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Breaking a sweat doesn’t mean you are bound to lose weight. Unfortunately, too many people are mislead by the idea that any kind of exercise is going to help them shed the pounds. Stop wasting your time! There are right and wrong ways to do cardio. Let me share some helpful tips with you:

1) Chose cardio methods that challenge your core!

Cardio options should include:

• long distance walking (45 minutes-1.5 hours)
• 2-5 minute jog/2-5 minute walk intervals (30-60 minutes)
• incline walking outdoors (a 1.5 hour long hike-half of which should be uphill)
• incline walking on a treadmill (3-4mph at and incline of 6-10% for 40-60 minutes)
• outdoor stairs or stair-master machine (39-60 minutes at 45 steps/minute+)

If you are not injured and wish to maximize calories burned during your cardio sessions, you should consider avoiding stationary/recumbent bikes, eliptical trainers, and arc-trainers as a regular means of cardiovascular exercise. You will burn more calories when you are forced to lift your legs from the ground or platform and you will be forced to use your core more (as long as you do not tend to hold on to the apparatus you are using).

2) Do all cardio on an empty stomach or on protein metabolism only

During cardio, our bodies naturally burn off partially digested carbohydrates and fats before  burning off stored fats (the fat you are trying to get rid of). The trick is to allow carbohydrates and fats to digest long before performing cardio.

I always recommend doing cardio first thing in the morning before eating because you are guaranteed to be on empty after not eating for 6+ hours. If you already have a hectic morning schedule like I do, then the best alternative is to plan your cardio bout for 2-3 hours following your last meal. You want to feel like it is almost time to eat again, but you don’t want to feel hungry quite yet.

If you can’t get to cardio within 3 hours of your last meal or if you are feeling ravenous prior to doing your cardio, then the best option is to have a protein-only snack because this is the last substrate the body turns to for energy and it doesn’t usually depend upon protein until cardio has reached approximately 1.5 hours in length. Most people do not perform cardio for such long durations, so having protein to avoid stomach discomfort during exercise is always your safest bet.  Examples include a whey protein shake mixed with water only, ½-1 cup of plain fat-free yogurt or Greek yogurt, 1/2-1 cup of plain fat-free cottage cheese, or 2-4 oz plain chicken breast or turkey breast.

3) By Definition, cardiovascular exercise exceeds 20 minutes per session

15 minutes of walking, jogging, running, biking, stairs, ets is NOT cardio! Just think about it this way….if your body has to burn off partially digested carbohydrates and fats before it even reaches “fat-burning mode,” then fat-burning more might not even engage until you are 30-40 minutes into your cardiovascular session. If your current cardio consists of 15-minute bouts, then I can almost guarantee that you are never in fat-burning mode.

Your best bet would be to select a means of cardio that can be endured for a minimum of 45 minutes. Try your best to perform 1 hour at a time.

4) If weight-loss is your goal, then you should be exercising a minimum of 5 hours/week

Yoga and pilates don’t count!

If you want a to be lean and toned, then you should be training hard 5 hours every week. Ideally, this 5 hours should be split between cardio and weights. If you don’t have access to a gym or don’t feel comfortable weight-lifting at home, then you need to commit to 5 hours of cardio every week following the guidelines above.

5) Plan your exercise

If you have a job, then you know what time you are expected to show up at and when-a-bouts you can plan to leave by. Guess what? If you want to lose weight, then cardio is now your job.

It is time to schedule 5 hours in your planner for your secondary job….exercise! Success requires planning. These times are dedicated to you and nobody else should have priority over them, so make sure to plan them in advanced.

Summer is here! Ready or not…..it’s time to get hot!!!