Harnessing the Power of Cardio Training For Weight Loss and Using Your Lean Muscle Mass to Burn Even

The only formula to lose your weight is to burn more calories than you consume. All the fitness fads and all the diet plans that claim to help you lose your weight are designed around this formula. Cardio training is one of the most effective ways to contribute to this “energy output.” Some common examples of cardio include walking, running, jogging and sprinting.

Depending upon what you are looking at achieving from your fitness goals, there are certain types of cardio training. Without deviating much from the subject we will spend time on looking only at the type of cardio training that is most suitable for fat burning and weight loss.

Cardio training that helps you burn fat

LISS or Low Intensity Steady State is a type of cardio training that is most suitable for weight loss. Walking is a type of LISS and helps you burn more fat per calorie than jogging or sprinting. That’s because fat requires oxygen in order to be metabolized for energy. It is only during low intensity cardio training your body has more oxygen which can be used to break down the fat. However, when you are jogging or sprinting, less oxygen is available in your body. This means during this time your body has to depend on other sources of energy such as carbohydrate.

How do you know you are doing right cardio training?

Cardio training for a period of 20 minutes or longer while maintaining 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate is best to achieve desired result. You should be able to carry on a short conversation while performing your aerobic exercise. But if you find yourself gasping for air, you are working too hard and doing it wrong.

Aerobic exercise

Cardio trainings involve aerobic exercise. During aerobic exercise, oxygen is continuously delivered to your muscles. During aerobic exercises your body meets its need for energy from limited glycogen supply. When this supply is over your body turns to stored body fats.

Lean Muscle mass helps burn more fat

Besides workout and weight loss diet plan, you can also lose your weight by increasing your metabolic rate. Resting metabolic rate helps your body burn calories even while you are resting. The only way you can increase your resting metabolic rate is by increasing your lean muscle mass. That means cardio training helps you to burn fat, but you can accelerate fat burning process even more by including strength training (weight training) in your overall workout regime that also helps you to build muscle mass along the way.