Copyright (c) 2010 Bryan Carlton

You are probably like most people wanting to find that perfect cardio workout to burn fat quickly. The nice thing is that you have a few different approaches that you can take. The most common approach is low intensity cardio training.

The reason low intensity cardio is so popular, is because it will take most of the calories from your bodies fat reserves. So why don't people want to use high intensity cardio, they feel that if they work too hard, that they will burn carbohydrates as energy and not the bodies fat stores.

The truth is, that you will always burn more fat during any type of High Intensity Interval Cardio or HIIT for short. When you burn more calories than you consume, you are creating a calorie deficit. You will need to create a 3500 calorie deficit in order to lose one pound of fat.

Low intensity cardio, is the most common form of cardio that is pushed by almost every personal trainer, friends, fitness gurus and fitness enthusiasts. The reason low intensity cardio works so well, is that it targets your bodies fat. If the body burns fat for energy, you will lose body fat.

When choosing the right piece of cardio equipment, you will want to make sure that it can track your heart rate. This will allow you to monitor your heart rate during your cardio workout and allow you to hit that ideal intensity level.

Once started on a treadmill, cross trainer, etc. for about 10 minutes or so, you will be close to reaching your ideal heart rate. You will want to stay within this target heart rate for at least another 30 minutes to maximize your cardio workout.

On the other hand, HIIT is one of the less utilized forms of cardio. This type of cardio makes you push past your mental block and pain threshold, hens the reason few people choose this route. If done properly, you will get great results in burning body fat. This will allow you to burn a great deal more calories verses any type of low intensity workouts.

As mentioned above, low intensity cardio will burn body fat. The downside is that you waste the first 10 minutes getting your heart rate up. It is very hard for a person to maintain a high rate of cardio for extended periods of time. You are probably only able to do 10 to 15 minutes of this extremely difficult cardio.

The simple solution, is to combine both type of cardio workouts into one simple and easy routine. So for the first ten minutes of your workout, you will want to start out at the high intensity level. Once you have pushed yourself for 10 to 15 minutes and have a good sweet going, switch gears to the low cardio workout and continue for another 20 to 30 minutes. You will be able to burn more calories, creating a greater calorie deficit, and lose that extra weight.