If you have read my blog posts before you will know that I am not a big fan of traditional forms of cardio such as running, cycling, cross trainer, etc that most people tend to do.

However that doesn’t mean there is no place for cardio in your workout routines. But of you are going to to do cardio you MUST do it right.

Most people will do what I call ‘constant cardio.’  This means they will basically go to the gym, get on the treadmill or cross trainer, put it at a certain speed and leave it there for a set amount of time or until they have burnt a set amount of calories.

This really is the least effective way to workout and burn fat.

Here are some other far more beneficial options. But they all rely of one key, very important variable – changing the speed and intensity of your workout constantly.

I will use the treadmill as an example, but the same thing could just as easily be replicated running outside or on any other cardio machine. I will also base the following on a 20 minute workout.

Option A -2 minutes normal speed, then 2 minutes faster. So you walk/jog at a comfortable speed for 2 minutes then increase it so you are working harder for minutes. Change between the 2 until your 20 minutes are up.

Option B – 1 minute normal, then 1 minute faster. Same routine as above.

Option C… Read more->

The vast majority of people that do cardio have no idea what they are doing. Sad, but true. I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad about themselves, but very rarely do I come across someone doing what I consider to be ‘smart cardio.’ Find out what that is below…

Firstly let’s just clairfy what ‘bad cardio’ is. This is when you go jogging, swimming, cycling or whatever else, and plod along at a comfortable pace for 20/30/60 minutes.

But i’m still burning fat by doing that right? Well, barely. Doing this ‘bad cardio’ is a monumental waste of your time and the sooner you get out of the habit of it, the better.

Tweaking your ‘bad cardio’ into ‘smart cardio’ can generate some amazing fat loss results. I am going to give some examples of what you should be doing;

1/ Jogging. This can be done whatever you fitness level. Jog slowly/power walk for 2 minutes followed by a 30 seconds jog/quick run.

2/ Swimming. Do 8 lengths breaststroke followed by 2 lengths fast front crawl. Don’t worry if your front crawl isn’t very good, it doesn’t matter. I splash around all over the place doing front crawl but I get the desired result – i.e. being out of breath at the end of it.

3/ Cycling – Put bike on a comfortable level for 2 minutes, then put the resistance right up for 30 seconds and try to maintain the same speed you were doing before.

I’m sure you begin to get the idea. The key, whatever you are doing work as hard as you can during the interval periods. It is here where you are generating the fantastic fat loss results.

Today’s Takeaway – Bin the bad cardio and take up ‘smart cardio.’ The results will speak for themselves.

Just the other day I met someone I hadn’t seen in a while, and they proceeded to tell me how they run 3 days a week but just ‘no fat seems to shift.’ I wouldn’t mind, but I saw the same person about 6 months previously and I told him running wasn’t the answer. And even more than that I told him exactly what the answer was! Unbelievable. So I am going to show you why running isn’t the answer to your problems.

Running (or power walking depending on your fitness level) is one of the least effective ways to bur fat. But for some reason people just don’t want to believe it.

I think it’s because of the appearance/look of the long distance runners that we see on the television. After all they are seriously skinny, so that must be the way to go, right? Wrong.

There is a massive difference between doing something IN ORDER TO LOSE WEIGHT, and staying slim because you do something.

The athletes and runners that do marathons will, with very few exceptions, have always been skinny. They have the sort of body type that is very slight, with very little muscle or fat.

So of course when they are already skinny, running will  help them stay that way, as they are not actually trying or needing to burn fat.

But if you are the sort of person that is overweight and/or is trying to burn fat, running simply is not the answer. It does not stimulate your metabolism or fat burning hormones, or take your body out of its comfort zone.

Today’s Takeaway – Running is not the answer. There are plenty of far more effectives fat burning methods for you to try right here on this site so please give them a go!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article on boxing, and how it is a great ‘alternative cardio’ option. I have had a lot of feedback on that article with people wanting to know more about how they should do it, and more importantly the best way to do it to burn fat. So here goes!…

I will talk about 3 basic moves. In all of them make sure you do not tuck your thumb under your fingers. And hit will the flat part of your wrist and keep it straight.

1/ Cross Punches – Stand up straight with your feet hip width apart. Raise your elbows up and alternately swing your arms reaching across to hit the pads.

2/ Uppercuts - Reach down and then scoop your arm upwards. Again with alternately arms keeping your elbows tucked in towards your ribs.

3/ Hooks – Start with your arm out sideways and slightly bent and drive it inwards towards the pads. Don’t bend your arm any more than it already is as you are doing it.

You should do each move for a minute. Work hard during the minute and rest in between each one so you ca recover enough to work really hard again in the next one.

Today’s Takeaway - Boxing will only work for you if YOU work hard at it. If you put the effort in, in terms of speed of punching and power, you will get a great fat burning workout.

To grab your copy of Rob’s Free Report ‘Cheat’s Guide to Fat Burning From Home – Simple 5 Step Plan,’ plus 2 other great free gifts, click here; ‘www.homeworkoutsuccess.co.uk/free-report.’