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It is essential for everyone to incorporate exercise into their daily routine to maintain good health, enhance the quality of sleep, build stronger muscles and bones, improve cognitive function, and uplift mood. If your aim is to reduce belly fat, a combination of regular exercise and a balanced diet is necessary. Cardiovascular exercises are particularly effective in targeting abdominal fat. The higher the calories burnt during cardio sessions, the more fat you will lose. This is where interval training proves to be beneficial. Here, we provide insights from a specialist on utilizing cardio intervals to effectively eliminate belly fat.
In This Article:
What Are Cardio Intervals?
“Cardio intervals are a great tactic for burning belly fat because they allow you to be specific with your approach,” explains Michael Thorsten, certified personal trainer and club leader at Life Time Beachwood. “Yes, all exercise burns some fat, but certain exercise done at a certain intensity will allow you to burn much, much, more. This is the magic of cardio intervals; it allows you to target body fat in this intentional way.”
Cardio intervals that switch between low and moderate intensity will burn the most body and belly fat. This alternation of intensities also helps control cortisol and stress levels, which can be a major roadblock between you and losing belly fat.
What Form of Cardio Works Best in Interval Training for Belly Fat Loss?
“When picking the type of cardio you are doing, there is no activity or modality that is more effective than others,” Thorsten stresses. “The magic of intervals is all created by the change in your heart rate. We need to see your heart rate go up for a period of time and then see it come back down. This can be accomplished by running, biking, swimming, anything!”
Choose a cardio activity that doesn’t cause discomfort and the one you will most likely stick with.
How Long To Perform Cardio Intervals To See Results
When your goal is fat loss, every minute you work out counts. After all, the more you exercise, the greater the number of fat calories you’ll burn.
“You must monitor the stress being put on your body with this activity. More stress equals more cortisol, [which] equals less fat loss,” Thorsten tells us. “It is also important to consider that if we are focused on losing belly fat, we cannot just be doing these cardio intervals. We must leave some time throughout the week for strength training.”
For these reasons, Thorsten recommends performing two to three cardio interval sessions each week. Keep in mind that these workouts shouldn’t leave you feeling fatigued. Twenty to 30-minute workouts typically get the job done when completed at a low to moderate intensity.
“Combined with proper nutrition, one can expect to see meaningful results in as little as a month,” Thorsten explains. “That being said, any time we change up the activity regimen, I always ask clients to try to stick to a new habit for 12 weeks to measure its effectiveness.”
Alexa Mellardo
