Cardio, or aerobic exercise, is a rhythmic activity that increases your heart rate to your target zone. This is the area where you burn the most fat and calories. The most common examples of aerobic exercise include walking, cycling, and swimming. Knowing the best cardio for weight loss helps maintain a slim figure. Also, the benefits of cardio exercise go beyond weight loss and include improved cardiovascular health, increased stamina, improved mood, and reduced stress.
However, household chores such as vacuuming or mopping can also qualify as aerobic exercise. Cardio exercise differs from other types of exercise, such as strength training, in that it relies in part on the body's ability to use oxygen during exercise. A study published by the American Heart Association found that genetics can have a 20 to 40% impact on what you can do in terms of cardiovascular health. It tends to decrease with age. Thus, a person's cardio capacity can vary depending on many factors.
This blog covers the best cardio for weight loss at home, which is scientifically proven to help you burn fat and body weight. It also explores the best weight-loss exercises to add variety to your exercise routine. So, keep reading to learn the best cardio for weight loss for beginners!
Table Of Contents
1. Which Cardio Burns The Most Fat?
2. What Cardio Is Best For Losing Weight?
3. Best Exercise For Weight Loss In Home
4. Best Cardio To Burn Belly Fat?
5. Dietitian Recommendation
6. The Final Say
7. FAQs
8. References
Which Cardio Burns The Most Fat?
Although you can't "target" a specific area of your body where you want to burn fat, you can customise your exercise routine to help you lose weight. This can be done by including the best cardio for weight loss. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is one of the most effective ways to burn fat. It involves short periods of intense aerobic exercise followed by a brief rest period.
Many recent studies have shown that HIIT workouts are one of the most effective ways to burn calories quickly and are even more effective than regular cardio exercises like running. This is primarily due to how your body uses oxygen during cardio rather than HIIT exercise. Running or cycling are aerobic exercises. This means your body has enough oxygen to sustain you throughout your workout. HIIT exercise, on the other hand, is anaerobic. This literally means "no oxygen."
Intense exercise uses up all of your body's oxygen at once. This increased oxygen debt ultimately increases post-exercise excess oxygen consumption (EPOC). Energy is needed to consume oxygen and repair tired muscles. Some scientists say you burn calories for about 3 to 16 hours after a HIIT workout. See HIIT workouts for obese people.
According to a 2015 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) actually burns 25–30% more calories than running or other steady-state exercise. While HIIT research is still in its early stages, others speculate that additional factors contributing to weight reduction include the fat-burning growth hormones your body produces during HIIT and the rise in metabolism that HIIT induces.
What Cardio Is Best For Losing Weight?
Weight loss is a combination of how much you eat and how much you move. The best cardio for weight loss can promote it in various ways, including increasing calorie expenditure (how many calories your body burns), increasing metabolism through increased muscle mass, controlling appetite, and reducing stress.
To help in this, let's explore the best cardio for weight loss:
1. Running
Undoubtedly, running is a popular form of cardio exercise that can be done almost anywhere. It is highly effective in improving cardiovascular health, burning calories, and increasing endurance. It is also simply adjustable to suit different goals and levels of fitness. Running outdoors also offers mental and emotional benefits, such as stress reduction and mood enhancement.
2. Cycling
Biking is a low-impact exercise suitable for indoors or outdoors. It's excellent for improving cardiovascular health, burning calories, and toning the lower body muscles. Cycling is a sport that can be tough for experienced athletes and accessible to beginners due to its adaptability in intensity levels. Also, cycling can be a fun and social activity, allowing you to explore new routes and enjoy the outdoors.
3. Swimming
This low-impact cardio for weight loss benefits cardiovascular health, increases endurance and tones the entire body. Its gentle nature makes it ideal for individuals with joint pain or injuries, providing an effective full-body workout while minimising joint stress. Swimming also offers a cooling effect, making it a refreshing option for hot-weather workouts.
4. Jump Rope
It is a powerful workout that enhances cardiovascular health, burns calories, and improves coordination. It's a convenient option for home workouts, offering a quick and intense cardio session that can be easily incorporated into any fitness routine. Jump rope workouts can be tailored to suit different skill levels and goals, with endless variations to keep your workouts challenging and engaging.
5. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT entails quick bursts of intense activity interspersed with relaxation times. It's a productive technique to increase cardiovascular health, burn calories quickly, and improve general fitness. Exercise regimens for HIIT can be modified to accommodate different fitness levels and tastes. You may also modify your routines to incorporate a range of activities, like bodyweight movements, plyometrics, and cardio intervals, to keep them interesting and productive.
6. Climbing Stairs
Stair climbing is a popular cardio exercise targeting calorie-burning and belly fat. It strengthens the legs and engages the core muscles. To maximise calorie burn, incorporate stair climb intervals at high intensity followed by active recovery periods. Additionally, taking the stairs instead of the elevator can help increase overall physical activity and contribute to weight loss over time.
7. Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell swings are highly effective for burning calories and strengthening core muscles, glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings. They offer a full-body workout, promoting cardiovascular health. Proper form and engagement of the entire body are crucial for optimal results during kettlebell swings. Incorporating single-arm swings or kettlebell complexes adds intensity to your workouts, further enhancing calorie burn and weight loss efforts.
Best Exercise For Weight Loss In Home
Let's explore the best exercises for weight loss at home:
1. Jumping Rope Exercise
Aerobic jumping rope is a powerful exercise for weight loss and can improve cardiovascular health. This rhythmic exercise quickly increases your heart rate, bringing you closer to a healthy heart. Jumping rope burns a considerable amount of calories quickly, making it more effective for weight loss and reducing belly fat. This exercise also improves coordination and endurance, creating a balanced fitness profile.
Due to its numerous benefits, cardio training with jumping rope is one of the best exercises for effectively losing weight and burning fat while enhancing your overall fitness journey.
2. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
This smart strategy combines high efforts with short recovery intervals, boosting metabolism and burning calories during and after exercise. HIIT's adaptability can be seen in various exercises, including sprinting and bodyweight training. It provides a fast-paced program that prevents boredom.
Creating a custom HIIT workout is simple and effective. Choose exercises like jumping jacks, burpees, or knee raises to perform HIIT at home. Warm up first, then alternate short bursts of intense work with recovery periods (30 seconds of hard work followed by 15 seconds of recovery).
3. Bodyweight Squat
Squats, a cornerstone exercise in weight loss, use only your body weight. For example, you bend your knees and lower your hips as if you were sitting down. This move uses multiple muscle groups, making it a powerful compound exercise. Bodyweight exercises like squats improve functional fitness and are also fat-burning.
Improves overall function and mobility by simulating normal activities such as sitting and standing. Because bodyweight squats use more muscles, they speed up your metabolism and help you achieve your fat loss goals.
Go from basic to advanced versions like jump squats or pistol squats to effectively train your muscles. Start with your feet shoulder-width apart and slightly outward, lowering your hips into a chair and engaging your core. Keep your chest high, your knees level with your toes, and your body straight.
4. Plank Variations
Planks are fantastic exercises for burning belly fat. In addition to toning your core and abdominal muscles, they can significantly improve your balance and work different muscle groups. Plank variations like the side plank improve stability and balance by targeting the lateral and oblique muscles.
Plank variations add variety to the muscles involved. These exercises, which range from regular to forearm planks, also work your shoulders, chest, back, and legs. Add plank leg raises or hip dips to strengthen your lower body and obliques further and enhance your weight loss exercise.
For a quick and effective workout, start with 30 seconds of regular plank followed by 15 seconds of side plank on each side. Do 45 seconds of forearm planks with alternating legs, then finish with 30 seconds of planks with hip dips. This fitness program provides comprehensive fat-burning exercises for your entire body, making it one of the best exercises for weight loss and fat-burning.
5. Burpees
Burpees are representative of full-body exercise that is effective in reducing body fat and weight loss. This powerful cardiovascular exercise also trains multiple muscle groups in one explosive movement.
- A standard burpee begins with standing up, dropping to the ground, and squatting down.
- Return your legs to the plank position, do a push-up, and then squat down again.
- From here, jump sharply while raising your arms upward.
Burpees involve more than just using your muscles. Because the intensity is high, it increases your heart rate, Improving your cardiovascular fitness and calorie burn. Burpee challenges can speed up the fat-burning process and improve agility, including adding timed sets or variations.
6. Push-Ups
Pushups are a powerful addition to any exercise regimen, helping you strengthen your muscles, burn calories, and lose body fat. Proper technique must be perfected to obtain maximum benefit from this adaptive exercise. An upright body and arms slightly wider than shoulder-width promote proper alignment and allow your chest, shoulders, and triceps to work effectively.
Pushups can still be effective and fun if you gradually increase the number of repetitions and train through different variations, such as diamond pushups or hill pushups. Push-ups can be turned into an effective fat-burning exercise, and practising them regularly will improve your overall body strength and definition.
7. Bodyweight Lunges
Forward lunges are a basic bodyweight exercise that can greatly improve your fitness journey, especially if you're seeking a weight loss exercise targeting multiple muscle groups. As you move forward and lower your body, your quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes work, toning your legs and increasing strength.
This activity tones your lower body and helps burn calories, making it a great exercise option for losing belly fat. Lunges are a great lower body exercise to incorporate into your daily routine. For more challenge and variety, try side lunges or reverse lunges.
Best Cardio To Burn Belly Fat
You can eliminate belly fat at home with the best cardio for weight loss. Effective exercises for abdominal training include:
Exercise | Instructions | Benefits |
Crunches | Traditional crunches involve lying on your back, bending your knees, placing your hands behind your head, and lifting your upper body off the ground, engaging your abdominal muscles. | Tones upper abdominal muscles. |
Leg Raises | Lie on your back, straighten your legs, and lift them off the ground using your lower abdominal muscles. Lower them without touching the floor to engage your core. | Targets lower abdominal muscles and strengthens the core. |
Plank | Maintain a push-up position with your arms and body in a straight line from head to heels, engaging your core muscles. Hold the position for as long as possible. | Strengthens overall core muscles and improves stability. |
Bicycle Crunch | Lie on your back, place your hands behind your head, and mimic a pedalling motion with your legs while bringing your opposite elbow towards your knee. | Engages oblique muscles and strengthens the core. |
Mountain Climbers | Get into a plank position and alternately bring your knees towards your chest in a running motion. This will engage both your core and cardiovascular systems. | Burns calories, improves cardiovascular health, and strengthens core muscles. |
Russian Twists | Sit with knees bent, feet flat on the floor, lean back slightly, lift your feet off the ground, and rotate your torso from side to side while holding a weight or household object. | Targets oblique muscles and improves rotational strength. |
High Knees | Jog in place, raising your knees as high as possible with each step. This effectively elevates your heart rate and engages your core muscles. | Boosts cardiovascular endurance and strengthens lower body muscles. |
Burpees | Perform a sequence of squats, planks, push-ups, and jumps. This full-body exercise elevates heart rate and burns calories efficiently. | Increases cardiovascular health develops core muscles, and burns calories. |
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) | Alternates between high-intensity exercises and short recovery periods. It can include a combination of various exercises mentioned above. | It boosts metabolism, burns fat effectively, and improves overall fitness levels. |
Jump Squats | Begin with a basic squat, then explosively jump as high as you can, landing softly and immediately descending into the next squat. This exercise strengthens your legs and core while providing a cardiovascular challenge. | Enhances lower body strength, burns calories, and improves explosive power. |
Expert's Advice
Adding a variety of cardio exercises at home is an effective tool for losing weight and building a healthy physique. Incorporating exercise into your weight loss plan commits you to a lifestyle that prioritises health and vitality over simply exercising. Use these activities to improve your overall health and confidence and lose belly fat, but remember to combine them with a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Dt. Lavina Chauhan
The Final Say
This is how the best cardio for weight loss offers fantastic bodily benefits, from the internal to the penile level. Regular aerobic exercise – sports, aerobics, cycling, jogging – can help you live a happy, healthy, active and successful life by bringing about healthy changes in your body. The numerous benefits of these exercises include improving cardiovascular health, burning calories, strengthening muscles, controlling weight, and improving mental health.
Essentially, aerobic exercise is the key to burning fat, losing weight, and improving overall fitness. So, try including the best cardio for weight loss in your fitness routine!
FAQs
1. Is 30 minutes of cardio enough to lose weight?
While 30 minutes of cardio can contribute to weight loss, its effectiveness depends on various factors such as intensity, frequency, and individual metabolism. Combine cardio with strength training and maintain a balanced diet to achieve significant weight loss.
2. What is the best time to exercise for weight loss?
The best time to exercise for weight loss is whenever you can commit to a consistent routine that fits your schedule and preferences. Some people succeed with morning workouts to kickstart their metabolism, while others prefer exercising in the afternoon or evening. The key is to find a time that works best for you and allows you to stay consistent with your fitness regimen.
3. Is running the best exercise for weight loss?
Running's high calorie burn and cardiovascular advantages make it a useful weight-loss workout. The ideal workout, meanwhile, will vary depending on your tastes and degree of fitness. For optimum weight loss, a combination of aerobic, strength training, and flexibility activities is frequently advised.
References
- https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/activity/best-exercise-to-lose-belly-fat
- https://www.aaynaclinic.com/weight-loss-exercises/
- https://www.health.com/fitness/at-home-workouts-to-lose-weight
- https://thesilhouetteclinic.com/best-exercises-to-lose-belly-fat/
- https://longevity.technology/lifestyle/7-best-cardio-workouts-for-burning-fat-and-losing-weight/amp/
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/calorie-deficit/
- https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/four-types-exercise-can-improve-your-health-and-physical-ability
- https://www.medkart.in/blog/types-of-cardio-exercises-and-5-health-benefits-of-cardio-workout-with-tips
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