What Cardio Exercises Can You Do to Lose Body Fat?

One of the most effective ways to burn fat and lose weight is to do cardio exercises. Cardio, also called aerobic exercise, is any exercise that increases your heart rate and respiration, and makes you sweat. To lose body fat, you must burn more calories for energy than are contained in the food you eat. A nutritious diet can help you lose weight, but dieting alone will not result in lasting, healthy weight loss. Exercise helps to tone and build muscle, while taking 100 percent of the required energy for the exercise from fat stores.

How Much Exercise?

How much exercise you need to lose body fat depends on how much body fat you want to lose and your current fitness level. Adults need at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise five days per week. Doing at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week can help you lose fat if you combine exercise with a low-fat, reduced-calorie diet. In order to lose one pound of fat each week, you must burn a total of 3,500 more calories than you consume. Reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories per day and do moderate- to high-intensity aerobic exercise four to five days each week to lose fat.

Levels of Intensity

Exercising at different levels of intensity will determine how much fat you burn. According to the American Council on Exercise, performing high-intensity cardio routines will expend more total calories, thus burn more fat. You can still lose body fat with low-intensity exercise, but you will have to work out longer to reach your fat-loss goals. If you have been sedentary for a long time, you may want to start with low-intensity cardio to build up your strength and endurance and reduce your risk of injury. According to MayoClinic.com, light-intensity exercise is up to 50 percent of your maximum heart rate; moderate intensity is up to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate and vigorous intensity is as much as 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Figure your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. Multiply your maximum heart rate by 0.50, 0.70 or 0.85 to determine the target heart rate for each level of exercise intensity.

High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is alternating moderate exercise with maximum-effort high-intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest by returning to moderate exercise. A typical high-intensity interval workout will consist of one minute of high-intensity exercise followed by two to three minutes of recovery while doing moderate to light exercise. Running or riding a bike as fast as you can for one minute followed by two or three minutes of running at a moderate pace is an example of HIIT exercise. You can work out outdoors or in the gym on a treadmill or exercise bike. The 1:2 or 1:3 ratio of high and light to moderate exercise keeps your heart rate elevated and your fat-burning engine revving. Your body will use your anaerobic energy system during the intense period of exercise and return to the aerobic energy system during the rest period. Your body will continue to burn fat for fuel for hours after you stop doing HIIT. Do no more than 20 minutes of HIIT, two days per week on nonconsecutive days.

Low-Intensity Steady-State Cardio

You may consider starting your fat-loss exercise program by doing low-intensity steady-state (LISS) cardio until you build up your endurance. LISS cardio is ideal for unconditioned people to begin a cardio program to burn fat and lose weight. LISS cardio consists of 30 or more minutes of low-intensity cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging, swimming or using a rowing machine at a steady leisurely pace. This is good for beginners, but your body will reach a plateau and adjust to the exercise. You will lose fat quickly in the beginning few weeks, but eventually you will stop burning fat as your body adjusts to your new level of activity. Fat burning lasts only as long as you exercise. Once you stop exercising, your body stops burning fat for fuel.