Ideal Cardio

johnsds

Hi all, I am just wondering what is the ideal cardio for fat burning?

For instance at present I run for 25 mins but during that 25 mins I might run for 5 mins flat out ( to push me ) and then slow down for 1 min and do that type of thing for the 25 mins..

After that, I then do the cross trainer for 12 mins, in the 12mins I will cross train in the forward motion for 7 mins and the last 5 mins I will cross train in the reverse motion.

After the above I will do some weights and the after weights I do a 12 min cool down run at a nice pace just under the speed where I feel pushed and thats 6 days a week.

I drink a lot of water and try not to over eat, I am not fat per se but would just like to have a good fat burning workout all the same.

Can anybody tell me if I am doing the right thing or can they give me more tips?

Thank you,

John.

mdwexford

Learn compound weight movements if you havent already.

Do weights first and cardio after.

Maybe try some HIIT.

dahat

Try some of these on the Rowing machine,i have started these and they are pretty good..

http://jameshanley.ie/index.php/2012/04/11/the-concept-2-rower-high-intensity-interval-training-and-super-awesomeness/

Jaz26

You could try to do ur cardio first thing in the morning before your breakfast or after weights as said above. These are the best times to do it for fat burning because ur glycogen levels are low after you sleep so u use fat as your primary energy source. Keep intensity of the cardio light to moderate because you dont want to start burning muscle. Or you could do some High intensity interval training such as sprinting for a min then jog for a min this would be repeated a number of times for about 20 to 30 mins or whatever your fit enough for. But make sure you dont do the high intensity training in the mornig or after weights. Hope this helps!

TheBellJar

Firstly, fair play; you’re doing something and that’s already more than a lot of people . Regarding what you’re doing at present, you could look at making a few changes to make your time spent training more beneficial.

Running
Do you like running? Do you want to get better at it? Why not try a running programme to improve your distances and give you a bit of motivation.

Crosstrainer
The crosstrainer is boring as ****, so I get why you’re going backwards, forwards and every other way to pass the time. Tbh though, it doesn’t make any difference. If you want to use it then great, but don’t worry about the ‘right’ way to use a crosstrainer. Whatever works for you, keep doing it. On a side note, you can have much more fun with your cardio if you're open to it - you could add in some varied conditioning blocks, outdoor hill sprints, prowler pushing/pulling...all depends where you're training and what you have access too.

Weight Training
You’d want to be doing your weights before your cardio, not after. If you’re not doing any free weights, start. If you’re not doing any compound movements, start. The internet will tell you everything and nothing, but a quick search of this forum for getting started would do you no harm and maybe have a gander at a few of the more popular fitness logs also. Start on the first page, Rome wasn’t built in a day and those guys weren’t either.

Diet
Fitday.com is great, you can get the app for your phone too and it really helps to get an idea of what you eat every day. After a while you won’t even need it any more. Also check the nutrition stickies here and you won’t go far wrong.