Cardio can be something that you dread or something that you look forward to as a stress reliever. It can take the shape of many different exercises and each can be used for a different purpose. When determining the best form of cardio, it is important to look at what your outcome is and if you are reading this right now, I am sure it is fat loss.

Contrary to popular belief you do not have to spend hours drudging away on the treadmill to lose fat. Time does not always equal a higher outcome, the often overlooked aspect of intensity is a greater driver for fat loss.

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) in particular is the best form of cardio for fat loss as it taps into those fat stores the best. Normally people are concerned that they will lose their gains from doing cardio, looking at marathon runners as proof. HIIT, on the other hand, targets your fat stores as you are going to a higher threshold of your performance which causes you to deplete your more immediately available energy stores. In contrast, we can look at sprinters bodies for evidence of this theory. Most sprinters maintain thick lean muscle and this is because they are not doing hours of tolling cardio but rather short bursts of maximal effort.

Think about it, when Usain Bolt trains for the Olympics he is not sprinting full out for 1 hour. Instead, he performs HIIT, where he does a sprint at maximum capacity then rests for a few minutes then repeats. Logically, this makes sense because you cannot go at 90-100% for a long time, over time your performance degrades and if this was not true, then all sprinters would have the best marathon times.

A typical HIIT workout consists of a short period at max effort followed by another short period of rest at a slow pace. You can use any ratio that you feel fits best, but for example purposes, you can have a HIIT repetition of 20 seconds max effort and then 40 seconds of rest. In totality, your HIIT workouts can range from 30 to as low as 10 minutes.

Another added benefit of HIIT is that it allows you to burn more calories in a short amount of time as well as raising your metabolic rate after exercise. This is essential as you will burn more calories hours after your workout. You might even gain some muscle while doing HIIT if you are relatively inactive. Sprinting requires muscles and using these muscles vigorously will cause growth.

There is so much to gain from HIIT, which makes it a great staple to add to your fat loss arsenal. You can perform it in any cardio form and with whatever intervals fit you best. You can try HIIT while riding your bike, jumping rope, running or even swimming; you can really tailor it to your preferences. Use HIIT as a tool to boost your fat loss and save you some time! Try switching one of your cardio routines with a 15 minute HIIT session and see the results come. We are sure you will at least enjoy the extra time you get from it!