CPT on May 11, at PM Reply. Of course - they are our favorite style of workouts here at Get Healthy U! High Intensity Workouts HIIT are great for both strength and cardio, increasing the heart rate and burning extra calories!

Sourav on December 21, at AM Reply. I've doing these cardio excercises with less rest which burn my fat at extreme thanks for sharing this I really appreciate your work. keep up the good work. I've doing these cardio excercises with less rest which burn my fat at extreme thanks for sharing these excercises I really appreciate your work.

Madeline Theis on December 17, at AM Reply. Thank you for letting me know you enjoy these exercises. We want to make working out accessible to everyone, regardless of physical ability, equipment, or location!

medimove on September 16, at AM Reply. Really impressive post for me as a fresh athlete. Thank you for sharing! medi move on September 16, at AM Reply. Madeline Theis on July 17, at PM Reply. Nice guidance! There is best guidance for loss weight loss.

I have seen a noticeable change in my body after following your blog. Thanks a lot for sharing. allmedscare on June 14, at AM Reply. Wonderful post, simple content to explain in deeply how to reduce weigh loss. This will supports to boost up my mental health. Every day I feel some freshness in my body.

This will boost up my body function. I will try to follow some of mentioned exercise in the article. Thanks for your Post. TVB Healthcare on May 10, at AM Reply.

Elderly Club on March 17, at AM Reply. Hey, Thanks for sharing this.

Then indoor cycling bikes like WattBike and Peloton are a great solution if you want the same effects in the comfort of your own home. Typically, cycling burns in the region of calories an hour, although a spin class can torch up to calories.

Cycling focuses primarily on your legs, and the largest muscle in your body , your glutes, which allows you to increase muscular endurance and tone up without compromising your joints.

Warm up with a two kilometer cycle at a low resistance, gradually increasing speed towards the end. For the main workout, cycle all out for 20 seconds at medium resistance, then lower the resistance for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times. Reduce the resistance to low and pick up the pace for a five minute stretch.

Slowly add resistance while maintaining your pace for another five minutes. The final 30 seconds should be a real effort. Cool down by cycling for five minutes at a slow to moderate pace, reducing the resistance gradually to loosen up your legs and allow for maximum blood flow.

This will prevent the dreaded aches the day after. You only have to look at the lean bodies of endurance runners and sprinters to see that running is an effective way of shifting pounds and burning body fat. Running five miles an hour can burn upwards of calories an hour , so athletes that run a half marathon or further will regularly find themselves doubling or tripling the amount of calories their body would burn in a day at rest.

They use it as an energy source once their carbohydrate stores have been depleted. The equipment needed is minimal, just a good pair of trainers and proper running clothing. There is a big buzz about fasted running, or running first thing in the morning before breakfast, but it isn't a quick fix to lose weight.

Run at percent of your maximum effort for a short period of time and then stop to recover. Skipping is so accessible. Suggested workout by Jacqui Ward, Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor :.

Complete each exercise for 45 seconds, giving yourself a 15 second rest between starting the next exercise. Repeat three times for a short sharp 12 minute workout. Each swimming stroke works different muscle groups, so you can mix up your workout between backstroke, breaststroke, crawl and butterfly for an all body workout.

Swimming can be relaxing breaststroke or super high intensity. An hour of butterfly stroke can burn around calories.

Open water swimming or "wild swimming" is increasingly popular and comes with fantastic benefits to mental health. The obvious downside to swimming is accessibility.

If you live by a lake or the ocean, lucky you! Pool memberships vary in price, so whether or not this is the right form of cardio for you may depend on local facilities. The recommended number of daily steps is 10, , but in our busy, modern lives where many of us work from home or have a non-active commute, how many of us actually achieve that?

Not many, it would seem, and the number of steps that the average person in the U. takes each day is less than half that, between 3, and 4, The health benefits of walking may make it the most underrated form of cardio. Download the Walking For Weight Loss app, which tailors plans to your fitness levels.

For weight loss to happen, you need to be in a calorie deficit. You can achieve this by adapting your diet or by purely strength training, but since cardio tends to burn more calories, it speeds up the process considerably.

She suggests incorporating both cardio and strength training for a healthy routine, but the ratio should depend on what you can stick to. Firstly, by helping us to lose weight. Losing weight through sustained exercise will naturally result in a loss of fat, although this is far from the only benefit.

You can be a healthy weight without having muscle definition. Think about what your goals are. If your BMI is overweight over 25 you may want to start by losing weight to bring yourself within a healthy range The short answer is: do what works for you and your goals.

Looking to build muscle definition in your arms and shoulders? Rowing or weight training could be best for you. Sign up for HIIT classes or join a running club.

The types of cardio listed here are a good starting point, but the possibilities are endless. Use your natural surroundings. If you live in a city, you could even consider joining a local parkour group. When you lose weight, the easiest and usually first place where you lose it is your belly.

The first to go is white, visceral fat which sits around your midriff, and this is also the most harmful place to store fat. To create muscle definition, you may want to add in abdominal exercises, too.

It depends on your current activity levels and goals. Campell recommends three to five cardio aerobic sessions a week as a benchmark.

Do what works for you. A balanced training plan should include strength training and cardio. More lean muscle mass will increase the number of calories that you can burn at rest. Even cans of beans can work well as a substitute for lightweight dumbbells. Related Post: The Best Cardio Machines for Weight Loss.

Sign In. SI Tickets. SI Shop. With EMOM, you complete a specified number of reps, then use whatever time is left in the minute to rest. EMOM [2] is an effective type of interval training for burning fat.

Research [3] shows that you can burn significantly more calories with high-intensity exercise, even when exercising less than other forms of cardio exercise. For this workout, you walk at a speed of 3 miles per hour at an incline of 12 for a total of 30 minutes.

If you take in the activity guidelines from the American Heart Association [4] minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity , you can quickly reach this target by doing this workout three to four times a week. Combining this exercise with other forms of physical activity, such as body weight training, is recommended.

The stair climber is a great cardio choice that activates your glute muscles, aka your butt muscles. After 10 minutes at a moderate pace, you can easily find yourself drenched in sweat. If you have stairs at your local park, it can be an equally effective cardio workout with the added benefit of getting some Vitamin D on a sunny day.

Cycling is another example of effective cardio for weight loss. A study [5] showed that cycling more than 1. Indoor cycling classes can be a fun option if you want an effective workout workout with great tunes to keep you motivated during the class.

If you prefer to workout in the comfort of your own home, stationary bikes, such as the Peloton, are an excellent choice. Regarding how much cardio you should get each day, the American Heart Association [11] recommends at least minutes of aerobic activity per week. This is around 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days a week.

Luckily, you can break it up to fit into your daily routine. For example, you can go for a minute walk in the morning and then a minute walk or jog in the evening. For weight loss, your body must be in a calorie deficit. This means you will need to burn more calories than you consume through your diet.

How long it takes to lose weight will depend on factors such as your gender, current weight, diet, and exercise routine. Having a healthy, balanced diet can help with your weight loss goals. It can also help prevent your metabolism from slowing down when you start to lose fat. This is important because a higher metabolism can lead to more calories burned.

Even when you are at rest or not physically active, your body can still burn calories. It ebbs and flows as you grow, and ultimately, it is a journey. When aiming for weight loss, it can be easy to only see your goal weight. While supplemental diet pills can be helpful, they should be used in addition to a balanced diet and exercise routine, not as a replacement.

You may incorporate weight loss supplements based on your needs and goals. Many weight loss supplements are fat burners and come as diet pills. This can be a more natural way to use supplements for weight loss in addition to a cardio exercise routine.

Some of the best weight-loss cardio exercises include jogging, HIIT workouts, using the stair climber machine, and cycling. Additionally, the treadmill may be the best cardio for weight loss at the gym. The versatility of cardio exercises makes them easy to implement in your day-to-day life.

Whether you prefer to be in the comfort of your own home or want to be outside or in a gym, cardio offers endless options.

You should aim to get around minutes or 30 minutes per day, five days a week based on current guidelines by the American Heart Association. Some of these benefits include improved mood, increased immunity, and decreased risk of certain diseases such as coronary heart disease and stroke.

Following the AHA guidelines , [14] you should aim for 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day, five days a week, to lose weight and remain healthy. Studies have shown combining cardio with resistance training is better to help keep your metabolism higher. Currently, not enough research has been done on to see its effectiveness.

However, it is a great way to get 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous cardio exercise while burning many calories. Yes, it depends on your individual goals.

If you want to lose weight fast, studies [15] have shown cardio to be more effective than lifting weights. Studies [16] have shown that males tend to lose fat around their stomach area first, while women notice it more around their hips. EHproject has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations.

We work mostly with peer-reviewed studies to ensure accurate information. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Bethany Cole, BSN, RN Writer. Expert's opinion We believe information about products and services that could benefit people should be made available to consumers to help them make informed decisions about their health care.

October 30, by Bethany Cole, BSN, RN. High-Intensity Interval Training. Incline Treadmill. Stair Climber. Jogging is one of the best cardio exercises. The trend may actually work. Frequently Asked Questions Is 30 minutes of cardio enough to lose weight?

Should I do all cardio to lose weight? Does 12 30 3 work? Can I skip cardio and just lift weights? Where do you lose fat first? Vissers, D.